Whole school transformation requires a systemic and multifaceted approach to create high academic performance, safe school climates, and family, school, and community engagement in priority and focus schools. MAEC understands that each district and school is situated within a unique socio-political context that defines their needs, strengths, cultures, processes, and resources. We work with clients to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and collaboratively develop an action plan grounded in data, shared targets, and the leveraging of human capital, expertise, and resources to close achievement and opportunity gaps in schools.
Community Resource Mapping
MAEC uses a strengths-based approach for asset mapping, since often the best solutions come from within the communities in which our districts/schools reside. These key stakeholders include districts, schools, communities, and families all who are seeking to increase student achievement. To this end, MAEC conducts community walks and community resource mapping to identify potential partners and allies for effective and efficient delivery of services. This process includes attention to alignment between district and school needs and priorities so together partners can build the social and human capital that will help students and staff thrive.
Comprehensive Needs Assessment
Beginning with a disaggregated data analysis of student achievement, student discipline, and school climate, MAEC is able to effectively determine client strengths and areas of need. This collaborative inquiry approach enables MAEC to examine multiple sources of data. Using a culturally responsive and equity framework, further creates opportunities to develop operational action plans to tackle complex challenges that pose barriers to gains in student achievement.
Culturally Responsive Family, School, and Community Engagement
A family is a child’s first teacher. When families’ partner with schools and community organizations, children thrive. To produce the best results for students, MAEC builds the capacity of families, educators, schools, and community organizations to collaborate, exchange ideas, and develop and implement policies and action plans. We build on the collaborative strengths of families, educators, and community members so they can each contribute to the development and success of diverse students.
Culturally Responsive Leadership
Leaders set the tone and expectations of any organization. They do this by responding effectively to the diverse communities that they serve, being asset-focused, and proactive problem solvers. Culturally responsive leadership technical assistance provides a multi-dimensional framework that builds capacity of educators who are culturally informed and highly skilled in culturally responsive practice.
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Culturally responsive pedagogy is a method and practice of teaching in which educators and providers build on the assets that their students and families bring into the classroom. As the populations of our students grow more diverse, staff must be better prepared to respond to their needs. This requires a greater understanding and knowledge of their students’ culture, strengths, and socio-political contexts. With this practice, schools can become hubs of learning focused on the well being of the students and families being served.
Policy & Procedural Reviews
In educational systems, policies and procedures often inform practice. However, some policies or procedures may have unintended consequences when implemented that serve to further silo organizational efforts to close opportunity gaps. To address this challenge, MAEC provides state departments, districts, schools, and organizations with policy and procedural reviews to ensure they are equitable, effective, and comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
Positive School Cultures and Climates
MAEC engages districts and schools in a review of school climate and disciplinary data in order to assess their strengths and areas of need. Students thrive when they are in schools that create: (1) Optimal conditions for learning; (2) Inclusive; (3) Honor the cultures of families and students; (4) Have common instructional and organizational targets; and (5) Create a strong culture of belonging. Transformative schools also adapt multi-tiered systems of support and interventions to proactively meet the non-academic needs of students and build their self-efficacy, academic confidence, resiliency, and leadership skills to increase ownership for their learning.
Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT) Trainer-of-Trainers
Trained by APTT’s creator, Maria C. Paredes, MAEC offers APPT training to district staff and/or school clusters wishing to adopt this comprehensive FSCE model. This model includes strategies for sharing student data, establishing student goals, and providing families with activities to practice foundational skills with their children at home. The APTT model incorporates three, 75- minute academic parent-teacher meetings, one 30 minute individual parent-teacher conference, and a library of at-home activities that are aligned with foundational skills student need to have to be at or above grade level.
Advancing Capacity as Culturally Proficient Leaders
This training series is designed to advance the capacity of district leadership to embed cultural proficiency into their roles as they support staff. MAEC collaborates with clients to examine the systemic and structural roles of cultural proficiency in school district transformation. The trainings include the following components: Cultural Proficiency Continuum, School Leader Identity Reflection, Multicultural Education – Cultural Influence on Perspective, Multiple Worlds Theory, Historical, Societal, and Political Contextualization, Cultural Responsive Leadership Norms, Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency, Building Positive School Culture and Climate, and Culture and Climate Self Study.
Culturally Responsive Discipline Models and Practice
Creating a positive school and classroom culture is essential to reducing disruptive behaviors that lead to referrals and suspensions. Culturally Responsive Discipline Models and Practice guides educators through the exploration and analysis of discipline models, continuum of interventions and supports, and the creation of equity centered student codes of conduct. The trainings include the following components: School Climate and Culture, PBIS vs. CRPBIS, School Climate Survey Samples, Student Codes of Conduct Models, Root Cause Analysis, and Reducing Disproportionality.
Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning
This series of training is intended for school-based educators to explore the impact that identity and context have on teaching and learning; build an understanding of educational access, participation, and outcomes as they relate to issues of power and privilege; and apply new knowledge to begin planning for culturally responsive practice implementation. The trainings include the following components: Opportunity Gaps, Disproportionality, Exploring Personal Identity, Perceptions about Students and Learning, Structural Racism vs. Poverty, Cultural Context, Data Analysis and Decision-Making, and Asset-based Approach to Teaching and Learning.
Ensuring Educational Equity for English Learners
Under Title VI and Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, school districts are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, and national origin. This training highlights the requirements surrounding the provision of services for ELs with an emphasis on the identification, placement, provision of alternative program for ELs, access to challenging content, and assessment. In addition, the training addresses the legal rights of parents/guardians.
