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Hey, We are both fighting to disrupt racist outcomes in education. In fact, we are joined by many educators and institutions in this fight. And even if some may not explicitly name themselves as a part of this movement for educational equity, almost no one would declare that they are against educational equity. And they certainly wouldn’t say that they are trying to create and perpetuate racist outcomes. So then, how is it possible to have racism without racists? Especially when “they” is all of us? How can we be producing racist outcomes if no one has a racist intention or a racist bone in their body? Well, that's our unconscious bias, of course.  Here are some examples of racist actions.
Responding to student wrong answers by giving the right answer and moving on. Every. Single. Time. Impact: Black children never have an opportunity to learn why their answers are wrong or the thought process to get to the right answer. Which means all Black children learn here is that they are wrong. Lowering the lexile level of a text. By finding an easier text on the same topic. For the entire unit. Impact: For several months, or the entire duration of the unit, Black children spend their instructional time on a text below grade level. Which means Black children lose the opportunity to grow towards grade level for several months. Grouping students according to a diagnostic. For the entire quarter. Impact: When Black students thrive, they lose an opportunity to be pushed. When Black students struggle, they lose an opportunity to be supported, according to their immediate, specific needs. Accepting data analyses that site silly mistakes as the cause of a misconception. For a entire unit’s enduring understandings. Impact: The true misconceptions demonstrated in student work are never uncovered. Which means Black children never get taught how to master content they showed they need help with. Not pushing that teacher with fixed mindsets on what they are putting in front of their kids. Impact: All 30 Black children (or 100 if middle school) in this teacher’s classroom, lose one year of grade-level education, making it harder to graduate with college and career readiness. The Black students in your school system are still expected to be college and career ready, even though they got less time. The accumulation of these actions deny Black children access to an education that creates (and not limits) opportunities for them. In a society addicted to the myth of being a meritocracy, this is it’s own kind violence. Which kind of tracks, because our nation’s capacity to deny access and exclude Black people is historic and violent. Literally. So what makes these actions racist? They produce an outcome, the denial of something (in this case, education that creates access) to Black children, that is racist. Periodt. And until our actions align with our intentions by producing equitable outcomes on a systems level, all of us, educators, school leaders, and system leaders alike, are responsible for the impact of unconscious bias in our professional learning and instructional planning structures. No, you didn’t put it there. But as long as it’s in the room, it’s your business to interrupt. Want to know how to interrupt unconscious bias in your instructional planning structures? Learn more during our upcoming Free Masterclass: How to Disrupt 7 System-Level Barriers to Equity for Black Children on Saturday, May 8th at 10am PST/ 1pm EST. Sign up here!
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Yes, I said what I said and stand by it! COVID 19 + virtual learning are not why there was so much (anticipated) learning loss in your school system this academic year.  You might be giving me some side eyes right now and thinking, but Sable, what about: Access to internet access + 1-to-1 technology? How are kids supposed to learn without complete exposure to 100% of the curriculum? Cameras being turned off on zoom… they are always off and my teachers are fighting kids to put them on. How are teachers supposed to give feedback without cameras? It’s like teaching into a void! Virtual learning is less than in person learning. Period. There are so many instructional strategies we’ve lost access with the online classroom.  I hear you. And all of these things are 100% valid. And I have to reiterate that what you’ve pointed out has nothing to do with learning loss. Why? On Internet access + Technology: When students were physically present in school buildings and had complete exposure to 100% of the curriculum because they were in school to learn it, we still had learning loss. And more often than not that learning loss was predictive by race. Don’t get me wrong -- Black children need access to the Internet and 1-to-1 technology to safely learn during this pandemic. AND… if schools have since figured out systems for creating access to the internet and 1-to-1 technology since the onslaught of the pandemic …. then what does that have to do with continuation of learning loss?  On cameras being turned off on zoom: When students were physically present in the school building, they had opportunities to express their understanding in a multitude of ways, some of which like written student work or listening to student discussions while circulating the classroom, didn’t even require seeing their faces 100% of the time. We don’t need to see student faces to give them feedback and teach them. It’s really, really, really nice. And wayyyyyy less awkward to facilitate, to have their cameras on. But those were feelings… being used to justify a lack of evidence of student learning and feedback….whatttt?  