CP&I Newsletter
Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness September 2019
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What is equity?
Educational equity means that each child receives what [they] need to develop to [their] full academic and social potential.
Working towards equity involves:
- Ensuring equally high outcomes for all participants in our educational system; removing the predictability of success or failures that currently correlates with any social or cultural factor
- Interrupting inequitable practices, examining biases, and creating inclusive multicultural school environments for adults and children
- Discovering and cultivating the unique gifts, talents and interests that every human possesses.
~National Equity Project
Fall Professional Learning Sessions
Fall Professional Learning Sessions are live in the HCP!
Sessions fill up quickly, so sign up today!
Please plan to attend for the full duration of the professional learning session. Your voice is important to the conversation that develops over the course of the day.
Please Note: You are welcome to attend any of the sessions at the top of the flyer, but you must complete Isolating Race before registering for the other capacity building sessions in the series. Once you take Isolating Race, you will then be eligible for the other sessions listed beneath it on the flyer.
Community Members! Your voices are valuable to our professional learning dialogue! If you are a new community member or you have not received the EventBrite invitations, please email us at cultural.proficiency@austinisd.org.
Share This With Your Campus No Place For Hate Sponsors!!!
Share This With Your Campus Administrators and Leadership Teams!!!!
Why Schools Should Be Organized To Prioritize Relationships
Culturally Responsive Restorative Practices
Restorative practices in Austin ISD builds on the foundation set out below:
Seven Core Assumptions About Human Beings
These are basic ideas that we believe to be true about human nature and our relationships to the world. It is important to be aware of one's core assumptions, because what we believe to be true shapes what we see. Our beliefs form the prism through which we see ourselves and others in the world.
- The true self in everyone is good, wise and powerful.
- The world is profoundly interconnected.
- All human beings have a deep desire to be in a good relationship.
- All humans have gifts, and everyone is needed for what they bring.
- Everything we need to make positive change is already here.
- Human beings are holistic.
- We need practices to build habits of living from the core self.
Education Innovation & Research (EIR) Grant
The U.S. Department of Education awarded a five-year, $3.5 million grant to Austin ISD in October of 2017 for school years' 2017 (Fall)–2022 (Fall). The Education Innovation and Research Grant is designed to support whole school implementation of culturally responsive restorative practices at six elementary schools (Barrington, Becker, Blazier, Blanton, Cook and Pickle) and four middle schools (Dobie, Mendez, Garcia YMLA and Burnet).
Dr. Angela M. Ward, Administrative Supervisor of Race Equity, is the EIR Grant Project Director. The grant provides one grant coordinator and seven Restorative Practices Associates (RPAs). Four RPAs support the middle schools, and three elementary RPAs support the elementary schools. The RPAs are closely aligned to support SEL, No Place for Hate, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, and Mental Health Centers.
The following questions guide the work of the EIR grant:
- How do we prepare third-grade students to be the sixth-grade students that will transform their feeder middle school into a culturally responsive restorative space?
- How do we prepare sixth-grade students to be the ninth-grade students that will transform their feeder high school into a culturally responsive restorative space?
For more information on Austin ISD Restorative Practices Contact
Dr. Angela M. Ward, Austin ISD Race and Equity
512-414-9591