The following is excerpted from my remarks to the staff at our annual "back to school" meeting held on August 29th.
I’m so proud to work with
you in the coming year as we create the conditions needed to engage Needham’s
young people.
As you think about the
new year ahead, as you prepare for your students, I’ll ask that you frame your
thinking and your planning around one critically important concept that, as
your superintendent, I expect we will prioritize: Equity.
It’s time we make a coordinated and thoughtful plan to address equity in
the Needham Schools. It’s time we move
the needle on performance for those students who have historically not achieved
at levels commensurate with many of their peers. It’s time to ensure our instruction is
engaging and our schools safe for each child and free of bias, bullying, and
hurtful acts that demean and diminish.
As you instruct your
students throughout the year, work with colleagues, and collaborate with
families and caregivers, consider how your efforts, actions, programs, and
conversations can be based on a foundation of equity.
Now to avoid any
confusion about what I mean by equity in our schools, allow me to share my
definition of equity. I considered several sources, including dictionaries,
language and educational texts, and civil rights organizations. I’ve reviewed the Equity Audit we
commissioned last year and its implication for our students and families. I’ve
listened to teachers, parents, and students, and I’ve arrived at this,
admittedly, imperfect definition:
Equity:
Fair and just access, inclusion, and participation; the practice of
nurturing a learning environment in which all children are empowered to grow,
create, and achieve; freedom from bias and discrimination; an understanding
that each child possesses personal gifts and attributes and brings these to the
classroom which strengthen learning for all; a process by which we promote
justice, engender respect, and inspire hope.
Let’s consider this a
working definition, a starting point for our work. I’ll ask that you use this
definition as a basis for the development of curriculum and assessments, the
design of learning activities, the purchase of books and materials, hiring
staff, the facilitation of meetings, and just generally going about the
business of school. Keep this definition
in the forefront, take action based on its intent and meaning, and be part of
the change that is so urgently needed.
So my charge to you is
this: Take small steps and learn from
mistakes to ensure an innovative and high quality educational program for all
the children we serve. Take small steps
and learn from mistakes to ensure equity and to assist all
children—gay/straight, brown/white, English speakers and English learners,
abled and differently abled, Muslim, Jew, Christian, or non-believers—to assist
all kids to develop the skills,
mindset, imagination, and courage to tackle the challenges and envision the
opportunities ahead.
Let’s do this work with
honor, humility and a profound sense of hope and joy in all of our young people
whose learning we support today and whose leadership we will depend on
tomorrow.