Step 3 - Explain how you would research and develop a plan for a diverse district and community and how you would capitalize on the diversity of the community to advocate for all students (ELCC 4.1, 4.2 and 4.4)
1. Researching a Diversity Plan
I would begin creating a diversity plan by researching the demographic data of the district. I would analyze the racial, gender, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic data of the students in the district. I would survey the staff, students, parents, and community members asking for their input into what is important to them personally regarding diversity.
I would study other Diversity Plans on the internet and find diversity plans that similarly meet the needs of their district in comparison to our district. I would look specifically at other Diversity Plans that have a large percentage of Hispanic students and see what opportunities there are to engage this sub-group in our schools and communities.
I would communicate the objectives and goals of creating a diversity plan with the community. I would need to seek to gather input from stakeholders to craft the plan. The survey would include their opinions on how are current status of diversity affects them and if they have any feedback to share. I would seek out various sub-groups (race, sex, socioeconomic, ethnicity) in our community to find assistance in creating the survey.
The most important information we need is a districts definition of diversity. As the guide states, the danger of failing to engage the community is obvious: no community support means a diversity policy has little help of succeeding. (Coleman, Negron, Lipper, 2011). After creating a sub-committee of many different stakeholders such as students, teachers, central office, parents, community members, etc. then I would share with them the district student demographic data, other diversity plans, and the objectives of our task. We would spend much time in the planning phase in order to ensure that we have an understanding of our task and look at examples of other like-districts.
2. How to Develop a Diversity Plan- Stating the Rationale
As the Guide states, Articulate clearly why diversity is important to your district. As the Superintendent, I must first state the rationale for why a diversity plan is needed. The public needs to know that having a diversity plan for our district affects student achievement.
I would share with the community the rationale for diversity in secondary education including improved student learning, improved preparation for employment, and enhanced civil and democratic values. (Coleman, Negron, Lipper, 2011).
I would gather a committee like the Radford City School committee and look at the core areas of diversity plan: Curriculum, Student Self-Esteem, Recruitment, and Community Involvement. I would also add creating a Student Assignment/Zoning Policy. This large committee would break out into small groups and garner feedback from the community around their topic. The Curriculum committee would seek out information and partner with the Director of Curriculum and Directors of Elementary and Secondary Education and help create a core curriculum for diversity and an educational plan to share with the K-12 teachers in the district. Each and every child in our district would be exposed to multicultural units, diversity activities, and educational opportunities in the community to experience diverse cultures. The Student Self-Esteem committee would create personal surveys and educational units around self-esteem building. I would help this committee partner with each of the school counselors in each of the buildings to create these surveys and units. The message is that we would want ALL students to feel confident and proud of their heritage and show acceptance of other cultures and people. The Community Involvement Committee would gather opportunities for students to partner with city officials and community organizations to build alliances for families in our community. These organizations could include Hispanic or African-American organizations, gay family organizations, Women Coalitions, etc. The sub-committee would also build diversity alliances in the community to include diversity programming/activities at the individual schools, parent and community study and discussion groups and guest speaker opportunities at each of the buildings. Finally, as the Superintendent, I would lead the student assignment/zoning policy subcommittee because this is an integral area in which a district can set up guidelines and policy that ensures a diverse community for all students at all schools within a district. This sub- committee would seek out local realtors, community zoning/housing organizations, etc. to get feedback and keep updated on the real estate and new developments in the area.
3. How it Relates to Student Achievement
In the Guide it states that A growing body of social science evidence suggests that attending diverse schools is positively related to educational and lifelong benefits for all students- enhancing students civic and democratic values and preparing them for employment and a multi-cultural society. (Coleman, Negron, Lipper, 2011). In the Guide it also states that, Diverse schools also increase academic opportunities compared to schools in which students are isolated by socioeconomic status and/or race and ethnicity. It is imperative that after we adopt and implement the Diversity Plan we would need to evaluate the policy through student achievement data. The committee would need to ensure that ALL students are succeeding so it is important to check the sub-groups including: low-socioeconomic, ELL, Gifted, Minority students, etc.
After looking at the District Report Card for Hilliard Schools, I see that the ELL students are not performing at a proficient level. I would tap into the Sub-Committee of Community Involvement and seek out possible ELL translators for tutors or translators to help the teachers and/or the families build partnerships. I would find cultural opportunities and education experiences for the ELL families and tie these opportunities with our curriculum with help of the Curriculum team and the building principals.
The gifted students are also another sub-group of students that are not showing growth. I would tap into the resources in Columbus such as COSI or NASA. I would find opportunities to find families in our district that have a STEM background or related job to help mentor elementary/middle and high school students.
4. Relation to the Mission and Vision
Our Mission states that we will ensure that ALL students will be prepared for the future. This mission states exactly what a diversity plan should ensure, success for all students in a district regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual preference, etc. As we create these sub-committees, they need to continue the work of creating curriculum, finding community alliances and partnerships, facilitating opportunities multi-cultural experiences, and creating student assignment/zoning policies, keeping all of these sub-groups in mind. Our vision includes preparing students to Embrace, Empower and Inspire students, families and community in an active partnership. This fits perfectly with a Diversity Plan and through constant communication, active participation, and fostering an alliance between community organizations and the school district, we can create this partnership that helps all students succeed.
References:
Coleman, Negron, Lipper (2011). Achieving Excellence for All: A Guide to Diversity-Related Policy Strategies for School Districts. National School Boards Alliance.
Radford City Schools Cultural Diversity Committee (2006). Radford City Schools- Cultural Diversity Plan.