Committing to Equitable Outcomes for Students During COVID-19: A Focus on High-Quality Curricula and Instruction

Committing to Equitable Outcomes for Students During COVID-19: A Focus on High-Quality Curricula and Instruction
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OVERVIEW

The start of the pandemic in March 2020 caused a shift in k-12 schooling. Administrators, teachers, and students have navigated unprecedented times as they had to pivot almost instantly to an online learning environment. For global-majority youth, many challenges have intensified due to COVID-19 including technology gaps, disparities related to effective teaching, and proper social and academic supports. As school administrators and educators meet this moment with courage and prime themselves to teach in a variety of settings (in-person, virtual, or a hybrid model), how we are engaging students becomes critical.

In this 75-minute webinar, facilitated by the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), participants learned how Michigan and Virginia are committing to providing high-quality curricula and instruction to all students during the global pandemic. It also focused specifically on the following four indicators of educational equity outlined in the National Academies reports Monitoring Educational Equity and Building Educational Equity Indicator Systems:

  • Disparities in access to effective teaching
  • Disparities in access to rigorous coursework
  • Disparities in curricular breadth
  • Disparities in access to high-quality academic supports

Representatives from Chesapeake County Public Schools (VA) and Detroit County Public Schools (MI):

  • Discussed their priorities for educational equity
  • Shared their efforts to provide equitable access to effective teaching, rigorous coursework, curricular breadth, and access to high-quality academic supports during the global pandemic
  • Described whether and how they are measuring their progress on those indicators.

PRESENTERS

NASEM Partner

Natalie R. Nielsen, Ph.D.
Senior Program Officer, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Michigan Team

Naomi Khalil
Deputy Executive Director
Equity Advocacy, Detroit Public Schools Community District

Beth Gonzalez
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction
Detroit Public Schools Community District

Virginia Team
Profile photo of Leah Walker
Leah Walker
Director, Office of Equity & Community Engagement
Virginia Department of Education

Dr. Sheli Porter
Director of Secondary Teaching & Learning
Chesapeake Public Schools

Dr. Kambar Khoshaba
Principal of Western Branch Middle School
Chesapeake Public Schools

Ms. Kinyatta Garrett
Principal of Jolliff Middle School
Chesapeake Public Schools

Mr. Michael Perez
Principal of Grassfield High School
Chesapeake Public Schools

Mrs. Naomi Dunbar
Principal of Indian River High School
Chesapeake Public Schools

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The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization based in Washington, DC, provides learning opportunities for policy leaders, practitioners, and researchers working on youth and education issues at the national, state, and local levels. AYPF events and publications are made possible by contributions from philanthropic foundations. For a complete list, click here.