On virtual learning as a medium: Well, to learn means “to gain knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something”. It’s possible to gain knowledge or skill virtually. It’s possible to study virtually, practice virtually, and experience something virtually. Is it the same? Of course not. But is it possible? Definitely. How possible? Well, the e-learning industry is currently worth $5.16 billion dollars and is projected to be worth $25.33 billion dollars by 2025. That means that is $5 billion dollars of wealth generated all on the notion that virtual learning is possible. Yes there are systems that need to be put in place to make sure virtual learning can be facilitated smoothly. But how can you every create those systems if you’ve already decided that virtual learning is not possible?  Okay, Sable fine - COVID did not create system-wide student mastery. We were struggling to support Black children before the pandemic. So then what’s the real cause of all of that learning loss this year? And why did it get so bad? Well, the opportunity gap. What’s the opportunity gap? When “students spend most of the time in school without access to four key resources: grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction, deep engagement, and teachers who hold high expectations.” (TNTP, 2018) And yes, in case you’re wondering this does disproportionately affect Black children. Which means yes, Black children spend a disproportionate amount of time in school without the resources they need to learn grade-level content. So they are left further and further behind…. The opportunity gap can happen virtually and in person learning. Because teachers still made those decisions about how much grade level content kids should have access to during the pandemic. And that’s what’s been causing the learning loss in your school system, prior, during, even possibly after we’ve recovered from the pandemic. If you don’t want the opportunity gap to continue beyond the pandemic… If you don’t want to go back to normal, because you know that our “normal” was inequity for Black children…  You have to disrupt unconscious bias in all of your instructional decision making processes. There’s no if, ands, or buts about it. Seriously. Can you imagine actually creating equitable outcomes for Black children with unconscious bias embedded into your school system? Right. That sounds ridiculous, because it is. Which means that the barriers created by unconscious bias, and all the other things, have got to go. On site.
Want to know how to disrupt these barriers? Learn more during our upcoming Free Masterclass: How to Disrupt 7 System-Level Barriers to Equity for Black Children on Saturday, May 8th at 10am PST/ 1pm EST. Sign up here! “My kids just can’t handle it. I know them.” Raise your hand if you’ve heard this before. Now keep your hand raised if when you heard this, it was being used as a rationale for why Black children won’t be receiving or accessing grade level content.  The problem with this? Several. The obvious: The person who said this has made a decision about what content to put in front of Black children. And you might not know how to push back in a way that reengages this person into making a different decision, because the reason they used was tied to her deep knowledge of her students, which you feel like you can’t speak against. Because you don’t know their students well enough or even at all -- so who are you to invalidate that? But why does it still feel off? And why don’t you know how to address it? Because of the not so obvious… The not so obvious: That statement was rife with yucky racial undertones of normalized underachievement of Black students as innate and inevitable. How can you change anything that is innate or inevitable? You can’t - that’s the point! It’s paternalism thinly veiled as compassion. Why? It’s implied that omitting that grade level content is essentially an act of kindness. Because any kind of academic struggle that does not immediately lead to the right answer will just cause the confidence + self-esteem of Black children to be decimated when they realize just how much they don’t know or are never capable of knowing. In essence, the person who said this believes that they are protecting Black children when they remove their access to grade-level content and their chance ever be on grade level. If you are wondering if that feels anti-Black, it is. Anything that reinforces ideas about Black inferiority is anti-Black, racist, white supremacy in action, all of the things. So how do you coach someone with all of the obvious + not so obvious problems now in the room? Take x answers off the table as a valid + acceptable rationale for major instructional decisions. Or any.  Only accept observable, recent, and relevant evidence of student learning as a reason or rationale.  And make life easier by designing your professional learning structures in a way that requires teachers to use observable, recent, and relevant evidence of student learning to make instructional decisions. Periodt.  Want to know how to stop letting unconscious/ veiled racist ideas about what Black children can do decide what they ever have access to under your watch? Learn more during our upcoming Free Masterclass: How to Disrupt 7 System-Level Barriers to Equity for Black Children on Saturday, May 8th at 10am PST/ 1pm EST. Sign up here!
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