Inclusive Practices Platform

“Inclusion is not simply about physical proximity. It is about intentionally planning for
the success of all students,” said author Timothy Villegas. Teachers are often overwhelmed and
unprepared for the complexities that come with public education today. We serve students and
families from diverse backgrounds, some coming to us ready to learn and some needing a
significant amount of intervention. If we are to truly plan intentionally for the success of each
student, we must start by knowing who we are teaching and examine how we can make our
teaching practices inclusive of all students. We must continuously remind ourselves of the
awesome responsibility we hold when educating our most vulnerable or underrepresented
students. Teachers have tremendous influence in creating the next generation and closing the
gap for our most at-risk students.
In my teaching career, I have taught in both Title 1 schools and in economically affluent
areas. I have seen a significant difference in the human resources allocated to the various types
of schools and the work that they do with students. Joseph F. Murphey suggests that, “we take
the students who have less to begin with and then systematically give them less in school.” (p.
38) We give them less qualified teachers, we give worksheets, and we give them behavioral
modification rather than rich instruction. In my time working in Title 1 schools, I observed
teachers come and go from teaching programs like Teach for America. These candidates were
well intentioned but underprepared for the type of communities they would work in when
students arrived on the first day. The California Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning
reports “that in schools with the highest percentages of minority students, more than 20% of
teachers are underqualified as compared with less than 5% of teachers in schools serving the
lowest percentage of minorities.” (Murphey, 2017, p. 39) This does not provide for an equitable
or inclusive education because the human resources are not equitably distributed. We need our
most vulnerable students to be included in the high-quality education that their more affluent
peers are afforded.
Understanding the importance of teachers and the role they play with their students,
families, and communities is the foundation to creating an inclusive and equitable education for
those in struggling socioeconomic communities and minority students. As an educational
leader, I will work to hire staff that have a passion for working with ‘at risk’ populations and a
realistic vision for what a week or a year in that school may be like. I will pursue candidates that
see the value in diversity and seek to leverage that to create a more authentic teaching
experience for students. As we saw in the California Center for the Future of Teaching and
Learning report, this can be a challenge because at times, teaching positions in areas that are in
need are less desirable to top candidates. Deal and Peterson in Shaping School Culture
encourage leaders to, “focus energy on the recruitment, selection, strong positive socialization,
and retention of effective, positive staff members.” (p. 203). I will utilize empathy interviews to
identify what staff need to be successful so we can improve retention of highly educated and
experienced teachers and continue that commitment to positivity. I will utilize professional
development opportunities and other primary drivers to fulfill the needs of staff in their efforts
to intentionally plan for all kids’ success.
 More experienced teachers have a greater knowledge of community resources,
systematic problems, and potential solutions. In addition to retaining great teachers and
providing affective professional development for staff, I need to find ways that our teachers can
engage our students and community. Problem specific, user centered research cycles will be an
important tool to allow staff to look deeply into the areas where inclusion and equity do not
exist in the community. We need to ask questions and reflect on how our various populations
are doing academically and behaviorally. Do we see trends that students living below the
poverty line are having attendance problems or not making Adequate Yearly Progress according
to state tests? Do we see students of color struggling with behavior in low socioeconomic
neighborhoods? If so, who can teachers and administrators talk with to find the root cause and
identify possible solutions. Opening lines of communication with families and then connecting
families to community resources is an important way to create and sustain equity in education.
In the Beaverton School District, efforts like the Clothing Closet connect teachers and students
to community resources. The district has also relied on research from the 2016 Kaiser
Permanente study on the number of students coming to school with Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs) which are impacting their access to education. In turn, they are educating
teachers on student trauma and actions they can take to support their students. These types of
actions are what will start to include minority students and students from poverty in the high-
quality education to which their peers from more affluent neighborhoods already have access.
There are many things that we can do to better our world, but there is no greater
achievement than giving those who have been historically marginalized a chance for an
inclusive and equitable education. It is an opportunity to help shape the future with
compassionate and dedicated teachers who are willing to be reflective and change current
practices to ensure that all students reach their full potential.

References

Deal, Terrance E., and Kent D. Peterson. Shaping School Culture. 2016

About the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study. Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html.

Murphey, Joseph F., Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. 2017