African-American Equity Task Force

Recommendation 1: The AAETF recommends that Denver Public Schools provide funding for the creation of an African-American Equity Team that will ensure the African-American Equity Agreement is upheld, effectively implemented and evaluated on an ongoing basis.

Accomplishments:

• Hiring Leslie L. Juniel, Senior Program Manager of Equity Initiatives, as the lead.
• Hiring Tiffany Gardner, Project Manager, to assist in the equity initiatives.
• Creation of implementation teams who are developing, supporting and progress monitoring the work of implementing the recommendations. 
• Announced members of the Wisdom Team and have begun to meet. This team will support the work around the recommendations, provide updates and elevate diverse voices throughout the community.

Progress:

• The Wisdom Team and implementation teams continue their work in driving results toward each of the recommendations to improve the experiences of African-Americans in DPS.

Recommendation 1: We recommend that every school and department creates and publicly disseminates an Equity Plan that outlines both its commitment to equity and its plan to address inequity for African-American students and employees.

Recommendation 2: We recommend that DPS adapt and expand the SPF Equity Indicator to integrate additional data that provide a more robust understanding of a school’s “equity performance.” This additional data is crucial for effective school-level progress monitoring and accountability related to equity for African-American students and other marginalized groups.

Accomplishments

• Under the leadership of the Professional Learning Team, the Opportunity Gap cohort completed its first year with 30 schools and will be continuing in the 2018-19 school year.
  • Though a partnership with Dr. Eddie Fergus, the Opportunity Gap cohort schools receive school-based support through
    personalized, differentiated activities based on their current problem of practice.
• Required culturally responsive and bias training for new teachers.
• The Culture, Equity and Leadership Team continues to offer values-based leadership programs to all employees to build knowledge, skills and abilities in communication, change management, building trust through relationships, bias-awareness and more. 
• DPS Board of Education adopted changes to district discipline policy related to suspensions and expulsions in ECE – 3.
• Collaborating with the Culturally Responsive Instruction, Engagement and Communication team on the implementation of 2018-19 Opportunity Gap cohort schools.

Progress:

• Developing required professional development focused on bias and equity for school and district personnel.
• Working with the Student Equity and Opportunity team to infuse equity work into trauma-informed practices, increase student supports and interventions.

Recommendation 1: We recommend that DPS develop and implement systems to support consistent and ongoing professional development focused on improving instruction, engagement and communication with African-American students, families and community members.

Recommendation 2: We recommend that DPS ensure curricular materials are culturally responsive to African-American students.

Accomplishments:

• Creation of the Division of Academic Excellence Book Study. Many of the Leadership, Teaching and Learning teams are participating in an optional book study of Zaretta Hammond’s  “Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain” in 2018-19. This represents an opportunity to provide teams with a foundational understanding of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), common language for the work and dedicated time to connect theory to practice.
• Collaborated with the Culturally Responsive Education (CRE) working team to create a working definition of what culturally responsive education is in DPS, as well as the mindsets, practices and key actions.
• Hosted a Performance Dialogue session with the DPS Senior Leadership Team and the Extended Leadership Team to share the progress of work and solicit feedback.
• Offering culturally responsive education workshops as part of the DPS Skills program to give central school-support team members opportunities to increase knowledge about this body of work.
• Engaged three schools (George Washington High School, Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, and Northfield High School) in a pilot program for Equity-Based Practices in Mathematics in partnership with the DPS Curriculum and Instruction Team. Math partners and school leaders attended our national “Learning Forward Community of Practice” to work with other districts to close the academic gap in mathematics.
• In addition to the two CRE Professional Development Units (PDUs) currently offered, two more classes were offered within the first quarter of 2018.
• Approximately 45 schools and 100 educators joined in a year-long professional learning cohort experience called the Culturally Responsive Fellowship. The fellowship kicked off in late July, with a two-day intensive learning experience.

Progress:

• Finalizing a 3 to 5-year plan for implementing culturally responsive education (CRE) within DPS.
• Engaging members of CRE working team and steering committee to identify the measures of success that will impact student achievement.
• Collaborating with the Growth and Performance Teams to examine how the dominant culture’s way of measuring success impact African-American students and educators, and make adjustments where needed.
• Connecting with other school districts across the country to determine what lessons we can learn while incorporating CRE within DPS.
• Examining the challenge of having the capacity/critical mass of individuals to evaluate the impact of CRE work.

