Social Justice and Equity Plan
By: Kendal Craig
By: Kendal Craig
Introduction:
As an educator, it is important that I am not only sensitive to the needs of my students academically, but also emotionally and relationally. It is in my realm of responsibility to be adamant about identifying issues of social justice on my campus and brainstorming solutions. With such an influential platform, teachers are required to provide support for all students. In this way, I believe that it is my duty to establish a plan in order to advocate for social justice and equity on my campus.
During my first year as a Teacher Candidate, I noticed that many inequities revolved around the lack of opportunities for the academic success of our community of English Language Learners. In response, I developed a plan that will not only benefit EL students, but all students. Knowing that this is an issue across many campuses, I have created this plan to be flexible and adaptable to any campus environment.
As an educator, it is important that I am not only sensitive to the needs of my students academically, but also emotionally and relationally. It is in my realm of responsibility to be adamant about identifying issues of social justice on my campus and brainstorming solutions. With such an influential platform, teachers are required to provide support for all students. In this way, I believe that it is my duty to establish a plan in order to advocate for social justice and equity on my campus.
During my first year as a Teacher Candidate, I noticed that many inequities revolved around the lack of opportunities for the academic success of our community of English Language Learners. In response, I developed a plan that will not only benefit EL students, but all students. Knowing that this is an issue across many campuses, I have created this plan to be flexible and adaptable to any campus environment.
Naming the Problem:
One of the issues of equity on campus is the lack of additional support for EL students. These students are frequently placed incorrectly in classes that are too challenging for their abilities. Often these students struggle in multiple content areas because of their lack of English language development. Both current as well as reclassified EL students struggle to produce sufficient work because the necessary scaffolding is not provided within the classroom setting. As a result, EL students find themselves lost on steps C and D because they have not mastered steps A and B. This is clearly seen in their essay writing. It is difficult to identify EL students based upon their ability to listen and respond verbally. Written work is truly telling of their linguistic abilities. Current and reclassified EL students have difficulty writing essays that meet the demands of the standards because they are not given the opportunities in order to do so. It is an injustice that EL students are not provided with the extra support and time necessary for them to progress in their writing abilities so that they can succeed in the classroom.
One of the issues of equity on campus is the lack of additional support for EL students. These students are frequently placed incorrectly in classes that are too challenging for their abilities. Often these students struggle in multiple content areas because of their lack of English language development. Both current as well as reclassified EL students struggle to produce sufficient work because the necessary scaffolding is not provided within the classroom setting. As a result, EL students find themselves lost on steps C and D because they have not mastered steps A and B. This is clearly seen in their essay writing. It is difficult to identify EL students based upon their ability to listen and respond verbally. Written work is truly telling of their linguistic abilities. Current and reclassified EL students have difficulty writing essays that meet the demands of the standards because they are not given the opportunities in order to do so. It is an injustice that EL students are not provided with the extra support and time necessary for them to progress in their writing abilities so that they can succeed in the classroom.
Reflecting Critically: Most research on EL students will show that educators are not sufficiently equipped to teach EL students. In “Promoting Academic Literacy,” authors Maxwell-Jolly, Gandara, and Benavîdez indicate that “there is evidence that few secondary ELs have access to the type of curriculum and instruction that fosters academic success” (4). High schools are not providing the necessary materials to cultivate student success. As a result, a divide is created between EL students and the rest of their classmates. This article suggests that “we need strategies to counter the language segregation that so many EL students experience” (16). In order to support EL language acquisition, we need to support their learning beyond the classroom setting. It is important to create a safe and welcoming space for EL students to ask questions about the writing process and learn how to successfully go through the steps of writing in the academic context.
Diaz-Rico suggest in his article “Programs for English Learners” that teaching collaboratively can be a powerful tool to help support EL success in the classroom. He writes that “team teaching, peer tutoring, mentors, and bilingual paraprofessionals offer different means of supporting student learning” (146). Responding to this research, I believe that it is essential to rely on the community in order to effectively monitor EL achievement. Collaboration is vital to the advocation of EL success.
After communicating with colleagues, cooperating teachers, additional English teachers, and administration, I have come to the conclusion that EL students are not being appropriately supported in their academic pursuits. They continue to slide through the system without acquiring the necessary language supports in order to be college or career ready. Therefore, I have come up with a detailed plan in order to promote social justice and equity on the high school campus.
Diaz-Rico suggest in his article “Programs for English Learners” that teaching collaboratively can be a powerful tool to help support EL success in the classroom. He writes that “team teaching, peer tutoring, mentors, and bilingual paraprofessionals offer different means of supporting student learning” (146). Responding to this research, I believe that it is essential to rely on the community in order to effectively monitor EL achievement. Collaboration is vital to the advocation of EL success.
After communicating with colleagues, cooperating teachers, additional English teachers, and administration, I have come to the conclusion that EL students are not being appropriately supported in their academic pursuits. They continue to slide through the system without acquiring the necessary language supports in order to be college or career ready. Therefore, I have come up with a detailed plan in order to promote social justice and equity on the high school campus.