Entre Nosotros, Between Us: Transitions into Kindergarten: Trainer-of-Trainers
Entre Nosotros was developed as a trainer-of-trainers curriculum to prepare childcare providers, early childhood centers, preschools, and kindergarten educators with parent workshops aimed at easing the transition into kindergarten. The five two hour lessons cover topics such as: (1) Importance of family engagement in student success; (2) Tips for School Success, including explanation of cultural expectations for new immigrant parents; (3) Communication & Positive Discipline; (4) Home Support for Learning; and (5) Family Literacy & Celebration! This curriculum is available in English and Spanish.
Evolving as Culturally Responsive Educators
This training series is intended to advance participants’ growth as culturally competent educators and leaders. The trainings include the following components: Cultural Proficiency Continuum, School Educator Identity Reflection, Cultural Influence on Perspective, Habits of Mind, Elements of Cultural Identity, Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency, and Multicultural Education – Cultural Influence on Perspective.
Family Engagement in the Classroom
This teacher induction curriculum, co-created with the Flamboyan Foundation, is designed to give teachers the strategies and tools to help them engage families in their classrooms. Teachers receive example lessons, interactive homework, and tools to better understand, and bring into the classroom, student’s and family’s funds of knowledge. These skills help teachers create welcoming classrooms and establish positive relationships with families to build student success.
Paving the Way to College and Careers: Families and Schools Together
This progressive, 9th-12th grade curriculum, offers high school counselors with five, 1.5 hour lessons they can deliver to parents/students to help them get ready for college/careers. The lessons are structured to achieve five main goals: 1) Strengthen the parent/student relationship by providing a safe and structured space for dialogue; 2) Establish a strong connection between parents/students with their high school counselors; 3) Increase student/family knowledge of the academic and developmental milestones they will encounter in high school; 4) Develop skills and strategies necessary to be on track for a post-secondary education/career; and 5) Successfully complete a PSAT/PLAN, SAT/ACT, FAFSA, and college/technical education application or job application.
School Transformation Project
MAEC provides an urban school district in Delaware with a system-wide model for school transformation to reduce disproportionality in discipline. MAEC provides professional learning opportunities to build capacity for improving school culture and climate, increasing teacher-student engagement, decreasing referrals and suspensions, and increasing academic achievement. This school transformation model includes the implementation and monitoring of culturally responsive approaches to leadership, teaching, and discipline with the whole child at the center of data-driven decision making. The model is anchored in Culturally Responsive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (CRPBIS) and Culturally Responsive Classroom Management (CRCM). Within the first two years of program implementation, the District implemented the following:
- District and School-based Equity Teams
- New Data Collection System (RAP)
- New Student Code of Conduct
- Revised Student Manual
- Student Manual Implementation Monitoring (Equity in Action)
- Decrease in referrals and suspensions at the elementary schools
- District-wide Universal Screening
- District-wide adoption of core positive interventions (CSD Pillars of CRPBS)
Advancing Racial and Socioeconomic Diversity Playbook: A Guide for Administrators
Advancing Racial and Socioeconomic Diversity Playbook: A Guide for Administrators While U.S. public education is experiencing an increase in student body size and diversity, there is also an increase in racial and socioeconomic isolation. Participation rates among White students are decreasing as rates among Latine and Asian American and Pacific Islander students increase, and Black student participation rates hold steady. Schools, districts, and communities must be prepared to address these two forms of segregation to ensure equity and success for all students. Advancing Racial & Socioeconomic Diversity Playbook provides a comprehensive integration planning guide with tools to help build inclusive teams, analyze segregation in your district, and refine plans. The planning guide and worksheets offer teams opportunities to review racial and socioeconomic issues side-by-side and together.
Link: https://maec.org/ses_playbook/
Equitable Access: Case studies on reducing racial isolation through socioeconomic integration
While U.S. public education is experiencing an increase in student body size and diversity, there is also an increase in racial and socioeconomic isolation. Participation rates among White students are decreasing as rates among Latine and Asian American and Pacific Islander students increase, and Black student participation rates hold steady. Schools, districts, and communities must be prepared to address these two forms of segregation to ensure equity and success for all students. Equitable Access: Case studies on reducing racial isolation through socioeconomic integration gives education leaders and teams examples of district-level socioeconomic integration efforts in New York, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Texas.
Link: https://maec.org/ses_case_studies/
Promoting School Equity: Lessons from the Socioeconomic Integration Community of Practice
Reducing school segregation—by race and socioeconomic status—is one important ingredient in the effort to fight systemic racism and provide better opportunities across racial and economic lines. Because of the overlap between race and economic status in American society, socioeconomic integration offers a path toward both economic and racial integration in a less legally vulnerable manner than student assignment plans that consider the individual race of students. Between 2018-2019, MAEC’s Center for Education Equity convened a community of practice for school districts that wanted to pursue socioeconomic integration or improve their existing integration plans. Read about the three goals that districts pursuing a socioeconomic integration plan should work on.
Link: https://maec.org/ses_lessons/
Teacher Diversity – Recruitment
MAEC's Center for Education Equity developed this course on the preparation and recruitment of diverse teacher candidates and provided strategies on how SEAs, LEAs, schools, and institutions of higher education can leverage equitable partnerships to increase diversity. By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Define the importance of a diverse teaching workforce.
- Review the research and data surrounding racial and ethnic disparities in the teaching workforce.
- Identify barriers to the recruitment of diverse teachers as it relates to school, district, and state-level policies.
- Identify strategies for the recruitment of diverse teachers as it relates to school, district, and state-level policies.
- Consider long-term goals as it relates to policies that will serve to diversify the teaching workforce.
- Identify barriers to the recruitment of diverse teachers as it relates to school, district, and state-level practices.
- Identify strategies for the recruitment of diverse teachers as it relates to school, district, and state-level practices.
- Consider long-term goals as it relates to practices that will serve to diversify the teaching workforce.