LSR7 Equity Plan One-Year Update

March BOE Work SessionMarch 12, 2020

2019-20 Board of Education Priority One

LSR7 Equity Plan--BOE Approved February 2019

The Work is Underway….● Educational Equity Consultants (EEC)

● Internal PD

○ District

○ Samples from buildings

● EOS/JAG/AVID

● LMC work

● MTSS

● Human Resources

● Student Services

Educational Equity Consultants(EEC)

Educational Equity Consultants (EEC)

● Approved in June 19th Special Session of the BOE

● One year contract with possibility to extend to three

EEC Programs and ParticipantsEEC has conducted four versions of equity training, each slightly different in terms of

specific activities, but the same in general philosophy and content.

Either Ms. Smith or Dr. Barger has been in attendance at each EEC event

JustSchools

Leadership Series

Student Event

Community Event

EEC Video

Student and Staff Voice

Just Schools● The largest, most comprehensive professional learning format is the Just Schools series. Just Schools is six

full days of learning.

● The first two days focus is on Stance (how we each present in the world and how we may bring forward

our stance with others). The last four days are on Strategies to develop an equity-based lens in our

actions (and thoughts).

● The first two days of Just Schools include a fishbowl activity that requires a racially diverse set of

participants, as the goal is to listen to others' perspectives on stance.

● The following EEC consultants have co-led the Just Schools trainings: Dr. Phil Hunsberger, Dr. Billie

Mayo, and one day on restorative practices in the classroom with Denisha Johnson.

66 participants in LSR7 opted into participating in one of the two Just Schools cohorts

during the 19-20 academic year.

Just Schools Participant FeedbackCohort 1

Cohort 1I

Leadership Series

● The Board of Education, SLT, IOT, Building Leaders and a handful of teacher leaders in the

district (ie: curriculum specialists) participated in the Leadership based equity series

provided by EEC.

● The focus of this series is on developing thinking and acting with an equity lens, but

activities and discussions tend to focus around how that applies in a leadership setting.

● Some activities included in Just Schools are not included in the leadership series due to

number of hours, as well as homogeneity of participant race and size of groups with these

particular sessions.

● Sessions have been led by Dr. Phil Hunsberger, Dr. Tony Neal, and Dr. Sara Riss.

Leadership Series FeedbackBuilding Leaders Cohort 1 Day 1

SLT/IOT Day 1

Building Leaders Cohort 1I Day 1

Assistant Principals Cohort 1

Student Event● On Friday, February 14th nineteen secondary students opted in to participate in a

student session on equity from approximately 8:30am to 1:15pm.

● Dr. Phil Hunsberger led the session and Dr. Christy Barger participated as well.

● Activities were based in considering how we each can look through an equity lens

(as well as how we develop our own lens/biases)

● Activities were designed around student engagement and interest.

Student Event Feedback“I was invited by a friend to the event. I was nervous coming in to the equity event. When Dr. Phil greeted us at the door it made me feel very welcome. The discussions were tough subjects to talk about but when we all were open and honest about them it made the experience worthwhile. It opened my eyes to many issues and made me want to learn so much more about equity”

“I feel like being able to understand how people feel about situations was very comforting because it gives a person a awareness of how their words can affect another person.”

“I feel like the student equity event was a great experience and everybody gained some new insights. I feel like it would have been beneficial to go over possible plans to carry out to foster inclusivity in our schools, because I think more people need to hear and learn the same things that we did at the equity event”.

Community Events● Three 2 hour events are being offered to introduce the community to the basic

concepts being introduced in LSR7 by EEC and to replicate some of the smaller

activities used (ie: forming talking partners, etc.).

● Approximately 180 community members were invited to sign up for one of the

three days, two of which have already happened.

● The first evening, seven community members attended. The second evening

approximately 28 community members attended.

Community Event Feedback (15 Responses)

Internal PDDistrict & Building

Leadership Small Group Collaborative Equity Conversations● As part of leadership transition, Dr. Barger hosted each principal, assistant

principal, counselor, and ed therapist in 1.5 hour small group meetings designed in

3 portions: gather feedback, provide opportunity for questions/discussion,

collective new learning.

Schoology Group for Building and District Leaders

Timely Emails….● Considering Thanksgiving Traditions

● December Dilemma

● Black History Month

● Read Across America Week

Meet and Eats -- Webinar Series

Providing Funding for External PD Opportunities● Summer Teaching Tolerance workshop in Kansas City

● RPDC-led Becoming an Ally workshop

Book Talks & Choices for Building and District Leaders● Book topics included:

○ Race

○ Leading from a perspective of diversity

○ Alignment of trauma-informed care and equity

○ Gender

Stakeholder Listening MeetingsDr. Barger has been engaged in a variety of one-on-one and small group stakeholder

meetings discussing various individuals and groups wants and needs as it relates to

equity work in Lee’s Summit R-7.

Buildings are Leaning In to Equity Work in a Variety of Ways!● Book studies

● Staff PDPs

● Vision teams

● Events

● Book boxes

● PEAK grant requests

● Displays

● Parent Forums

● Student unions

EOS (Equal Opportunity Schools)

JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates)

&AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)

EOS--Equal Opportunity SchoolsThe district is in year four of work with EOS. The program helps to identify gaps in participation for students of color and low-income students and identified opportunities to increase participation.

Collaboration is happening between EOS and the District to begin inclusion of dual credit data, along with IB/AP data.

JAG--Jobs for America’s GraduatesPurpose of the JAG-Missouri program is to provide participants with classroom and work-based learning

experiences that result in a quality job, leading to a fulfilling career after graduation.

The program is in its first year in LSR7 with one section of students at LSHS, LSN, LSW and Summit Ridge Academy

Approximately 70 students are participating in year one.

All teachers/facilitators and program administrators will be meeting with state JAG officials in March to evaluate the program's effectiveness in its first year.

AVID19 sections of the AVID elective next year (200+ students)

Bringing on two new schools --PLMS/SLMS

Over 70 staff trained district-wide in Core Strand Training:

*WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading)

PD sessions at each high school on best AVID instructional practices

LMC

Collections with Mirrors and WindowsLibrary Media Specialists are making a specific effort to increase representation and

diversity in school media center collections.

Multi-Tiered System of Support(MTSS)

What Does Districtwide MTSS Mean in Practice?Current LSR7 Teams:● District MTSS Team● Elementary MTSS Team● Secondary MTSS Team

The Work:Developing the framework and guidelines for district MTSS

● All instructional and support services are delivered through a multi-tiered system

● Decisions regarding instruction/support are made using a data-based problem-solving process

● All problem-solving considers academic and behavior (student engagement) together

● A district-based team is responsible for monitoring performance of schools to determine the overall “health” of the district

Human Resources

Recruitment Strategy● Met with external stakeholders from Suburban Balance and internal staff

○ Next steps - meeting around strategies for continued recruitment and retention of staff

● Making strides toward diversifying interview teams

● Exploring a part-time recruitment position in the HR Department

● Continued College visits

○ Dr. Ngomsi

○ Internal staff

● Grow Your Own

○ LSTA

○ MU visit with LSNHS

● Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) marketing

● 103.3 marketing

Everyone is a Recruiter

Student Services

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Shared Resources Documentation

● Record of Resources to meet

student needs.

● Connection of resources

with Principals, Assistant

Principals, Counselors,

Secretaries, Interventionists.

Year Two Proposal

● Renewal of EEC (Revised scope of work)● Development of benchmarked equity learning

outcomes for all LSR7 staff to run parallel with EEC.● Continue addressing specific Equity Plan action

steps across various LSR7 departments.

The Work on Behalf of All Students Continues….