Day 2: Wednesday, June 22

• 2.1 Building Culturally Affirming Schools in PA: Resources & Advocacy Tools for Parents, Educators, & Community Members from Teach Plus PA

  • Lisa Phoenix, Brigittie Tshishimbi, Brianna Amoscato, and Ross Hamilton

This session, led by teachers in Teach Plus PA's Culturally Affirming Schools working group, will examine different equity issues facing PA public schools and promising policies and practices for supporting culturally affirming school environments. We will share an equity toolkit with resources for advocates to use at the local level to push for culturally affirming schools.

• 2.2 Preparing Culturally Affirming Educators: Teach Plus Pennsylvania Teach Leaders on Integrating Culturally Relevant & Sustaining Education into Preparation Programs

  • Dr. Erica Hampton, Luke Strawser, Dr. Derek Long, Dr. Rhonda Threet

In light of the recent passage of revised teacher certification regulations that address culturally relevant and sustaining education, Teach Plus Policy Fellows, in partnership with PEDC and PAC-TE, surveyed educator preparation program faculty and staff to learn what educator preparation programs are already doing to prepare future teachers as culturally relevant and sustaining educators, as well as what further support they will need to fully integrate CR-SE into their programs. In this session, Teach Plus Policy Fellows will share a new report on the findings and recommendations from that survey, which we hope will guide implementation of Ch. 49 and the CR-SE competencies in educator preparation programs.

• 2.3 Diversifying the Leaky Pipeline

  • Dr. Crystal Smith-Rose and Dr. Tammi McMillan-Marshall

This session will detail our innovative approaches to strengthening and supporting an anti-racist education system in Western Pennsylvania as reports continue to show a majority of PA school districts have NO teachers of color. The creation of our apprenticeship HUB has birthed an opportunity to examine and attempt to repair some dysfunctional parts of the pipeline into the education profession. We strive to diversify the teacher pipeline by providing early exposure to the profession in high school as well as recruiting, retaining, supporting and graduating paraprofessionals of color in our region.

• 2.4 How to Develop Culturally Proficient Educators

  • Taylor Howard and Danielle Thomas

While many K-12 and higher education institutions acknowledge the importance of having inclusive schools, most educators enter the profession with little to no formal training on how to recognize, address and reduce their own bias mindsets, attitudes, and practices. Our organization is dedicated to helping educational institutions cultivate and maintain healthy and culturally inclusive ecosystems by reimagining how we are developing our educators to serve the needs of students from all backgrounds. This workshop will demonstrate how culturally proficient pedagogy can be integrated into districts' professional developments and higher educations' curriculums and/or preparation programs to minimize the biased mindsets and practices of pre-service and in-service educators.

• 2.5 Southeastern Pennsylvania Educators of Color Network Affinity Group Program (Villanova University)

  • Anthony C. Stevenson, Melissa Douglas, Leon Smith, and Christina Carter

This session will introduce audience to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Educators of Color Network (SPECN) which provides an informal supportive space for educators of color to build community and strengthen their self-advocacy tools and anti-racist pedagogy. The goal of the affinity group programs will be to engage in dialogue about various issues that impact educators of color, students, and the communities in which they work. We will also discuss best practices for self-care/self-advocacy dialogue.

• 2.6 Dream Out Loud: Creating Conditions for Belonging & Success

  • Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims

During this session, participants will engage in understanding the purpose and power of creating spaces of belonging, not only for learners, but educational staff members. What would be the impact for the educational ecosystem if true belonging was reality?

• 2.7 Why Do We Stay? Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of the Teaching Profession for BIPOC Educators

  • Dr. Donna-Marie Cole-Malot

We have spent a lot of time over the last few years highlighting the need for educators of color within the profession, rarely ever asking “is it fair to advocate for educators of color to enter a profession that is not prepared to receive them?” This question continues to sit with me in my current role as a teacher and a leader in this work, and I wanted the opportunity the highlight the reasons that continue to keep me committed to the work and the theoretical underpinnings that guide me and keep me committed to being a teacher of teachers and a leader.