1. Coaching & Leading for Racial Equity Institute- Session 1
November 1, 2016
Coaching & Leading for Racial Equity Institute- Session 1
Nikum Pon, PhD | Equity in Education
Marion Smith Jr., EdD | K-12 Learning, Leadership & Student Success

2. Who’s in the Room

3. Facilitator Context
Nikum Pon, PhD
Marion Smith Jr., EdD

4. Breakfast for the Brain
Please state the color of the text
Blue
Red
Green
Black
Green
Red
Blue
Black
Black
Blue
Green
Red
Quick Activity to get participants in the room engaged; stimulate the brain per neuroscience research
Green
Green
Black
Blue

5. Setting the Stage
“Imagine that upon your arrival at an airline ticket counter, you are
told that only 65 percent of the flights to your intended destination
actually even arrive. The remainder crash en route. And, if you are a
child of color, or poor, you are required to fly on special, poorly
Maintained planes—of which only 35 percent make it. Sounds crazy,
right? But this is exactly the deal that, as a nation, we are serving up
daily to millions of children in thousands of our public schools.”
from Crash Course by Chris Whittle

6. Connecting the Work Clarity Coherence Alignment Beliefs Being
Behaviors
Beliefs | Behaviors | Being

7. Guiding Question
What leadership moves do I implement to disrupt and dismantle inequitable practices and systems so that all students have equitable access to resources and achieve at high levels?

8. Who Do We Serve?
Student Profiles Quick Read Activity <use National School Reform Faculty Student Profiles for Equity Discussion>

9. Using Our Lenses Learner Teacher Teacher Leader
Explain the three lenses. You are a learner, building your own knowledge base. You are a teacher, thinking about how ideas apply to students in the classroom. You are a teacher leader, considering how to share your learning with colleagues and facilitate positive change.

10. Learning Targets
Calibrate a collective working definition of “equity” and “racial equity” related to strengthening student educational outcomes
Name and identify our cultural filters, stereotypes, biases & judgments
Engage in experiential learning activities that may be used to engage members of a school community in the issue of racial equity in student learning
Examine potential inconsistencies between and among beliefs, language, and actions regarding equity in student learning
Identify a core racial equity challenge in our work

11. Explain that this will be the process we use throughout our learning time together.

12. Singleton, G. “Courageous Conversations about Race”
The Agreements
Stay Engaged
Don’t Let your heart and mind check out!
Experience Discomfort
Agree to experience discomfort so that we can deal
with issues of race in an honest way.
Speak your truth
Be honest about your thoughts, feelings and opinions.
Say them in a way that is true for you.
Expect and accept non-closure
Accept that you will not reach closure in your understandings about race and race relations. There is no such thing as a “quick fix.”
Singleton, G. “Courageous Conversations about Race”
Read aloud and share personal examples. Have participants reflect on which one will be the most challenging for them and share with an elbow partner with a commitment to practice the agreement.
*** Introduce the Disequilibrium
***Tying in AntiRacist MultiCultural Organization
***Dismantling racial oppression
***Discuss what Speaking Your Truth

13. The Agreements Vs Introduce as an Agreement AND a Strategy/Skill
This is a very important agreement to have because sometimes a comment is made by a well-intentioned person, however the impact of the comment can be hurtful or painful to someone else. It is the impact that perpetuates bias. In these situations, it is important for the person on the receiving end of the comment to have the chance to ask about the intention behind the comment. Equally, the person making the comment needs to have a chance to clarify his/her comment and to also apologize for the impact, regardless of the intent behind it. We are all learning together and its important that we are able to set up a space where people feel comfortable sharing their truths while also understanding that sometimes, our words may carry an impact that was not intended.
For example, if someone makes the statement, “I am a woman, so I totally understand what it’s like to be discriminated against as a person of color.” The person may be well-intentioned – perhaps seeking a way to identify with a person of color around discrimination. However, to a person of color, is hurtful. Experiencing discrimination as a woman person is not the same experience as being discriminated against as a person of color. They are both very painful forms of discrimination, however they are different.
Its important while we are learning together, that we create space for people to check out each other’s intentions by using the focusing frames. It is also important that if we make comments that have an impact, that we seek to understand and apologize for the impact. We would like participants to use these focusing frames during the training so that intentions and impact can be clarified and addressed.

