Goal 1: Education

Action Step 1

Dedicate professional learning time as a priority.

Strategies to Support Action Step 1

Strategy 1

Faculty meeting time was reallocated for mandatory monthly professional learning workshops devoted to the school’s equity competencies. Faculty participated in seven 2-hour sessions throughout the 21-22 school year led by Instructional Coaches and the Equity Design Team. The sessions focused on developing the skills to apply an equity lens to teaching and learning, and on understanding Catlin Gabel’s expectations for equitable teaching practices.

Strategy 2

Each staff department met with the Director of Community Engagement to discuss their team’s professional learning needs around equity and inclusion. These discussions will inform a staff professional learning plan in design during the 22-23 school year.

Strategy 3

An Equity Instructional Coach was added to the existing Instructional Coaching Team and Equity and Inclusion Department. The Equity Instructional Coach leads the Equity Design Team in developing equity-focused faculty professional learning that deepens practice and continued engagement with competencies.

Action Step 2

Establish teaching competencies for equity-based instruction and create a professional learning plan for teachers to apply equity lens to teaching practices.

Strategies to Support Action Step 2

Strategy 1

Established three Equity Focused Teaching Competencies, which were used and continue to be used, to determine the scope and necessary content for professional learning. These competencies are intended to become part of curriculum development and teacher evaluations beginning in 2023-24.

Building understanding, capacity, and teaching skills that reflect the competencies in practice is an ongoing and essential professional development goal for all teachers. Professional learning is focused on both helping faculty members meet a standard equity-based instruction competency and on supporting them to grow in their integration of equity into their practice.

Strategy 2

Established an Equity Design Team—a team of faculty responsible for supporting the design of professional learning sessions with attention to scope and sequence and competencies—in collaboration with Instructional Coaches.

Strategy 3

Partnered with the Equity Literacy Institute for racial equity facilitator training and for key content and skills presentations used in professional learning sessions.

Strategy 4

As part of the seven 2-hour faculty sessions (action step 1, strategy 1), faculty worked with small group facilitators on applying an equity lens to teaching and learning, and “re-seeing” their curriculum and classroom practices. This also served as an opportunity to establish an understanding of expectations for equity-focused teaching practices at Catlin Gabel.

Action Step 1

Dedicate professional learning time to continue implementation of teaching competencies for equity-based instruction.

In 2022-23, employees engaged in professional learning sessions focused on equity and inclusion. These sessions included time for all employees to learn together, as well as smaller breakout groups that were more specific to the work of different staff departments and faculty. 

ACHIEVED GOALS INCLUDED

• Built community in small groups/staff departments to help create learning spaces that foster collaboration and open discussion.
• Created a shared understanding of equity in our work. 
• Provided opportunities for employees to reflect on their work, how equity was already incorporated, and how it could be improved.
• Structured exploration of new domains and areas for equity and inclusion integration into teaching and learning (e.g., class discussion structures, social-emotional learning, grading and assessment practices).
• Faculty set equity goals for 2023-24 school year to guide their professional learning. 

TOPICS COVERED

• Storytelling as a means for illustrating and building knowledge of windows (which provide perspective into someone else’s experiences) and mirrors (reflections with which listeners can relate).
• Leading with questions in response to student behaviors
• Possible interpretation biases of behavior, reflective practices for addressing biases, and building feedback skills.
• Identifying and interrupting microaggressions.
• Racial anxiety hot buttons and biased labels.
• Equity Lens Reflective Cycle (see graph in PDF, page 4).
   

Action Step 2

Develop plan to incorporate equity-based teaching competencies into faculty evaluation process for 2023-24.

Equity-based teaching competencies developed in the Year 1 report guided professional learning and basic teaching practices. The integration of elective breakout groups for faculty has led to learning, dialogue, and reflection.

Our work in 2022-2023 revealed that equity-based teaching competencies will be most effective when they are more explicit and directly relate to different faculty and staff members’ work. More specific competencies and processes for implementing them were brainstormed in 2022-2023. These will be discussed with stakeholders and finalized in the 2023-2024 year. Faculty have been asked to develop equity goals in parity with annual goals, and in some cases teachers have combined goals to help inform and improve practices in support of the competencies.

Action Step 3

Create onboarding process for new teachers to understand and learn expectations for equity-based instruction.

A robust onboarding program launched in August 2023. This program included:

• Communicating the school’s goal to integrate equity and inclusion throughout our instructional and operational work and how that reflects progress and evolution.
• For new faculty, development of curriculum and craft that is equitable, progressive, and in keeping with Catlin Gabel’s mission and core values.
• Also for new faculty, distribution of and practice with the equity lens reflection cycle, interrupting microaggressions, oppressive language policy, and development of tools and strategies for discussions that are equitably structured and facilitated.
   

Action Step 4

Outline curricular review process for 2023-24 implementation.

The Assistant Head of School and Division Heads began the process of curricular review, from which they determined the need for a “whole school” process, engaging  key stakeholders. This step will be launched in the 2023-2024 school year. 

Action Step 1

Dedicate professional learning time to continue implementation of teaching competencies for equity-based instruction.

In 2023-24, four days of all-school professional learning were dedicated to building identity-consciousness for all employees.

ACHIEVED GOALS INCLUDED

• Engagement in training for all employees to practice identity-consciousness, defined as “realizing that who we are informs and impacts how we act, interact, and how we see the world around us.” (Taluzan, 2022).
• Taught content regarding identity categories and how to build practices so all identities are supported.

TOPICS COVERED

• Race, socio-economic status, disability, and gender and sexuality. Though religion and spirituality were also originally planned for the 2023-2024 year, unforeseen scheduling challenges prohibited completing all the planned professional learning.
• Faculty opted into multipart sessions offered by senior administrators, coaches, and teacher leaders on relevant identity-based topics and classroom practices that focused on high support and high expectations for all students.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Teaching content about identities and supporting skill-building and practice in identity-consciousness in concentrated training provides foundational knowledge that is most effective with follow up support and opportunities for practice.

Action Step 2

Develop plan to incorporate equity-based teaching competencies into faculty evaluation process for 2023-24.

Division leadership reviews and develops competencies with attention to integrating equity and inclusion.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Ensuring all students have access to the positive impact of strong teaching practices rooted in competencies both integrates equity and acknowledges the strong teaching practices faculty have already cultivated.
• Professional learning and growth are established as a way of being that includes dedication to equity and inclusion work for all employees, with the knowledge and understanding that all employees are at different and unique points in their journeys.
• Competencies should be grounded in relevant and measurable individual goals for each educator and employee, and resources applied throughout the year with support from administration.

Action Step 3

Create onboarding process for new teachers to understand and learn expectations for equity instruction.

All new faculty participated in equity instruction professional learning as part of their onboarding process.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Including equity instruction as part of teacher onboarding fosters alignment of curricular work as well as expectations of Catlin Gabel community members.
• Streamlining the New Faculty Orientation into two full days that covers progressive education convergent with whole child identity work is well received and fundamental to all student-facing employees.

Action Step 4

Outline curricular review process for 2023-24 implementation.

Curricular review process began with a collection of materials for surveying scope and sequence across the Preschool-12 student experience. Next step, 2024-2025, is departmental meetings to establish consistency in practice and priority.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Efforts to prioritize departmental collaborations across divisions to reinforce shared values, goals, and practices will continue and grow.
• Establish training opportunities for curricular leads to review curriculum routinely and provide feedback to departmental colleagues and progress reports to administration.