NorCal Educator's Digest
August 2022NorCal ELC’s 2022 Summer Leadership Institute
What would it mean to design at the margins? This is the heart of transformation in education.
This equity-driven quote from Gretchen Livesey, Turnaround for Children was the centerpiece of her keynote – Approaching Problems of Practice with a Whole-Child Lens, at NorCal ELC’s Summer Leadership Institute held on June 21st and 22nd. Two days of learning, sharing, and networking wrapped up NorCal ELC’s second year of support for educational leaders and introduced new year 3 leaders to our approach.
Gretchen’s keynote began with an introduction to the five principles that anchor the whole child approach :
- Development is bi-directional. Context matters. Learning is integrated. Pathways are unique. Student voice is critical.
Next, we viewed a portion of a video, The Myth of Average , Ted X by Todd Rose that invited us to “ban the average” and “design to edges”, suggesting that when we design for the average, we design for no one. Participant responses to this portion of the keynote highlighted how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is closely linked to this concept of designing for the edges.
The keynote session also included breakout rooms for participants to connect and discuss their Problem of Practice, considering it through a whole-child equity lens by using the Problem Statement Analysis Tool (Google Doc) (Google Doc) from Turnaround for Children. This analysis tool includes questions like: “How inclusive is your problem statement? Does it include both those affected by the problem and those causing or perpetuating it? Is your relationship to the problem also named?” For NorCal ELC participants whose work is centered around addressing problems of practice, this was an excellent activity to elevate equity.
Day two of the Summer Institute included five-minute presentations by each of the teams that participated in the NorCal ELC for the past year. Presentations represented the improvement journey of each team and included topics related to math, professional learning communities, social and emotional learning, multi-tiered systems of support, and others.
Recordings of the Keynote and Content Session presentations are available for viewing here(opens in new window)(opens in new window).
For more information about the NorCal ELC and the NorCal ELC Summer Leadership Institute, contact Dr. Michael Kotar.
Leading for Equity: Take It Up!
During the 2020-2021 school year, the California Department of Education (CDE) in partnership with the National Equity Project convened educators from across the state for four sessions in which the educators:
- Aligned around shared language and understanding of concepts related to equity, bias, oppression, and advantage Surfaced and examined our systems’ equity situation and challenges to develop a better understanding of the contributing factors that might be holding those challenges in place Considered what it will take to disrupt problematic ways of working and catalyze opportunities for change and action in our system, and in the districts and schools we support Supported ourselves and our colleagues to design and deliver equity-centered professional learning and technical support to schools and districts
The National Equity Project recently launched a website that follows the CDE sessions. This online resource features an overview of each learning session, as well as linked resources and recommendations on taking the work forward so that more educators are supported to elevate their equity work. The four learning sessions are:
- Understanding and Counteracting Implicit Bias Designing and Facilitating Meetings for Equity Coaching for Equity Navigating Complexity as Equity Leaders
As with all conversations and work related to equity, move forward with care, center the experiences and voices of BIPOC youth and families, and remember that everyone is starting from their own place.
CA MTSS Sub-Grants for New Applicants
The California Department of Education, in partnership with the Orange County Department of Education and the Butte County Office of Education, is pleased to announce an opportunity for Phase 3 CA MTSS Request For Application . This grant, offered previously, is for additional school sites and LEAs to build capacity to support the implementation of a multi-tiered system of support to improve outcomes for all learners. Funds can be used for stipends for staff as they complete the online modules and related activities as well as other MTSS expenses. Applications are due October 15, 2022. View the flyer and share!
Award amounts offered:
- Individual school with up to 1,000 students - $50,000; over 1,000 students - $100,000. Apply as a consortium: up to 5 schools and one lead agency, will receive $50,000 each, plus the lead agency will receive $15,000 for fiscal and contract support. Maximum available funding: $315,000 Apply as a COE to build coaching capacity: $50,000
Public Schools, Public Charter Schools, County Run Schools, and County Office of Education schools are eligible, except those already involved in Phase 3. For more information see the Orange County Department of Education’s website.
KQED Free Media Literacy and Media Making Resources
KQED, the PBS and NPR station from San Francisco, has free online and in-person media courses for teachers that build confidence to create digital media for classroom use, teach students to create media, and teach media literacy and civic engagement. There is even the PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification program for teachers who want to learn and create more. The course catalog includes asynchronous online workshops as well as in-person workshops. Here are three highlights:
Online workshops In-person workshops- Civic engagement -- Call for Change Youth Media Challenge for students
Proactive Relationship Building Ideas from Edutopia
July 2022 news from the Classroom Management section of Edutopia reminds us all to work on relationship building with our students. Here are three stories with tips and techniques for doing just that from day 1.
NorCal ELC -- Year 3 Starts August 29
You attended the Summer Leadership Institute, got a bit of rest, and are ready for the new school year. Whether you are a NEW or Returning NorCal ELC team lead or member, join us for a mandatory orientation to a year of professional learning and support focused on equity, continuous improvement, and building leadership capacity for great North State schools.
Orientation will be held on August 29th, from 3:30 - 5:30 PM via Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed to you.
If you have questions about Cohort 3 for NorCal ELC, contact Dr. Michael Kotar.