Welcome to Cluster 4 of the Engaging Equity professional learning series: Building Equitable Educational Systems.

In Cluster 1, we shared a set of foundational skills that can help educators develop the self-knowledge and skills to engage in conversations about racial equity. The Cluster 1 modules focused on examining core tensions that educators experience when engaging in racial dialogue. Cluster 1 explored implicit bias, racial identity, characteristics of dominant culture, and the intersectionality of these concepts.

In Cluster 2, we focused on the role of culturally responsive and sustaining education in teaching and learning. We began by examining how educators’ self-awareness and skills related to inclusiveness and responsiveness are foundational to creating welcoming, affirming, and empowering environments for students. We then dove into specific instructional strategies that educators can use to engage students in culturally responsive and sustaining learning.

In Cluster 3, we applied the principles of culturally responsive and sustaining education to specific student and family populations. We explored traits of high-quality instruction for multilingual learners and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogical approaches for working with Indigenous students. The cluster then ended with application activities utilizing strategies to disrupt disproportionality for students of color with disabilities and ways to authentically engage with families and communities to improve learning conditions and outcomes for historically marginalized populations.

In this cluster, we’ll continue to apply these equity mindsets and culturally responsive and sustaining instructional strategies to understanding the systemic aspects of education, such as how assessments, student data and school and district resources are utilized to bring about equity.