We all have been challenged during the past 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents have had a lot of questions about students being safe and students have continued with their lessons under difficult and stressful environments. Teachers are always ready to adapt to keep students safe and provide any extra support to help them catch up on their learning. Many also are dealing with the grief over the loss of a family member or anxiety due to the pandemic.
This academic year we need to see with new eyes and not continue operating as if the last year and a half never happened. What did we learn in the last 18 months from the current pandemic that should inform the way we move forward? The old normal was not working for many of us.
We should consider what Gloria Ladson-Billings (I'm Here for the Hard Re-Set: Post Pandemic Pedagogy to Preserve Our Culture) calls an educational reset. In this educational reset, we have to address the language we use to describe learning during the past year and a half, from learning loss to the idea of unfinished learning. Unfinished learning recognizes that instruction was not at the same level as it looked pre-COVID-19 but also honors the teaching and learning that did take place during these challenging times. Learning loss, much like the language of the achievement gap, puts the onus on the students. You cannot lose what you did not have.
Respectfully,
Troy, Daryl, Deanna, Edvin, Ericka, Joan, Maniya, Marya, and Darwin
In This Issue:
Educational Reset
This August, when the Equity Initiatives Unit (EIU) staff met to develop the content for this EquityMatters edition, I volunteered to write this piece. I wanted to pose this question to others in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS): What does “educational reset” mean to you? What is the “restart” and why is this important? Here are the responses I received.
It’s Time... to Put the Books Down and Put Your Boots On
The start of a new academic year is a great time to think about your equity work. This section of the newsletter provides an opportunity to reflect on your work and to think about how to accelerate your work. On our journey to become an antiracist school district, we are witnessing lots of learning taking place in MCPS.
Each member of the EIU can cite examples of administrators, staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders that have exemplified a desire and commitment to increasing their capacity to do equity and antiracism work. Some are engaged in professional learning, book studies, or hosting family/community dialogues, while other courageous individuals are self-reflecting, forming equity/diversity school teams to develop their collective knowledge, and also working to increase their capacity to engage in effective dialogue around race and racism. These activities are so exciting and promising and yet, alone, they are not enough.
Each issue, Equity Instructional Specialist, Dr. Joan Mory, provides new, specific resources that can be used at meetings, in planning, and in the classroom, home, or community. They address different themes associated with teaching, learning, and leading. This month the focus will be on the educational reset.
Read the following two articles on what are best practices to address unfinished learning through an asset-based lens.
The Counter Story
The Counter Story is a monthly column that features the voices of MCPS students, families, and staff who are often marginalized in the media, curriculum, and our classrooms. Counterstories help us to interrupt our explicit and implicit biases, and to inspire us to action.
Listen to our colleague, Marya Hay, reflect on her own experiences as a Muslim American.
Those of us who were around on September 11, 2001 will never forget where we were when we heard or saw the footage of the two planes that were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. I was at the Center for Skillful Teaching, engaging with the content, when the room began to buzz about something going on in New York.
The instructor turned on the television and the images of the towers on fire was forever etched into my memory. Confusion, fear, and worry then set in and the only thing I wanted to do was get to my family. It is still hard for me to look at the footage from that day.
For the last 20 years since 9/11, hate crimes against Muslim Americans have increased nationally and locally. In MCPS there has been a lot of bullying and harassment because of students’ religions. As educators, are we creating opportunities for students to learn how othering leads to religious discrimination and hate? The more we know, the better potential we have for reducing bullying, hate, and violence because of religious differences.
Voices from MCPS on Hispanic Heritage Month
We sent a few emails to some colleagues and students with a request for them to share their perspectives for Hispanic Heritage Month. We could not have expected the powerful submissions that you will see and hear when you click on their names. We are grateful for the generosity, vulnerability, and beauty of our colleagues and students. We hope that you will listen to these stories with your colleagues and share with your students.
Please use the following questions to reflect: How are these stories similar or different from yours? In what ways do the stories provide you opportunities to make connections to the experiences of your Latino students or colleagues? What are some implications for your practice in connection to the educational experiences of your Latino students or colleagues?
Karla Silvestre is a member of the Board of Education and the former Latino Liaison for the County Executive.
Alicia Deeny is the proud principal at Richard Montgomery High School. She is the first Latina high school principal in MCPS.
Rodrigo Godínez is an instructional specialist in the Division of Title I and Early Childhood Programs and Services.
"This is an original song I wrote. It's named "Me Voy" and it's about leaving one's homeland to follow one's dreams of freedom, and at the same time being torn about it. It translates to 'I Leave' or 'I'm Leaving.'
