2. How does CRE connect with your school’s Unified Improvement Plan?

Four areas of our Unified Improvement Plan (U.I.P.) directly correlate with Culturally Responsive Education (C.R.E.), specifically making learning more effective without marginalizing some students relative to others: our ongoing attention to co-teaching, to students with disabilities, to mental health, and to M.T.S.S. We reflect on the degree to which our school-wide systems permit rigorous classroom experiences for students with disabilities.

Four years ago, many of these students were in “pull out” fundamentals classes with professionals who, though skilled in instructing students with specific learning needs, may not have been content experts. Further, many were instructing students below grade level; how might we expect these students to engage in thinking commensurate to that of their peers when curriculum was not guaranteed? One goal our U.I.P. reflects is a desire to move toward more C.R.E. by scheduling these students in co-taught classrooms with mainstreamed peers. We couple this movement with a commitment to co-teaching professional development centered around planning and delivering experiences driven by rigor, relationships, and engagement. The 2019 School Performance Framework suggests these students now meet expectations in PSAT/ SAT math; however, our U.I.P. reflects a commitment to meeting expectations in evidence-based reading and writing as well as science.

In addition to continuing to support learning services’ students, our U.I.P. indicates a commitment to meet regularly with a variety of stakeholders to develop a novel approach to M.T.S.S. This approach includes weekly embedded enrichment time divided between academics and social/ emotional learning. Academic enrichments allow us to leverage students’ assets as teachers select individual students or small groups for additional targeted instruction. To cultivate a sense of social-emotional security; to respond to perceived inadequate response to mental health and social/ emotional crises; and to increase resources for staff, students, and community for suicide prevention efforts, our M.T.S.S. includes monthly relational, social, and executive functioning learnings based on grade-leveled needs. More than these lessons, this weekly space where students meet with the same peers and staff throughout high school provides relationships, creating protective factors and expanding students’ educational access.