14. “Today will be a success for me when I…”
Success Criteria
“Today will be a success for me when I…”
Participants write out their information (on post-it notes) and place the information on the “Success Stop” sign posted in the room.

15. Advocate and Systematize
Collaborate and Implement
Leadership of Self
Leadership of Others
Leadership in the Extended Community
3 ways you’ll be thinking about your leadership:
-leadership of self—being able to know and model the work
-leadership of others—being able to collaborate and implement the work
-leadership in the extended community—being able to advocate for and systematize the work

16. Exploring Our Identities
Ask entire group: What can an iceberg teach us about exploring identity?
What is visible? What is invisible?
What does the iceberg and education/shifting system have in common?

17. Your identity map
= Visible = Invisible

18. Nikum’s identity map Visible indicators
Male
Asian- American
Able bodied

19. Nikum’s identity map invisible indicators
Christian
Husband
Father
Youngest of seven siblings
Cambodian refugee

20. Your identity map Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Culture/Customs
Identity consists of, but not limited to:
Who you are
What you are
Where you are from
Your life experiences
Race/Ethnicity
Ablenes/Differently Able
Religion/Spirituality
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity
Culture/Customs
Socio-economic Status
Community
Language
Learning Style

21. Identity Map One-to-One Sharing
Share your map with 1 other person who you believe is most different than you, discussing the following:
What are the significant elements that you chose to place on your Map?
What about these elements makes them significant to you?
What elements most drive your values & interactions with others?

22. Diversity Toss Activity
Give each participant five blank index cards. Ask participants to write the following
information on their cards, one item per card and not to share the information with others
Their first name or the name used most often
Race of ethnic group
Gender
Religion (what is practiced now or the tradition they were raised in)
Another dimension that is very important to the participant
’s self-image or identity, such as
marital status, parental status, occupation, native language, military experience, etc. 2 .
Have participants form small groups of four to five people. 3
Tell participants to look at their cards and decide which item is least important to
them
(easiest to give up) and to throw that card into the middle of the group (like
playing poker). 4
Repeat the process two more times. Stop when each person has two cards remaining. 5
Once all but two cards are discarded have the student sitting to the left of
the cardholder take
one of the cards and discard it. 6
Each person briefly tells the group what they gave up and why. And how they fel
t to have
one of their remaining identities taken from them. 7
Now ask the participants to briefly tell their group what they kept and why. 8
Reconvene in a large group and ask for reactions. Be sure to ask several volunteers what
item
they held onto and why. Names, ethnicity, and religion are popular items to ho
ld. Ask other
questions such as:
How did you feel during this activity?
What did you learn about yourself? About your group members?
How might this activity relate to the real-life experience of students in our cl
assrooms? Or
what do some students have to “give up” in order to fit in at school?
How do institutional structures take identity away?
(Adapted from Inquire Within: A Teaching Tolerance In-Service)

23. Think-Pair-Share
What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about your group members?
How might this activity relate to the real-life experience(s) of students in our district?
What do some students have to “give up” in order to fit in to the system?

24. Before we can address the problem or even act on the problem, we need to be able to identify the problem with all of its complexities.
We also need to be able to see “ourselves” in the problem.
Understanding the problem deeply is the first step then in the cycle of inquiry where we understand the problem, identify strategies that will address the problems, take action on it, and then evaluate progress.
If we don’t understand the true problem, then we assign solutions that propogate the underachievement of our students.
Given our achievement gaps, how do we want to spend our year? Looking out the window at pointing the vast array of factors that we have no control over? Or are we really going to commit to looking at ourselves?
As Rick DuFour points out, when educators and parents look in the mirror, they are forced to develop a "can-do" list of actions for how they themselves can improve schools and better support children.
When they look out the window toward others, they produce an "if only" approach to reform--one where children can be helped if only others would take action to become better parents, teachers, or school leaders.

