Era of education culture war – Banning books, monitoring curriculum, adjusting school policies — Supporting students in culturally sensitive and relationship-centered ways is sometimes presented as being in conflict with maintaining academic rigor.
But balancing these approaches is more important than ever as our schools continue to recover from the learning loss caused by the pandemic and the ongoing social-emotional needs of our students. We do not need to prioritize one approach over the other: academic rigor or supporting students’ social and emotional needs through culturally relevant education and experiences. Individually, each approach falls short of providing all students with the support they need for a successful future. By reframing these as mutually reinforcing rather than mutually exclusive, we have the potential to significantly transform education for all children.
Culturally relevant education is a pathway to academic success, and rigorous education is effective when it is grounded in culturally relevant education. To support students, we must strive to create an inclusive educational environment that fosters support while providing students with the tools to empower them.
In practice, this means everything from ensuring teachers and staff reflect the demographic makeup of students to reviewing the resources and professional development we provide to schools to ensure the needs of all students are being met. This means having equity-based, data-driven conversations about how we are serving our most marginalized students.
As school leaders at Aspire Public Schools in Los Angeles, we knew that some of our most vulnerable students were those who were chronically absent. After examining the data, we discovered that many students missed school on three-day weekends and public holidays. As part of our implementation of the Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports (PBIS) framework, we have focused on timing school celebrations and family engagement activities around three-day weekends and holidays to ensure students do not want to miss out on the fun. . Teachers also reach out to families of students who are absent, providing a more personal touch and communicating the positive impact their children have on the classroom community when they are in school. Initial results from implementing this PBIS approach are showing promise for reducing absenteeism, including year-over-year decreases in chronic absenteeism rates across 11 Los Angeles schools.
An equity-based, data-driven approach can also benefit special education students. For example, special education students in one of our schools made remarkable progress in math, surpassing the math growth rates seen among their general education peers in LAUSD and across the state. The school took a different approach to intervention than in the past. Previously, students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), which were required for all special education students, were not included in the math intervention, which was an additional 20 minutes of small group math instruction during the school day. Last year, IEP students participated in this math intervention alongside general education students. These additional interventions, combined with regular “reteach” sessions where teachers practice delivering content to colleagues, collect feedback, and reinforce practice, have resulted in positive outcomes for special education learners.
Developing partnerships to integrate African-centered and LGBTQ+ curricula and resources can also have an impact. This includes everything from establishing several Black Student Union chapters to a Black Family Advisory Council where families meet quarterly to discuss Black education content and curriculum. I can tell you firsthand that these partnerships are showing promising results. Participants in the Black Student Union program experienced an average reduction of eight days of absences compared to the previous year. Plans are also underway to pilot LGBTQ+ courses that meet state AG standards (courses required for admission to public universities in California). Finally, dedicating resources to fostering a pipeline of Black educators is critical to building a more diverse faculty.
Now is the time to chart a rigorous and culturally relevant path forward to ensure the promise of a quality education for all children. This is how we deliver on the promise of an educational model that provides: every students.
●●●
Chris Carr is the Los Angeles region executive director of Aspire Public Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes comments representing a variety of viewpoints. If you would like to submit a comment, please review our guidelines and then contact us.