Establishing a profile of your district’s and community’s needs and perspectives will inform a number of decisions as you move forward on this journey. Conduct a series of listening tours with community members to understand the local history, demographics, and particular needs of your district/site’s students and their respective communities to help determine the implications for the new adoption.

As noted in the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum:

Consider the local history, demographics, and particular needs of your district/site’s students and their respective communities, including recognition of the Indigenous Peoples wherever a course is being taught. Administrators should consider conducting research on the cultural values, traditions, Indigeneity, and histories of the diverse populations represented in our society as well as those represented in local schools, as it is important for students to learn about those different from themselves who may not be represented in their communities even as they are learning about the sources of local diversity. Evaluate the demographic makeup of the district. What is the ethnic breakdown of the student population? Does the district have large numbers of linguistically diverse students? What countries and regions of the world are they from? Students who experience poverty? How can this program serve our students? How can the value of and empathy for other marginalized groups be fostered when student populations are homogenous and/or haven’t been explicitly or formally exposed to concepts of race and ethnicity? This research can be done by delving into reported student data, consulting student families and community stakeholders about pressing issues and concerns facing these communities, or even inviting scholars specialized in the history of the communities represented in the district. Community organizations, city or county agencies, libraries, and universities may be consulted for data and historical information about a community.

Task 2.2a Areas for Consideration

Conduct a series of listening tours with community members to understand the local history, demographics, and particular needs of your district/site’s students and their respective communities to help determine the implications for the new adoption. Use the tool below to record key findings and identify the implications for your work.

Download Tool 2.2 a