25. Visible Invisible Appearance Actions & Behaviors Language History
Values
Beliefs
Culture
Knowing our identity is a critical first step as we grow in our awareness and skill in becoming more and more culturally competent. Our perceptions lead to stories which lead to our beliefs. After break we will have an activity that exemplifies this.
Invisible
Motivations

28. Bias: Implicit | Unconscious
“The attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.”
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review 2014, p.16,
Unconscious bias is pervasive
Everyone has them, even people that have taken a vow to be impartial, like judges, have unconscious biases. Studies have shown that we’re all susceptible to cultural stereotypes—about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, politics, age, personality type, class, and physical attributes. We may not even be aware that some of these prejudices have taken root in us.
Unconscious bias is based on pervasive cultural stereotypes.
These run the gamut from seemingly positive ideas like Asians being better at math to more obviously unfair ones like women being less competent than men.
Unconscious bias has practical consequences.
It gives some people an unfair advantage and puts others at a disadvantage. It’s responsible for dissatisfaction and lack of productivity in the workplace.
Unconscious bias is just that unconscious.
We may not even realize that it’s influencing us. People who consciously value racial or other forms of equality can act and make decisions based on biases without being aware that they have any biases at all…*Unconscious bias is outside of our awareness!
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review 2014,

29. Vision Test by Wes Kim
Let’s watch this short video – stay alert to your reactions and insights as you watch together.

30. Dyads What stood out for you?
What patterns do you notice in the issues that are surfacing for you?
How might you build alliances to move forward in making decisions that interrupt inequitable thinking and/or practices?
With a partner discuss…
Then large group shareback

31. Our Brains in Action —
Filling in the Gaps

32. “Whodunnit?” Video: Power Of Observation

33. What we do depends on what we see
What we do depends on what we see. What we do depends on what we choose to see.

34. What does this have to do with our work?
It’s “easy” to miss something you’re not looking for
We focus on (and make-meaning) based on what has or has not been “called-out”
Our implicit and explicit ways of thinking shape our practices and views about students
Leading with racial equity and engaging in these critical conversations to impact practice is THE WORK 34

36. Equity in Education Definition
Raising the achievement of all students while narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest performing students and eliminating the racial predictability and disproportionality of which student groups occupy the highest and lowest achievement categories.

37. Know Your Why
Video:

38. Why lead with equity?
Three quarters of state prison in-mates are drop outs. In addition, 90% of 11,000 youth in adult detention facilities have no more than a 9th grade education.
Third grade reading score is used as a predictor to determine the number jail cells to build since 75% of students who do not pass will end up there.
Source: American Youth Policy Forum

39. PSESD Region

40. Why lead with racial equity?
“The most troublesome achievement gap is the racial gap—the difference in student achievement between White and Asian students and their Black, Latino, Native American, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander counterparts. Without question, poverty and wealth impact student achievement as well. Statistically, however, even within the same economic strata, there is an achievement gap based on race.” – Glenn Singleton

41. What do you see?

42. A Closer Look

43. Environmental Scan “That’s not how we do that here”
Culture of the Purple Heart
Efficient vs. Effective

44. Moises’ Story 6-7 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Y0HAjLKYI
Video Clip. DVD. Please be sure to stop the video clip when the teacher is saying – Yes, it’s important (after Moises is asking for the test translation).
Moises is a newcommer in a 5th grade classroom. He is about to take his first state assessment in the United States. It is difficult to understand what it is like to be an ELL student if you’ve never had the experience of being one yourself. This video does a nice job of putting you in the shoes of the ELL student and what it feels like to sit in a classroom when a language is being spoken that is not your own.
Pay attention to the strengths that Moises has, his challenges, and look at what the teacher is doing during the lesson. Is there something she can do differently?

