- Dothan City Schools
- Equity Action Plan
Dothan City Schools Equity Action Plan
-
The DCS Culturally Inspired Expertise Professional Learning Community Team Members gathered as a committee to address inequities in academic achievement between subgroups as evidenced in 2 years of state assessment data (Scantron/Performance Series) as well as local benchmark data (NWEA Maps) for the 2019/20 school year. This committee of 15 members across all aspects of the instructional community in DCS met monthly throughout this school year to discuss ways to address this gap in learning for our students. Our process for arriving at our Equity Action Plan began with a book study (Hammond, Z. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin Press).
As we engaged with the content of this work, we reached out to various resources i.e. data gathering within our schools and school community to ascertain the breadth and depth of cultural responsiveness understanding and equity in access to devices or Internet, in addition to support provided by Dr. Deloris Lindsey and colleagues in their work (Robins, K. N., Lindsey, R. B., Lindsey, D. B., & Terrell, R. D. (Eds.). (2005). Culturally proficient instruction: A guide for people who teach. Corwin Press). Using this knowledge, we collaborated, researched, and developed the following plan for moving DCS forward.
-
Phase 1: Investigate Implementation Practices
- To focus attention and awareness on instructional strategies and unconscious bias that undergird poor academic performance for students of color in Dothan City
- To focus attention and implementation on equal access to devices and internet; every classroom (interdisciplinary) addressing vocabulary; high quality instruction and professional development – blended approach; ongoing communication plan with parents and
-
Phase 2: Empower Stakeholders for Inclusive Partnering
- To focus on community partnerships for “Inclusive Partnering and Capacity Building” in valuing
- To focus on empowering staff, students, parents, community in institutionalizing cultural
-
Phase 3: Institutionalize Cultural Knowledge
- To monitor lessons learned to address institutionalizing cultural knowledge embedded in our
- To monitor and manage ongoing online available tutorial sessions created as professional development and self-help for teachers, students, parents, and
Action Research
-
Abstract/Rationale/Process
The Culturally Inspired Expertise Professional Learning Committee Team Members gathered as a committee to address inequities in academic achievement between subgroups as evidenced in 2 years of state assessment data as well as local benchmark data for the 2019/20 school year. This committee of 15 members across all aspects of the instructional community in our school district met monthly throughout to discuss ways to address this gap in learning for our students. Our process for arriving at our Equity Action Plan began with a book study Hammond, Z. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin Press).
-
Outcomes
We want educators to know and be able to implement guidelines for addressing cultural proficiency instructional practices to close achievement gaps between subgroups. We want educators to know and be able to implement guidelines for addressing stakeholder relationships in regard to barriers with socioeconomic status and equal access to online learning
We will measure success by our state and benchmark data reflecting closing achievement gaps among subgroups; internal and external climate surveys, implementation surveys, and reflections through Q/A documentation; school culture and climate data i.e. discipline data, SPED/ELL students, poverty/non- poverty. We will measure success with evaluation feedback 3 times a year through surveys for implementation via staff, students, parents, community.
-
Sources:
Hammond, Z. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin Press).
Robins, K. N., Lindsey, R. B., Lindsey, D. B., & Terrell, R. D. (Eds.). (2005). Culturally proficient instruction: A guide for people who teach. Corwin Press
