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Dignity, Engagement

& Individualization

A renewed framework for greater equity in our schools

NJ Association of Educational Leaders

March 13, 2024

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Ken Greene

Retired Superintendent, Newton Public Schools

Past President, NJ Association of School Administrators

Educational Consultant focused on Equity, Leadership & Policy

Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis, Teachers College, Columbia University

Regional Coordinator, NJ Consortium for Excellence through Equity

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Today’s Objectives

  1. Clarify relevant state regulations.
  2. Consider a different DEI paradigm that applies to every student.
  3. Offer ideas for resources and activities to ignite discussion and action in your schools.

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Managing for Equality and Equity (N.J.A.C. 6A:7)

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  • Code reauthorized in 2023 (6-5 state BOE vote, 856 public comments)
  • Meaningful changes:
  • Promote equal equitable educational opportunity…
  • ECS can review and determine the plan is incomplete and needs to be modified.
  • Professional development shall be differentiated based on staff position type and shall be based on the analysis of data.
  • Portions of classes that deal exclusively with human sexuality may be conducted in separate developmentally appropriate sessions for male and female students based on gender identity, provided the course content for such separately conducted sessions is the same.

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Managing for Equality and Equity (N.J.A.C. 6A:7)

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Boards of Education must:

  1. Recognize and value the diversity of persons and groups within the community and promote the acceptance of persons of diverse backgrounds
  2. Promote equitable educational opportunity and foster through the policies, programs, and practices of the district board of education a learning environment that is free from all forms of prejudice, discrimination, and harassment
  3. Inform the school community of its policies
  4. Identify and correct all discriminatory and inequitable policies, programs, practices and conditions within the schools

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Ongoing District Requirements

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  • Designate an Affirmative Action Officer (often the Title IX Coordinator) and form an Affirmative Action Team
  • Provide all students with equitable and bias-free access to all school facilities, courses, programs, activities, and services
  • Ensure that curriculum and instruction address the elimination of discrimination by narrowing the achievement and opportunity gaps
  • Ensure the school district's physical education is in a co-educational setting that is developmentally appropriate and does not discriminate

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Ongoing District Requirements

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  • Ensure all students have access to adequate and appropriate counseling services
  • Provide professional development training for all school personnel to identify and resolve problems associated with student achievement and opportunity gaps and other inequities (includes all new employees within 90 days of hiring)

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The Process *

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  • Form an Affirmative Action Team
  • Conduct a Needs Assessment in each school
  • Develop the Comprehensive Equity Plan based on the needs assessment

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* Also, complete the statement of assurance, obtain board resolutions, and submit the package to the county office for review and approval. To be done once every three years; last one was for 2019-22, put on hold since.

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How can we move beyond

state requirements?

Move from a conceptual approach to equity

to an operational one

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Equity

A central goal and our north star … excellence through equity

It can be defined as creating the conditions in schools and classrooms where children can develop their own uniqueness

It can be measured by the reduction of achievement gaps academically, socially, emotionally, spiritually, and/or physically

It can be activated by reducing or eliminating barriers as much or even more than providing supports

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How are we setting up our school systems

for all of our children

so they can develop their own uniqueness?

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Equity is not about fixing kids,

it’s about fixing their environment

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EQUALITY

ENHANCING EQUITY by PROVIDING SUPPORTS

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ENHANCING EQUITY by REDUCING BARRIERS

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Breakout

How are you defining equity in your school district?

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How does equity fit into your teams, your assessments, and/or your plans?

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What barriers might we be able to consider reducing or eliminating?

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The Traditional Concepts of DEI

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Diversity

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Equity

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Inclusion

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Questions About the Traditional DEI

Diversity is not really a goal: it is our reality.

How can we appreciate and honor it?

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Equity is a central goal, our north star.

How can we elevate and promote it?

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Inclusion has been an objective for over 40 years.

How can we move closer to realizing it?

