Spotlight 2022
The beginning of the school year has been a busy one for our Regional Academy. We hosted four Fall Institutes in San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego counties, in addition to two Virtual Fall Institutes for those unable to attend in-person due to scheduling conflicts. Participants came in teams from their district and school sites and engaged in interactive professional learning that asked them to lead with “equity lasik” vs. with an equity lens. Teams engaged in protocols that they can take back to their sites such as setting up a safe sharing out of equity journeys, co-creating equity statements, exploring a multitude of strategies for encouraging equity pauses, and walking away with a commitment statement that will guide their learning this year.
The data from all four of our in-person Fall Institutes show that 94.74% of leaders strongly agreed or agreed that the content was relevant to their district/school’s needs and furthered their understanding of equity-related issues. 91.67% strongly agreed or agreed that the session informed their leadership.
Here are a few standout comments from participants regarding their experience at the Fall Institute:
“I found it interesting to dive into the difference between equity lens and equity lasik. It’s true that we cannot afford to let this movement for equity to be buried along with other educational spotlight words. I know that we have to take a paradigm shift in the way we approach our students, families, and our communities.”
– Teacher Leader from San Diego County
“I feel more empowered to speak up to other staff that are making comments or treating students in a way that is not equitable.”
– Assistant Principal from San Diego County
“How is the system hurting our kids? Who is the furthest from opportunity?”
– Teacher Leader from Orange County
A unique component of our most robust program, the SoCal Leadership Collective, is that participants who are receiving 1:1 coaching have the opportunity to engage in “small team coaching.” This is another opportunity to connect with our Regional Academy and collaborate with participants. Small team coaching looks different for each team depending on their unique needs, and this allows our coaches to connect with our participants on a deeper level to support them with direct implementation of equitable practices at their site.
A highlight from our small team coaching work comes from the Santa Ana Unified School District Office, where four leaders are recently out of the classroom teachers on a new team with new leadership roles. Each leader received their 1:1 coaching in addition to devoting time to meet as a small team to collaborate and support one another. So far, our coach has been able to support this team with the creation of a mission and vision and implementation of a solution for their common problem of practice to increase critical literacy in their district.
Our Regional Academy is looking forward to seeing the results and impact that this has on our participants and their sites next spring!
For more information, visit our website at www.laep.org/21csla.