All students are engaged and included in rigorous, higher order thinking opportunities and experiences.  This includes girls, rural learners, students from low income or poor families, children who receive free or reduced meals, students with special education needs, gifted students, English Language Learners, urban and suburban students, black and brown students, as well as European, Hispanic and Asian students. 

Access: The right and opportunity for all students to learn and experience in school.

Diversity:  Science, Engineering and Computer Science programs include students who reflect the demographics of the larger school or community in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status.

Inclusion:  Creating learning environments that are accessible and welcoming of students’ identities, backgrounds, differences, and perspectives that include gender, race, ethnicity, ability or socioeconomic status without barriers or judgement.

Equity:  Learning experiences accessible and inclusive for every learner; every student has what they uniquely need to succeed.

Microsoft Philanthropies. (2019). Guide to inclusive computer science education, pdf. Microsoft, TEALS, CS4forAll, NCWIT, CSTA, Code.org.

From PDE's Equitable Practices Hub

In Pennsylvania, equity has been defined as "every student having access to the educational resources and rigor they need at the right moment in their education across race, gender, ethnicity, language, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, family background and/or family income." Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has noted that "to do their best, students must feel safe at school. A healthy and safe environment can help students thrive, and every student, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression should be provided the opportunity to learn - free from discrimination, fear, or harassment."

Download the Infographic: What is Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in Pennsylvania Schools? (PDF) 

Culture is not multicultural education. The culture of a group of people is its shared attitudes, values, social forms, customary beliefs, and material traits. Groups of people include families, schools, friends, clubs, "cliques," neighborhoods, communities, states and nations.  Imagine culture represented by a tree with tree levels.  Each level have a deeper and more personal meaning.

• Surface Culture (leaves and flowers) - observable patterns including food, dress, music, holidays, etc… [low emotional charge]

• Shallow Culture (trunk) - Unspoken rules and everyday societal interactions and norms including courtesy, attitude towards elders, nature of friendships, concepts of time, personal space, nonverbal communication, rules about eye contact,  acceptable touching, etc… [high/strong emotional charge]

• Deep Culture (roots) - Tacit knowledge and unconscious assumptions that govern our world view (a.k.a. Constructivism, mental models of schema) Also contains views regarding and guiding good or bad concepts of ethics, spirituality, health, and theories of group harmony (competition or cooperation) [intense emotional charge]

For a copy of 

To learn more see:

Families, communities, states and countries have their own unique culture. Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. (Culture, Texas A&M University)  Culture is learned, shared, symbolic, integrated, and dynamic. Culture is not thought to be innate or inherited. Rather, people learn culture as it is shared by others around them. (What are the Characteristics of Culture? Examples and Features of Culture, Study.com)

• Culturally Responsive STEAM Scorecard  Created by Leah Q. Peoples, Tahia Islam and Timothy Davis

• Open SciEd: Features of Classroom Culture that Support Equitable Sensemaking - page 1 

• Education Week: Ten Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies for the Science Classroom

• NSTA: Why Culturally Relevant Science Teaching is Vital in Our Classrooms

• The Company of Biologists | The Node: Kicking It Up a Notch: Becoming a Culturally Relevant Science Teacher

• ISTE 2019  Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom

• McGraw Hill: Three Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies for the Science Classroom

• Zenned Math Culturally Relevant Teaching vs. Culturally Responsive Teaching 4:57 YouTube

• How Science Teachers Can Better Support Their Culturally and Ethnically Diverse Students

• Integrating Science and Literacy in Elementary Education Panel Discussion, Okhee Lee: Integrating Science and Language in Elementary Education with a Focus on English Learners 13:38 vimeo

• Five Equity-Based Practices in Math Classrooms (from Cambridge MA Public Schools) 

• One-page observation Tool - NGSX - Should look more like this and less like this…

• Open SciEd: OSE Classrooms: Looking for bright spots and needs