Equity First Retreats
Are you looking for an experience where you can delve more deeply into what equity means for you in your practice?
The Los Angeles Equity First retreat is just two weeks away! Space is limited, and the early bird rate of $300 expires this Friday March 8. After that, the price increases to $350/participant. You do not want to miss this opportunity to work with colleagues to dive deeper into what it means to have a fierce commitment to educational equity and excellence.
Click here to learn more and register for the retreat. Please share the retreat flyer with your colleagues who may not receive SRI emails. This event is open to all practitioners who are committed to educational equity and excellence.
Register Today – Early Bird rate ends this Friday, March 8
We have two additional retreat opportunities:
Chicago – April 25-26
Philadelphia May 2-3
We pushed the date for Philadelphia to account for weather events that have made it hard to make plans to attend. The new dates are May 2 & 3, which means you still have time to register!
Have questions? Email Deirdre Williams (deirdre@schoolreforminitiative.org). We hope you can join us for this amazing retreat.
Fall Meeting Call for Learning Experience Proposals
Do you have a great idea for a Learning Experience at Fall Meeting? Are you using SRI tools and practices in exciting ways that you’d like to share with others? Then we invite you to offer up a Learning Experience on Friday, November 8, 2019 at the Fall Meeting in Cambridge.
Each year, we utilize a portion of our conference for Learning Experiences. These sessions, either 90 minutes or 3 hours, allow affiliates to learn new skills, dive deep, and explore different concepts, all within the framework of the SRI Mission and Guiding Principles. We ask that Learning Experiences fall into one of five Achieving Educational Equity and Excellence Learning Strands: Examining Beliefs and Practices, Developing Cultural Competence, Nurturing Relationships, Collaborating in Learning Communities, and Sharing Accountability for Learning. We are accepting proposals for Fall Meeting Learning Experiences now until April 19. If you are interested in proposing an experience, please utilize the Learning Experience proposal form.
Questions? Email Deirdre, deirdre@schoolreforminitiative.org
Equity Audits: A Powerful Tool to Transform Teaching and Learning
Dr. Kelly Brown, SRI Affiliate, and Dr. Deirdre Williams, SRI Executive Director and Affiliate, explore using SRI protocols as part of equity audits in schools in a new article in Instructional Leader:
Systemic equity encompasses the transformed ways in which schools operate to ensure every student, no matter the learning environment, is provided with the greatest opportunity to learn (Scott, 2001). When leaders are concerned about systemic equity, they focus not only on student academic achievement but also the quality of their teachers and instructional programs (Skrla, McKenzie, & Scheurich, 2009). These leaders ensure a skilled teacher is in every classroom so each student’s needs are met. They are also careful not to make assumptions that equitable practices are happening in their schools. Equity-conscious leaders collect evidence to confirm every member of the school community is willing to help all students achieve their highest potential. One useful strategy leaders can use to examine how systemic equity issues are operating in their schools is a campus-based equity audit (Brown, 2010).
Fall Meeting Pre-Conference Call for Proposals
Pre-conference sessions take place on Wednesday, the day before the start of Fall Meeting and provide an opportunity for participants to extend their learning while in Cambridge.
Do you have an idea for a pre-conference session for the 2019 Fall Meeting that you would like to offer? Are you using SRI tools and practices in exciting ways that you’d like to share with others? Pre-conference sessions may be full or half-day and can be on-site in one of our conference rooms or off-site at a school or other location within the city.
All pre-conference proposals are due by March 29th, 2019, and selections will be made by the beginning of April 12th, 2019.
If you are interested in proposing a pre-conference session, please utilize the pre-conference proposal form, and submit it no later than March 29th, 2019. Have a request for a pre-conference that you would like to attend? Email Deirdre Williams (deirdre@schoolreforminitiative.org) and she will try to find facilitators to prepare a pre-conference session that meets your needs!
Do you have news to share? Interesting things happening in your area? Please let us know so we can share with our community! Email Chris Jones, chris@schoolreforminitiative.org.
Thank you,
Deirdre Williams, Kari Thierer, and Chris Jones
On behalf of School Reform Initiative
