Schools create a plan to talk, teach about race
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
It has been more than four years since the conception of the Consortium on Racial Equity at Miami University, and it will take several more years of work before districts achieve their goals of erasing racial barriers from the classroom, officials said
"Fairfield, I think, is ahead of the game," said Ray Terrell, Miami University assistant dean for diversity and research and consultant.
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Educators from Middletown, Butler Tech, Fairfield, Mason, Talawanda, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Board of Regents have worked with Miami University to build the Consortium on Racial Equity in K-12 Education. Each representative has a racial equity team made up of teachers, administrators, a board member and staff members. The goal is to teach educators to take responsibility for their biases and to talk about learning barriers in the classroom, school leaders say.
In the past, Fairfield would do an in-service and call it a day, Terrell said. Former Superintendent Robert Farrell initiated the involvement with the consortium when he realized that approach wasn't fixing the achievement gap, Terrell said.
"They have been moving very steadily and quite productively," Terrell said. "They're developing a systemic plan now. By the end of the round this summer they will have a plan they are then going to implement ... It's a plan that will be constantly updated, constantly monitored, constantly tweaked and constantly moved forward."
Superintendent Cathy Milligan and her district equity team have been meeting regularly this year to discuss ways to enact their plan, which will address staff diversity, student achievement, discipline, classroom literature and curriculum.
The plan for the next school year, she said, is to bring the teachers of Central Elementary on board to start the discussions and work at one of the district's most diverse schools. Principal Dick Wood said they will study the book "Courageous Conversations About Race," and teachers will participate in an online in service. He also anticipates starting a parent equity team.