Responding With Action:
In response to the social justice issue I have identified and the research that affirms the injustice, I have developed a plan to address the inequity. I believe that EL students need additional time, outside of the classroom, to develop their writing skills. The writing process is difficult for any student, but without the necessary language supports it becomes nearly impossible for EL or reclassified EL students. Therefore, my colleague and I have created a plan to provide well-developed writing workshops twice a month for students. There are three parts to this issue: the gathering of information, distributing of information, and the workshops themselves. The first two pieces have been divided between my colleague and I and the latter piece is one that we will accomplish collaboratively. As supported by the research above, collaborative teaching is the best way to support EL success in the classroom. This is why I believe that team teaching during the workshops is the most effective way to provide EL students with the appropriate materials and instruction to advocate for their overall academic achievement.
In response to the social justice issue I have identified and the research that affirms the injustice, I have developed a plan to address the inequity. I believe that EL students need additional time, outside of the classroom, to develop their writing skills. The writing process is difficult for any student, but without the necessary language supports it becomes nearly impossible for EL or reclassified EL students. Therefore, my colleague and I have created a plan to provide well-developed writing workshops twice a month for students. There are three parts to this issue: the gathering of information, distributing of information, and the workshops themselves. The first two pieces have been divided between my colleague and I and the latter piece is one that we will accomplish collaboratively. As supported by the research above, collaborative teaching is the best way to support EL success in the classroom. This is why I believe that team teaching during the workshops is the most effective way to provide EL students with the appropriate materials and instruction to advocate for their overall academic achievement.
- Gathering of Information:
- All students have a profile that includes the necessary information to identify them as either an EL or reclassified student. It also includes their CELDT score that it used to help place them in the correct classroom setting.
- Before the beginning of the semester, I will ensure that each student with an EL or reclassified label in their profile will be put on a master list of students who are eligible for the writing workshops. (All students are eligible, but it is important that I prioritize EL students).
- If there is not a list, I will work with counselors, administration, other teachers, ad EL instructors to create a definitive list before the school year begins. This way we are prepared, equipped, and ready to go for the beginning of the semester. I believe that each school should have a master list anyway that includes the names of all EL students so they are uniquely communicated with throughout the school year.
- At the beginning of each semester, I will ensure that counselors send all teachers a specific list that outlines who in their classes are EL or reclassified EL students. I will ensure that the list includes their name, grade, English teacher, and parent contact information. This list will be adjusted frequently as new EL students arrive or leave the school site.
- With a list of all EL and reclassified students on the campus, I will provide my colleague with the emails of each of the parents. In this way, she will be able to contact the families of these students with information on the workshops that are being held throughout the semester.
- The list that I will create will be used as a sign in sheet and referenced for workshop purposes sos that I can track which students are/are not attending the meetings
- Sending of Information:
- Using the list provided, I will be able to email the guardians of each of the students with a flyer that provides all the information regarding the workshops. These emails will be sent out in multiple different languages so that various translations are available for interpretation. An initial contact will be made so parents are aware of the different workshops that will be offered throughout the semester. Additional emails will be sent out at the beginning of each month so that the parents/guardians are provided with more detailed information about the two workshops that are going to be held during that month.
- Writing Workshops:
- The students will come to the workshop with one of the following: a prompt, thesis, outline, working draft, or final draft. In this way, the students will have something that they can be “workshopping” as we conduct the different workshops. Each workshop will cover a specific topic of discussion so that more time is given to each individual topic.
- As it stands now, these workshops will be held bi-weekly during lunch. The workshops will be held on Thursdays. Therefore, if a student makes significant edits to a paper, they will have the night to finish it before it is due on Friday (the typical due date for most essays). Furthermore, as Paloma Valley’s bell schedule currently stands, Mondays and Wednesdays have shortened lunch periods. Thursdays will give us over 30 minutes to provide a more lengthy, effective workshop.
- Each topic is an important piece of the writing process. Therefore, if a single student attended each workshop, they will have an in depth explanation and experience with each piece of the writing process. In this way, I am supporting language acquisition as well as EL student success in their writing abilities.
- Through co-teaching, I will be able to more effectively and efficiently support the students who come to the workshop. Depending on the topic, we could set up the workshop using parallel teaching, so that each teacher has a group of smaller students to go through the workshop with.
- Additionally, I believe that it is important to work with bilingual teachers so that we can have someone there to bridge the language gap if there are any miscommunications. The more help that is available for these workshops, the better.
- How a typical workshop may be run:
- Introduction of topic (what is a thesis statement?)
- Structuring the topic (what is in a thesis statement?)
- Student work (how can I write a thesis statement?)
- Partner sharing (how did he/she writ his/her thesis statement?)
- Additional materials (providing cheat sheets and/or other materials that students can take home as an additional resource)
- Condensed Timeline of How Social Justice Plan will be Achieved:
- Before Semester Begins:
- Gathering of student profiles who are EL or reclassified EL
- Compiling the information on a "master" contact list that is accessible to everyone
- First Day of Semester/First Week of Semester:
- Sending out of student information to teachers so that they are aware of the EL/Reclassified students they have in their classroom
- First Week of Semester:
- Sending out of flyer to ALL guardians on the "master" list letting them know of the writing workshops that will be available throughout the semester
- Throughout the Semester:
- Monthly emails sent out providing more specific information on what the workshops of the month will be covering.
- Bi-weekly writing workshops
- Before Semester Begins: