The Region II Excellence Through Equity Conference is an opportunity for district and school leaders to work with powerful educational leaders Pedro Noguera and Alan Blankstein to pursue equity and improve the educational experience for all students. We honor the fact that divisions and schools are in different places. With this in mind, we are providing some suggestions for your team to consider as you prepare for this experience. This conference is intended to be a starting point or a point along a continuum where educational leaders have the opportunity to deepen their understanding and begin to formulate a plan to improve success for all students.
Preconference
We suggest all participants read Excellence Through Equity: Five Principles of Courageous Leadership to Guide Achievement for Every Student prior to the conference. We highly encourage participants read, at minimum, the introduction and reflect on the new proposed paradigm based on an understanding of child development, neuroscience, and environmental factors. Breakout Session II of the conference will provide participants the opportunity to experience sessions aligned to the three important areas of research listed above.
Getting to Your Core
- What are your values with respect to educating children? Do your actions align to these values? If so, how? If not, why?
- With respect to the pursuit of equity, how willing and able are you to address instances where learning opportunities and the educational rights of children are limited or violated?
- Why is the pursuit of equity important to you? What are you willing to do to advance equity in my work and personal life?
Conference
The following questions will be embedded in our work throughout the conference. It will be to your benefit to review and/or bring data to fully participate and create actionable steps.
Professional Preparation: Facing the Facts and Fears
- What are the primary equity challenges in your division/school?
- According to your division’s/school’s data, which subgroups appear to be experiencing the greatest difficulties? In what areas do the data indicate difficulties (e.g., academic, discipline, attendance)?
- What are the opportunities to address the obstacles to learning for these students? What factors might explain the data?
- How do you plan to prioritize and determine areas of focus for next year?
By the End of the Day You Will Consider
- What actions will you commit to that are within your influence and have a high probability of impact?