Lifting Our Voices Field Guides

The Lifting our Voices Field Guides document the different perspectives, experiences, and reflections of students, teachers, parents, and families of color, allowing us to harness the power of those lessons learned in 2020 and 2021. Available as a downloadable PDF or an interactive learning path, these professional learning materials include: focused learning objectives; video clips of leading educational professionals; interviews with students, teachers, and parents; reflective questions and differentiated professional learning activities that can be used to support learning with a variety of audiences; and links to additional resources and tools.


Field Guide 1: Revisiting Equity: Transitioning Back to School with a Focus on Relationships

Field Guide 1 examines the costs of remote learning, the lessons learned, and the opportunities for growth. Lybroan James, Chief Education Officer at MILO, introduces the voices of students, parents, teachers, and other members of the educational community as they share how their personal experiences intersected with remote learning, living through a pandemic, and adapting to the "new normal."

Field Guide 2: Learning and Healing Together: Heading to School Ready to Learn

Field Guide 2 explores the relationship between emotions and learning, including the considerable stressors magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kenneth Wesson, an educational consultant specializing in neuroscience, emphasizes the importance of addressing the emotional and psychological needs of our students. To learn how we can meet those needs, this Field Guide invites students, parents, teachers, and an administrator to share the impact that the pandemic had on their emotions and mental health.

Field Guide 3: School Re-Engagement: In-Person and Hybrid Learning

Field Guide 3 focuses on the challenges of re-engaging in education, with perspectives from education leaders, such as Dr. Michele Bowers, Superintendent of Lancaster Union School District, Lorrie Owens, Member of the Board of Directors at California IT in Education (CITE), and Dr. Sharla Barry, an educational researcher. This Field Guide calls attention to the digital divide and how the lack of access to basic technology resources and tools can magnify the learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn from teachers, students, parents, and a grandparent, as they share their perspectives on the important role that technology plays as an educational necessity.

Field Guide 4: Planning Forward with Cultural Relevance in the Classroom

Field Guide 4 invites students, parents, and teachers to speak on the value of embracing the vibrant, diverse cultures of our communities in our classrooms. Noting the importance of engaging students in lessons that reflect the values, traditions, language, and identity of a diverse student body, Bryan A. Brown, a professor of science education at Stanford University, advocates for culturally relevant learning experiences that allow students to see the value in learning, themselves, and their culture.

Field Guide 5: Back-to-School and the Year Ahead: Integrating Empathy, Compassion, and Restorative Justice in Our Schools

Field Guide 5 focuses on the need for culturally responsive approaches to instruction, discipline, and social-emotional well-being. Recognizing that many of our students have been traumatized, isolated, and impacted by COVID-19, Dr. Paul Gothold, Superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education, urges us to be more intentional about being agents of change with healthy expectations, as we help students adjust to the new normal. Students, parents, and teachers share their perspectives on how we can help them readjust to in-person instruction.

Field Guide 6: Enhancing Parent Engagement for Student Success

Field Guide 6 explores the key elements of a successful parent-school partnership — transparency, relationships, active engagement, communication, and equity — in order to address the needs of the whole child. Students, parents, and teachers, share their personal experiences, as they reflect on how family engagement and strong parent-school partnerships contributed to students' academic success. This Field Guide also features a presentation from Alicia Montgomery, Executive Director of the Center for Powerful Public Schools, who underscores the added value that parents bring to the educational equation in supporting the academic success of their children.

Field Guide 7: School Reorientation for Post-COVID Learning

Field Guide 7 explores one of the most important challenges facing secondary students — providing a pathway to success for middle and high school students who have been failed by our traditional educational system. Tracy E. Thompson, Executive Director of the Juvenile Court and Community Schools (JCCS) at San Diego County Office of Education, shares how we can support at-risk students and families in acute need. This Field Guide also elevates the voices of parents, teachers, and students who have been involved in educational programs that include continuation high schools, juvenile justice system programs, community schools, programs for incarcerated youths, homeless students, and parenting teens.

Field Guide 8: Understanding the Most Critical Needs of Today's African American Students (And Children From Other Communities of Color)

Field Guide 8 invites students, parents, and principals as they share how educators can best meet the needs of African American students and other students of color, given the historical and contemporary challenges they face. Dr. Tyrone Howard, a professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, highlights the importance of addressing the social-emotional and mental health needs of students, families, and communities in order to meet students' academic needs.

Field Guide 9: Preparing African American Students (And Other Students of Color) for College

Field Guide 9 features a presentation from Dr. Theresa Price, Founder of the National College Resources Foundation, who explores how educators and parents can help prepare African American students and other students of color for success in college. Hear from students, parents, and teachers, as they share their personal experiences of preparing students to become "college-ready" within their local educational systems.

Field Guide 10: Equity as a Centerpiece in Education

Field Guide 10 explores how we can begin to address the historical barriers and educational inequities to provide greater access and equity for our students of color. Dr. Pedro Noguera, Dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, urges us to reflect on the lessons learned from the pandemic to reimagine what education could be and should be, with equity as a centerpiece. Hear from students, parents, teachers, and principals, as they share their experiences with the lingering effects of inequality in education.

Field Guide 11: The Principal as the Equity Leader

Field Guide 11 focuses on the role of a principal as an equity leader who promotes access, equity, and achievement for all students on the school campus. Teachers, principals, students, and parents share their perspectives on the educational practices that an equity leader engages in and exemplifies to ensure equity and justice become visible realities in their schools. This Field Guide also includes a conversation facilitated by Dr. Tonikiaa Orange, Director for the Culture and Equity Project and Assistance Director for the Principal Institute at UCLA Center X, around establishing equity priorities, examining structures that limit progress towards equity, and promoting engagement and equity in the classroom.

Field Guide 12: Rebounding from Unfinished Teaching and Learning (The "Learning Loss")

Field Guide 12 explores approaches that can stem the learning loss experienced by our students, and students of color in particular, to promote academic growth and development for all students. Parents, teachers, and administrators offer unique insights into factors that contributed to students' learning loss that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as possible interventions and resolutions. This Field Guide also includes a presentation from Dr. Clarice Clash-Turner, System Services Coach at the Achievement Network, and Dr. Ashaki Coleman, Managing Director of Math Content at the Achievement Network, who share strategies for effective academic recovery planning and discuss how data could be used to increase student and family engagement.