Recommendation 1: We recommend that DPS develop and implement an African-American Equitable Access Plan that increases African-American students’ access to high value learning opportunities such as: Advanced Placement (AP), Gifted, Talented (GT/Honors), Concurrent Enrollment, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math (STEM/STEAM), CareerConnect, International Baccalaureate (IB), Middle Year Programming (MYP), student leadership and magnet programs.

Accomplishments:

• The intersection between race and gender are now specifically called out in assessment data related to the READ Act. This data is important, as it disaggregates information to pinpoint the barriers African-American students encounter while trying to access high value and rigorous learning opportunities. This data also helps assist the development of supports for teachers to accelerate learning.
• Increased college course offerings for 18-19 in areas identified as interesting to students (social justice, criminology, ethnic studies, women’s studies) in order to engage students who would not normally access courses.
• Completed an analysis of 2018 PSAT/SAT results by race and gender. Identified gaps between student groups, schools beating the odds with students of color, and schools where stronger supports are needed for students of color. Results were presented to district leaders and work is underway to identify best practices and ways to replicate support strategies across schools.

Progress:

• The Department of Secondary Education and the Office of College and Career Readiness continues to work on mitigating barriers to enrollment in Concurrent Enrollment courses for African American students. Next steps include partnering with Denver Online and Schoology to deliver Concurrent Enrollment courses online and implementing a district-wide Accuplacer testing strategy with the goal of identifying more students prepared to access courses and improving pass rates.
• Updated analyses using 2017-18 data on concurrent and AP access and enrollment by race and gender underway, taking AAETF feedback on prior work into account.
• Collaborating with the Gifted and Talented Team to evaluate how recent district and state changes to Gifted and Talented eligibility policies further impact African-American student access.
• Identifying opportunities to engage district leaders in strategies for ensuring African-American students are prepared to graduate under the new graduation requirements for the class of 2021.

Recommendation 1: We recommend that DPS establish Community and Family Opportunity Centers (CFOs) that respond to and serve African-American students and families living in Far Northeast and Near Northeast neighborhoods.

Recommendation 2: We recommend that DPS create school-level and district level Black Family Advisory Councils that give voice to the goals, needs and concerns of African-American students, families and community members.

Recommendation 3: We recommend that DPS design and disseminate a supportive assessment and planning tool that assists African-American students and families in successfully navigating the school process at all levels, ECE through 12th grade.

Accomplishments:

• The Mile High United Way Center for Family Opportunity (now named the FACE Center) provided services to 31% or 175 individuals who self-reported as African-Americans. This is from the total of 567 individual participants during its first year in the Far Northeast (FNE) location at McGlone Academy.
  • Core classes most utilized by participants include GED, ESL and Workforce Development.
  • Free in-house childcare was provided during all FACE center classes.
• The FACE center (formally CFO) expanded services in the FNE to include John H. Amesse Elementary School, which hosts the main office and provides the same supports from the previous year. Limited services are provided at McGlone Academy. There will be a new service with the mobile laundry truck that will be available for both campuses.
• The FACE center provides ongoing transportation to families within the FNE/NNE community.
• Home learning workshops are being offered regularly to families in the Far Northeast at the FACE center. Workshop content is aligned with the Colorado Academic and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and district Student Learning Objectives (SLOs).
• Over 280 youth received case management and wraparound services through a partnership with the City of Denver Office of Economic Development Workforce Services. These individuals are utilizing the employment pipelines and business partnerships solidified by FACE to expand the City of Denver’s network of employers throughout Denver.
• The office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) has conducted five, Being Black at School (BBAS) sessions with a total of 34 participants engaging in these community-driven sessions. These sessions are comprised of students, parents, educators and community partners with the overall objective of deepening engagement between African-American families and their school communities.
• Home Learning Workshops were held in the Far Northeast to empower families to support increased literacy development in the home. Over 150 parents participated in Home Learning Workshops and over 200 families have participated in Literacy Nights.
• Held a community meeting at Manual High School with DPS Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent focused on the status of African-American students in the district and state.
• The City of Denver collaborated with the DPS Family and Community Engagement Team (FACE) to support high school aged youth with job opportunities this summer through the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP).
  • Through SYEP, 54 Denver youth who self-reported as African-American, ages 16-24, have been placed at local businesses and received summer work experiences. Additional youth are being enrolled through another portion of the program to support 9th grade Academy and final participant demographic information will be available in September.
• FACE has hired an additional African-American Community Engagement Regional Coordinator with teaching experience who will support the FNE community to provide ongoing case management and supportive services to youth in the community.
• Development of African-American Education Network website to provide African-American students, parents and families with a tool to help navigate PreK-20 education in Denver and beyond.

