Strand 4: Equity in Tiered Systems of Support
Participants will examine division and school data to identify areas of need for various identity groups as well as opportunities to increase family engagement and equitable practices. By the end of the March session, participants will create goals for targeted groups and identify specific strategies to better engage families and support the success of all students. This strand is best for division level teams that have completed Strand 1. While it is optimal that teams have also completed Strand 2 and 3 and therefore have some experience implementing a tiered framework, it is also acceptable for teams to discuss the appropriateness of participating in this strand with their VTSS Systems Coaches prior to attending Strands 2 or 3.
In this session, division leaders will focus on increasing student outcomes through equitable practices. Participants will examine available data and the core components of Cultural Responsiveness/Equity to better understand the current implementation of practices, identify barriers and craft goals and actionable steps for supporting students and faculty/staff across identity groups. These goals and action steps will serve as the focus for remaining Professional Learning events in December and March.
Learning Intentions for Session A:
- Explore components of cultural responsiveness.
- Analyze division, school, and classroom data through an equity lens, focusing on the inequities that lie at the root of the data.
- Address how biases and behaviors such as microaggressions, deficit thinking, and colorblindness undermine student success.
- Review existing initiative/resource maps to identify current practices targeting equity and evaluate the effectiveness of these practices/initiatives.
Materials:
In this session, division leaders will focus on increasing student outcomes through equitable practices. Division teams will review model definitions of equity and develop a draft definition for their division in order to focus their Equity work, review the equity calculations they completed following the October event and set priorities to focus their Equity work for the next 6-12 months. Teams will also explore an Equity Audit tool currently used in Virginia and hear from a division in the commonwealth that is actively addressing Equity.
Learning Intentions for Session B:
- Develop Division and/or team definition of equity.
- Review data calculations from the October session.
- Prioritize areas of concern in order to focus on further analysis.
- Analyze an Equity Audit as a potential tool to facilitate Gap/Root Cause Analysis.
- Examine the experience of a VTSS Division currently working to implement equitable practices for all of their students.
Materials:
In this session, division leaders will focus on increasing student outcomes through equitable practices. Participants will finish the day with a complete plan to accomplish three things: 1) implement an equity audit, 2) determine division-level supports for inequities in schools, and 3) communicate the importance of educational equity to division stakeholders.
Learning Intentions for Session C:
- Create a plan for completing an Equity Audit that includes:
- Choosing an equity audit that aligns with the division's vision of educational equity.
- Determining possible data sources to provide evidence of the implementation of equitable practices and systems within the school division.
- Identifying when and how the audit will be conducted and how that process will be communicated to appropriate stakeholders/participants.
- Analyze current policies and practices through an equity lens by utilizing the PBIS Cultural Responsiveness Field Guide.
- Determine division support to assist schools in addressing found inequities.
- Develop a communication plan to emphasize the importance of educational equity to all stakeholders.