45. What is my “WHY” in this work?

46. LUNCH
12pm

48. Change: Leading from the Inside Out
Perspective #1
Perspective #2

49. Evidence of Adult Behavior Change & Student Impact
WILL
SKILL
CAPACITY
Evidence of Adult Behavior Change & Student Impact

50. “Professional Development”
This is
“Professional Development”
We cannot expect dramatically different / better student educational outcomes without dramatically different teaching and leading. School and district leaders know students cannot achieve without effective teaching, yet we consistently underestimate the challenge of delivering it in every classroom. If we were to substitute the words “adult behavior change” every time we hear the words “professional development” or “professional learning,” we will begin to see more clearly the gravity of the challenge we face– and think more creatively about possible solutions.

51. “ Adult Behavior Change”
This is
“ Adult Behavior Change”

52. Turn and Talk about how this image may represent your organization

54. Our role is to interrupt the pattern
As we know, we are working to change the system. One of the ways we will change the triangle is to examine our policies, practices and procedures through a race equity lens. We will now examine how to do this. But first, lets do a quick activity!
Kangaroos Eating Oranges in Denmark.
Think of a number between 1 & 10
Take that number and multiply it by 9
If it is 2 digits, add them together
Take that number and subtract 5
Correspond that # with the alphabet
Think of a country that begins with that letter.
Think of the last letter of the name of that country and think of an animal.
Take the last letter of the animal and think of a fruit.
Raise your hand if you have a Kangaroo eating an orange in Denmark?
Why did most people arrive at this answer?
That we are all socialized the same way. What if you were born in Dominican Republic / Cat / Tangerine
Says a lot about the WAY we socialize kids in a way that the outcomes are pre-determined. If we want to change the outcomes, we have to do something different. But we need to know what we are doing first! This is AWARENESS!
Often time, the outcomes of our action are pre-determined. Its up to us to use cultural competency to interrupt the process so that we do not always end up with kangaroos eating oranges in Denmark. How will we interrupt this process?

55. We must interrupt patterns
Why?

56. Levels of Racism Individual Level:
Pre-judgment, bias, or discrimination by an individual based on race.
Institutional Level:
Policies, practices and procedures that work to the benefit of white people and to the detriment of people of color, often unintentionally or inadvertently.
Structural Level:
A history and current reality of institutional racism across all institutions. This combines to create a system that negatively impacts communities of color.
Structural
Institutional
Individual
HANDOUT
Read the definition
Facilitators can give examples

57. Pre-Viewing Prompts
What examples do you see of Individual, Institutional and Structural Racism?
What struck you about what it meant to be white in America at this time? What were the privileges/advantages that went along with it?

58. Race: The Power of Illusion
57 minutes. The entire chapter of “The House We Live in?
Video Link:
Lays the foundation for discussion

59. So What? Now What? What does this mean for me in my work?
What does this mean for the students/children/families/communities we serve?

60. Break

61. Through line to Student LearningMe
Evidence of Impact on Student Learning
Four Corners: S.W.O.T. Analysis

62. Defining Opportunity We can define opportunity through access to…
education
economic
transportation
food
housing
justice
healthcare
communications

63. Opportunity is defined as a fair chance to achieve one’s full potential.

64. Access To Opportunity In Seattle

65. Opportunity Gap
Access gaps that arise from the inequities in the education system that pose as barriers to student academic success. All students can succeed, but they need highly effective teachers, exemplary curriculum and materials, and appropriate academic and social support- resources that are often missing today for students of color.

66. Closing the GAP
To achieve educational equity, there is a need to close the VALUE GAP not just its manifestations, the Opportunity and Achievement Gaps

67. Our role is ensuring equitable access to opportunities for all students?

68. Every Kid Needs a Champion

69. Value Gap Opportunity Gap  Achievement Gap
Final Equity Message
Systems are made up of people. If we address adult behavior change, then we change systems.
Value Gap Opportunity Gap  Achievement Gap

70. Reflect & Declare ☐ “squared” with my thinking
rolling around in my mind
 going to change

71. Next Session
December 13, 2016
9:00-3:00