Helping Leadership Teams and Professional Learning Communities
Create the Trust and Structures Needed to Address the Racial
Achievement Gap
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Racial, ethnic, and cultural differences among staff, students,
and parents affect student achievement and parent involvement at
this school.
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Some staff members do not have the awareness and skills
necessary to teach and develop relationships with African American
and Latino students.
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I am personally able to engage all students regardless of race,
ethnicity, and culture.
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The Leadership Team has the trust necessary to discuss racial
and ethnic barriers to student achievement and parent
involvement.
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I have the skills, strategies, and confidence to lead my team
in conversations about race, ethnicity, and culture.
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The Leadership Team has the skills, strategies, and confidence
to address teachers at the school who struggle to effectively teach
African American and Latino students.
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9
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Race impacts student achievement and parent involvement.
Schools teachers do not know how to build relationships and/or
teach African American and Latino students. Many staff and school
leaders do not have the skills, strategies and confidence on how to
talk about race with their staff. Leadership doesnt have the trust
necessary to have conversations on the impact of race, ethnicity,
and culture at the school. Leadership teams do not collectively
have the skills, strategies, and confidence to support teachers who
have demonstrated the need for help teaching African American and
Latino students.
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To create a Professional Learning Community that will have the
trust, skills, and confidence to address the persistent racial
achievement gap that adversely impacts Latino and African American
students academically at Parkland Middle School. 11 LONG-TERM
GOAL
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Study Circles provide a structure to help leadership teams:
Develop the trust, skills, and confidence needed to have an honest
dialogue about race. Challenge each other through on- going
conversations and exploration. Create a shared understanding of the
problem.
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The process is divided into three steps: Develop trust and
begin to understand each others experience. Step 1 Learn how to
talk about race with colleagues Explore different racial
experiences and viewpoints Step 2 Practice analyzing a problem
through a racial lens Step 3
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Develop trust and begin to understand each others experience.
Step 1
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15 Here is what Leadership Team members have said after Stage
One Openness to tell our stories and show our vulnerability and
empathy Its about moving the entire school forward and we cant do
that unless we bond, compromise and learn about each other. Learned
peoples perceptions, beliefs, what defines who you are, where they
are coming from. This activity opened up a window I understand how
slowly you have to go with this because you have to be able to
trust each other at another level to be able to talk about race
Feel like a wall was knocked down Not feeling judged by others
feeling more connected and safe We need to know each other to trust
each other It was important to work on our relationships and trust
before having the hard conversations
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Develop trust and begin to understand each others experience.
Step 1 Learn how to talk about race with colleagues Explore
different racial experiences and viewpoints Step 2
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Even though some is hard to hear, its good to know we are
getting somewherefinally. I feel that we have been able to have an
open and honest dialogue about race and how it affects our work Not
done, unfinished business, painful, honest, courageous, tense
Everyones stories and coming from different backgrounds and walks
of life and how that impacts our life Sense of commitment and
openness A shared vocabulary, open hearts and minds, vulnerability
There is much that I dont know and would like to know Hopeful. We
came together to discuss a difficult issue and we were productive I
am feeling excited about the trust we showed by speaking about our
experiences. I feel like being part of the solution! Here is what
Leadership Team members have said after Stage Two
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Develop trust and begin to understand each others experience.
Step 1 Learn how to talk about race with colleagues Explore
different racial experiences and viewpoints Step 2 Practice
analyzing a problem through a racial lens Step 3
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Begun to develop mutual trust and respect Heard and discussed
different perspectives and experiences Been given the opportunity
to challenge perceptions Started to create a shared understanding
of the problem Created mutual accountability By the end of the 3
steps, Leadership Teams will have:
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OUTCOMES FROM LEADERSHIP STUDY CIRCLES The school moved the
staffing positions to create an ESOL Support Teacher to support
ESOL students in the classroom. All staff and team meetings start
and end with the question, How do our decisions impact African
American and Latino students? The Staff Development Teacher created
a professional development plan for the staff on how middle school
students develop their racial identity and academic identify.
Perceptual data from stakeholder study circles are included in the
school improvement plan. The Leadership Team is speaking in one
voice on the need to address teacher beliefs and practices.
Leadership teams now use SMART-R goals (R is for Race
Conscious)
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21 Bringing in different viewpoints
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I feel equipped to look at situations from a lens of race and
equity and feel compelled to ask myself the questions, "Am I
walking against the moving sidewalk in the decisions that I make as
a leader?" I feel more comfortable having conversations about race
with my staff due to the work we have done as a team facilitated by
study circles. - Ms. Monifa McKnight, Principal Ridgeview Middle
School Providing us with the framework needed to keep the
importance of equity at the forefront of our decision-making will
offer each of the ILT members a tool to use when having those same
discussions or making the same decisions with others in the
building. - Ms. Sheila Harrison, Assistant Principal Kingsview
Middle School It has helped me to be honest about my feelings about
race to the ILT and the influence it has on academic achievement. -
Ms. Traci Townsend, Principal Earle B. Wood Middle School What
Principals Say
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WWW.MONTGOMERYSCHOOLSMD.ORG/DEPARTMENTS/STUDYCIRCLES
301-444-8630 For More Information