Progress:

• Continuing to develop employment pipelines and business partnerships with the City of Denver’s network of employers that support and assist families in obtaining employment.
• The FACE center is working with The Colorado Association of Black Professional Engineers and Scientists (CABPES) to develop a mentoring program for African-American students in the FNE.
• Research is ongoing to identify best practices for engaging African-American families in the education of their students.

Recommendation 1: We recommend that DPS create a district-led HR Task Force responsible for the development, implementation and oversight of equitable recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal, and compensation processes and practices.

Recommendation 2: We recommend that DPS develop both systems and structures to attract and retain African-American educators.

Accomplishments

• Established an HR team to dig deeper into current processes and find where adjustments need to be made.
• Developed new structures to attract and retain African-American educators:
  • DPS Belong groups offer a place for team members with similar experiences and backgrounds to build relationships with others throughout the district.
  • Reach One Mentoring provides team members of color the space to build a greater level of trust, sense of belonging and support to grow and succeed within DPS.
  • Stay Conversations provide leaders and team members the opportunity to connect through meaningful dialogue and discuss what’s working well and what could be improved within their role.
• HR Team met with the Mayor’s Office of Children’s Affairs to align next year’s recruitment and retention strategies and metrics where possible.
• HR Team is gathering data and anecdotal information from black educators who have applied to the district to capture their experience with application systems and interview processes for the 2018-19 school year.
• Talent Acquisition, Teacher Leader and Collaboration (TLC), and Teacher Pathways are meeting regularly to make sure that goals around pipelines of future educators are aligned in the best way possible (for example- the EdConnect and Para-to-Teacher programs).
• Transparency among pay structures in DPS has improved through the creation of tools available to employees that show the salary range and grade of all positions within DPS.
• HR hosted an Employee Job Fair in the Far Northeast to support with remaining school-based openings for the 18-19 school year.
• Members of the Talent Acquisition, Teacher Pathways, and EdConnect teams presented to Generation Teach Cohort to encourage involvement in the education profession by joining DPS in the future.
• DPS hosted a New Educator of Color Welcome Event in early August 2018 to help new educators of color develop relationships and access supports like DPS Belong Groups, Reach One Mentoring, and other resources available to DPS employees of color.

Progress:

• Continuing to explore efforts currently underway across DPS that align with recommendations to ensure we are not duplicating efforts, but instead pooling resources and collaborating for greater impact.
• Assessing the entire DPS career path (in addition to the employee life-cycle) to determine where barriers exist and what components need to be strengthened.
• Gaining clarity on where candidates–specifically teachers–are interviewing to understand potentials barriers.
• Finalizing the exit interview process.
• Finalizing a proposition for educators of color as a recruitment tool. As a part of this work, the team is designing an infographic to illustrate how potential candidates can connect with DPS.
• Partnering with the EdConnect program and leveraging recent research from the Colorado School of Mines to build a pipeline of current students into future candidates. This effort also includes conversations to help address the misconceptions of teaching.
• Planning to launch an Educators of Color newsletter in the new school year to offer support and opportunities to educators of color throughout the district.
• Creation of a group called the Equalizers that will be focusing on a higher level of cultivation of candidates of color in the application process to make sure they have their questions answered and are aware of the specifics in the district.
• Further simplifying our teacher application process for next year and continuing to push best practices for hiring campus-based roles, which are in line with the Culturally Responsive Education philosophy and hiring practices that promote equity.