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An Action-Focused DEI toward

a Goal of Greater Equity for Every Student

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Diversity

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Equity

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Inclusion

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Dignity

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Engagement

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Individualization

from concept to operation

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Dignity

Dignity can be defined as the equal value and worth of each human in all our diversity

Unlike respect, it is neither given nor earned, it cannot be lost or taken

We can choose to honor each student’s dignity through appreciation, validation, acceptance, and fair treatment.

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Engagement

Student engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught. *

Disengaged students exhibit lower grades and test scores, less involvement in student activities, chronic absenteeism, and higher behavioral incidents. Often, the longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become.

Engagement can be improved with effective classroom practices based on neuroscience and modern psychology.

* https://www.edglossary.org/student-engagement

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Individualization

Identify the essential force that drives each of us

Construct a deep understanding of each person’s unique and distinctive qualities

Support the development of their innate talents into functional strengths through skill and knowledge building in inclusive environments

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EQUITY

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Individualization

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Engagement

Dignity

Increased Access, Sense of Belonging & Social Justice

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Breakout

Dignity, Engagement & Individualization

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  1. Where do we see (or not see) evidence of these in our schools?
  2. What would it look like if they became a school/classroom priority?
  3. How could we begin to build greater capacity in these areas?

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Resources on Dignity

Hicks (2011) defines dignity as “an internal state of peace that comes with the recognition and acceptance of the value and vulnerability of all living things.” The author moves through the psychological and evolutionary foundations that implore us to honor the dignity of others as their birthright, as a key to developing strong relationships, and as a basis of conflict resolution. Its application is essential to developing just cultures in schools and classrooms.

Cobb and Krownapple (2019) argue that educators must consider the foundational elements upon which educational equity is based: belonging and dignity. Once these fundamental human needs are understood, educators can gain clarity on the barriers to meaningful student relationships, especially across dimensions of difference such as race, class, and culture.

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Resources on Engagement

Hammond (2015) grounds her work in the latest neuroscience discoveries. “When the brain encounters information, especially during the act of reading and learning, it’s searching for and making connections to what is personally relevant and meaningful … based on his or her cultural frame of reference.” The text goes on to show educators how using culturally responsive teaching leads to authentically engaging students in rigorous curricula.

Shirley & Hargreaves (2021) integrate sociological and psychological perspectives to show why active student engagement is the new frontier of getting more students to higher levels of achievement. Identifying research-based strategies, common misconceptions, and typical obstructions lead the authors to their five paths to student engagement: intrinsic value, importance, association, empowerment, and mastery.

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Resources on Individualization

Liesveld, Miller, and Robison (2005) apply decades of research and psychology behind the CliftonStrengths assessment to demonstrate how great teachers make the most of their natural talents. We need to help educators understand their individual themes of talent and how to develop them, so they can guide students as they uncover and grow theirs. This book provides an introduction to the strengths-based approach, and the assessment results are supported by individualized action planning guides.

Pate (2020) traces the roots of low expectations, disconnection, and other barriers to success back to pervasive negative stereotypes of which children are made aware before they even walk through the school door. The cumulative weight of these eventually takes shape as “guilt”, which inhibits students' engagement, learning, and relationships and hurts their prospects for the future. The solution is to create an innocent classroom, liberated from bias and negative narratives where all children believe they can thrive and achieve. To do this, we must get to know the essence of what drives each child.

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Dignity

Engagement

Individualization

Mission Statements

Policy Reviews

Book Studies

Survey Questions

Learning Communities

Equity Audits

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Book Study

  1. Gather with colleagues interested in learning more about dignity, engagement or individualization, and seek consensus on a book at the right level of learning for the group.
  2. Choose a facilitator, schedule meetings (about 45-60 minutes each), and set a reasonable reading load between meetings (e.g., no more than two chapters over a month).
  3. Agree to use productive discussion protocols:
    1. Suspend your assumptions, while emphasizing clarification and amplification of ideas.
    2. Listen actively – get below the surface of what people are saying, build on what others say, don't step on others' words, silences and pauses are okay.
    3. When speaking, refer directly to pages in the text – challenge others to do so as well.
    4. Converse directly – no need to go through the facilitator, let the conversation flow as much as possible without raising hands or taking turns.
    5. Watch your airtime, both in terms of how often you speak, and in terms of how much you say when you speak.