Ernie Padilla is a Spanish teacher and the Grade 8 team leader at Briggs Chaney Middle School.
Evelyn Lemus-Romero is a Grade 10 student at Albert Einstein High School.
Ronald Lucena is an instructional specialist on the Bilingual Assessment Team.
America Arismendi Ruiz graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in June 2021.
Oliver Renato Fajardo is an instructional assessment specialist on the Bilingual Assessment Team at Rocking Horse Road Center.
Norma Villavicencio is dual language specialist and TWI instructional specialist in the department of ESOL
Geovany Rivera is an 12th grade student at Montgomery Blair High School. Geovany is a talented singer destined for American Idol!
He sings one of the most famous songs of iconic Mexican artist Jose Jose. Lo Pasado es Pasado is a love song about relinquishing the past and celebrating a new found love. Watch Geovany's performance below.
Distance Learning with Intention and Purpose
“COVID-19 has uncertainty shrouding the next days, weeks, and months. The challenges faced with teaching students were not birthed from this pandemic; they have just been exacerbated. School systems are now forced to see that what did not work for students in classrooms has also not been conducive to online learning. How can educators take this opportunity to reexamine the purpose of school for students and provide a safe space to continue to thrive as learners?” writes Marya Hay, instructional specialist, in the EIU.
Marya poses a reflection question to educators, which when pausing and examining closely, we realize that to transform learning spaces where students can be independent and in control of their learning, we must be willing to face our beliefs so we can see the impact our lives and worldview have on students. This is another form of seeing teaching and learning with new eyes.
After reading Marya's article, think about the idea of an educational reset by reflecting on the following questions:
- What policies, practices, procedures, and belief systems have marginalized students on your watch?
- In what ways do you leverage the experiences and knowledge that students bring to the classroom in your instruction?
- To what extent would your students identify your classroom as a "community of learners" that provides a safe space to allow them to take risks to grow and build their knowledge?
- How can you use the return to school as an opportunity to create community, build knowledge, and prioritize well-being and success at school for our most marginalized students and families?
What the Words Say
Many kids struggle with reading-and children of color are far less likely to get the help they need
After Reading Reflection
- What aspects of your Black and Latino students' abilities have you prejudged or underestimated as an educator?
- How have your students', or even your own children's, literacy levels impacted their success in school and beyond?
- What can you do differently in the fall to reimagine your classroom instruction and the impact it can have on the success of your Black and Brown students?
Achieving Academic Equity and Excellence for Black Boys
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has embarked upon some transformational work with the launch of the Achieving Academic Equity and Excellence for Black Boys (AAEEBB) initiative. For far too long, the disproportionality in Black boys' academic outcomes and discipline data has not been given the attention that it deserves. In fact, the acceptance of it has led to its normalization.
For the past year, MCPS Equity Specialist, Dr. Daryl Howard, has served as a leader in researching and writing recommendations to disrupt this trend. Similar to the MCPS Equity Initiatives module, Elevating the Black Male Student, the AAEEBB initiative explores the peril, and, more importantly, reestablishes the promise of Black boys across Maryland. Frances Scott Key Middle School and New Hampshire Estates Elementary School will serve as two of the 13 pilot programs in the state. Read here for more information or contact daryl_c_howard@mcpsmd.org with additional questions.
Free online professional learning from the National Equity Project
The National Equity Project has long been a great resource for the EIU to engage in deepening our work to support the district. They have several great webinars available for free.
Check Out Our E-Books
EQUITY TOOLS, MODULES & RESOURCES
The EIU has many resources for any type of equity work. Please visit https://bit.ly/MCPSEquityResources to find what you need, including resources for culturally responsive parent engagement, how to engage students in conversations on race, planning effective meetings, how to be an antiracist, and much more.
Past Editions of the Equity Matters Newsletters
Don't forget to complete The Bridge: From Implicit Bias to Antiracism Module
Evidence of Equity Impact Questions
These equity impact questions provide a systematic examination of how different racial and ethnic groups will likely be affected by a proposed action or decision. Use these questions as you are enacting new policies, initiatives, practices, and as part of the evaluation process to ensure equitable outcomes for all students, families, and staff. Deep equity work takes place when were are proactive in our approach.
What we are listening to
The EIU hopes this issue sparks discussion and actions on how we engage in an educational reset and using a new perspective to come back better.
Contact the EIU if you don't find what you need.
Credits:
Created with images by AtelierKS - "school bus america vehicles" • LubosHouska - "books bookstore book" • fizkes - "Thoughtful serious african man sit with laptop thinking of project"