Culturally Responsive Intervention

When designing intervention for students in any community, but particularly one as diverse as ours, it is important for educators to remember that  “our education system is steeped in norms, traditions, and a lens that too often does not reflect and may not be supportive of” the diversity our students bring to school (Massachusetts DESE).  This is not only true about classroom instruction, but also true when we educators are responding to school climate disruptions.  To ensure every intervention our faculty choses to assign students, Revere High borrows from a framework established by Kern High School District to define what is meant by the Culturally Responsive Intervention.  An intervention is Culturally Responsive when all of the following are present:  

• Active Listening: A listening technique that requires all parties to concentrate, understand, and respond to the speaker. 

• Student Voice: Giving the student the opportunity to express their values, opinions, beliefs, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds in the instructional process when responding to maladaptive behaviors. 

• Neutral space for collaboration and shared problem solving: Creating an environment in which judgment factors due to cultural background are minimized. 

• Adult facilitation where power is set aside: The adults with the authority to assign consequences for student behavior agree to suspend this role in order to help guide the student to a prosocial resolution. 

• Shared responsibility: A solution process in which all parties (teacher, student, counselor, assistant principal, etc.) agree to take ownership of their part in a successful resolution.

All educators should reference this checklist when engaging with students to provide intervention for behavioral support.