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Learning Community

  • Similar to book studies but more open-ended, relying on community members to do their own reading and research on dignity, engagement or individualization.
  • The community should establish operational norms, develop agendas collaboratively in advance, and close each meeting with next steps to be taken before the next session.
  • The community should come to consensus at the beginning on clear outcomes toward which the members are striving.
  • All community members should bring and share ideas for discussion topics, text passages, journal articles, podcasts, emerging questions, and/or other options back to the group for consideration.

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Mission Statement

  • Organize a task team with diverse perspectives to read and dissect your district mission statement (or a school or departmental one if those exist).
  • Gather examples with desirable language from other districts and review them with the team.
  • What is the emphasis on dignity, engagement or individualization or related words? Is this sufficient or could the statement be amended to focus on the word more specifically?
  • Identify how many times antonyms appear. These may be opportunities for rephrasing into positive expectations.
  • Draft edits to the mission statement and present them for consideration.

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Policy Review

  • Organize a task team with diverse perspectives to select a policy that deals with academic expectations, code of conduct, behavioral norms, school culture, or any other that impacts your work directly.
  • Read the policy and identify how many times dignity, engagement or individualization or related words appear. Is this sufficient or could the policy be amended to focus on it more specifically?
  • Identify how many times antonyms appear. These may be opportunities for rephrasing into positive expectations.
  • Draft edits to the policy and present them for consideration.

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Survey Questions

Insert some questions into existing assessments (e.g., school climate surveys) that get at whether dignity, engagement or individualization is:

  1. Understood as a priority in the classroom
  2. Being promoted and felt by your staff
  3. Being displayed and felt by your students (remember to disaggregate the data)
  4. Impacting families in a positive way
  5. Resulting in the narrowing of achievement gaps (e.g., academic, social, emotional, behavioral, physical)

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Equity Audit

  • Organize a task team with diverse perspectives to review formats of equity audits and select one that matches what the team is seeking on dignity, engagement or individualization. The better formats tend to combine methodologies such as using quantitative and qualitative measures.
  • Identify the data to be gathered for inspection and analysis. This should be done using multiple years of data, disaggregated to include important student characteristics.
  • Analyze the data using appropriate tools (e.g., spreadsheets, charts, tables, graphics, narratives)
  • Draft a report and present it for consideration.

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Breakout

How might these be useful starting point(s)

for cohorts of interested leaders or for individual districts/clusters?

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  1. Book studies and learning communities
  2. Mission statements and policy reviews
  3. Survey questions and equity audits

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Considering Next Steps (even small ones can be important)

    • Book studies
    • Learning communities
    • Policy reviews
    • Mission statements
    • Survey questions
    • Equity audits

Other ideas ??

Consider building a professional learning series

on dignity, engagement, individualization

through one or more of these activities:

Again, any of these could be designed

for cohorts of interested leaders or for individual districts/clusters.

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Additional Resources

  • NJ Consortia for Excellence through Equity - NJCEE is a partnership between NJASA and the UPenn Coalition for Educational Equity that offers workshops, webinars, author q&a sessions, and other events
  • Equity in Education Dashboard - The National Center for Educational Statistics provides key research findings to bolster the need for equity-based action
  • Classroom Resources - NJDOE offers sample activities, culturally responsive practices, and tools for evaluating instructional materials
  • Student Engagement Practices - Tips from Marzano and McRel around creating a more engaging classroom

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Questions?

Discussion?

Email: kennedygreene.edu@gmail.com

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/kennedygreene

Presentation: http://tinyurl.com/yc353md8