This document provides an overview of a diversity, equity, and inclusion training module. The module objectives are to define key terms, understand historical events related to educational inequities, acknowledge and address bias and racism, develop an equity mindset, and set the tone for ongoing professional development. The training covers defining diversity, equity and inclusion; the difference between equality and equity; confronting bias and racism through understanding implicit and explicit bias; and the participant's role in educational equity. Discussion of historical events, legislation, disadvantaged student groups, and implications of illiteracy are included to provide context. Participants engage in activities and are given strategies to check their biases and promote equity in their schools and communities.

1. Viewing the World
through an Equity Lens
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training Series
Module 1

2. Directions
1. Crumble your piece of paper
2. Remain in your seat
3. Throw the paper into the recycling bin at the front of the room

4. Objectives
I. Define Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
II. Understand Historical Events and Legislation Related to Inequities in Education
III. Acknowledge Bias and Identify Strategies to Confront Bias and Racism
IV. Develop an Equity Mindset to Serve in Diverse Schools and Communities
V. Set the tone for ongoing Professional Development in the areas of Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion

5. Ground Rules and Group Agreements
Rules & Agreements
• Be respectful
• Assume positive intent; seek to
understand first
• Speak from the “I” perspective
(Speak for yourself and not others)
• No one person is the sole possessor
of knowledge
• “Platinum Rule” - treat others the
way they want to be treated!
• Respect “air time”
-What do you expect from the
facilitator during this session?
-What do you expect from your peers?
-What should others expect from you?

6. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
(DEI)
• Define the following terms:
• (1) Diversity
• (2) Equity
• (3) Inclusion
• Is there a difference between these terms?
• If so, what is the difference?

7. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Equity
Recognizes
advantages and
barriers, and ensures
everyone access to
the same
opportunities.
Diversity
Presence of difference in a
setting.
Inclusion
Individuals of all
identities feeling
and/or being valued,
leveraged or
welcomed within a
given setting.

8. Why Equity and not Equality?
Equality sounds fair. All students
are treated the same and have
access to the same or similar
resources
Equity is fair. All students receive
access to the resources that they
need in order to be as prepared
as their peers.

9. Where Do We Start?
In order to have a better understanding of the students and community we serve, we have to
begin with acknowledging the extensive history of social and educational inequities within the
United States.
With each major societal shift, there have been significant implications for students’ access to
inclusive and equitable opportunities.

10. A Historical Framework

11. Historical Background
• Colonization of North America
• Native Americans were forced out of their land and pushed into secluded communities by
the English
• The Encomienda System was created as a way to enslave Native Americans
• Schools were created to forcefully acculturate Native American’s to Eurocentric culture
• Slavery of African people
• Segregation & Racism
• In 1865 Slavery was abolished by the 13th
Amendment (Discrimination persisted)
• Schools and neighborhoods were segregated
• In 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson case determined that equal but separate accommodations for
Blacks and whites was lawful.
• In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education abolished all legally enforced public segregation

12. Historical Background
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was outlawed in the
United States
• Prohibited unequal applications of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in
schools, employment, and public accommodations
• De facto Segregation
• Racial, ethnic, or other segregation that occurs without institutionalized legislation
intended to segregate as a result of societal differences between groups
• Socioeconomic status
• Politics
• Hyper segregation
• Redlining
• The Fair Housing Act of 1968
• White Flight
• Gentrification

13. Timeline of K-12 Public Education Legislation
1970
Standardized Testing
Although standardized
testing was used in the
1800s, in the 1970s public
schools became heavily
reliant on standardized
testing to allocate funds in an
effort to close the
minority/non-minority
educational gap. 1972
Title IX
An amendment of the Education
Amendments act of 1972, which
states that "No person in the U.S.
shall, on the basis of sex, be
excluded from participation in, be
denied the benefits of, or be
subjected to discrimination under
any education program or activity
receiving Federal financial
assistance.
1954
Brown V. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that American state laws that
supported and established
racial segregation in public
schools were unconstitutional,
even if they were established
with "separate but equal" in
mind.
1965
Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESSA)
Established by Lyndon B.
Johnson, the act was a part of
a national program to remove
poverty through equal access
to quality education. The act
ensures that funds are
provided in support of
educational programs.

14. Timeline of K-12 Public Education Legislation
2001
No Child Left Behind
This act established law that
secures money for additional
education assistance for
disadvantaged children in
return for educational
achievement. Essentially, it
rewarded schools that
showed improvement and
penalized schools that did
not. 2004
Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act
(IDEIA)
IDEIA mandates equity,
accountability, and excellence in
education of children with
disabilities. It is a reauthorization of
the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act
1973
Section 504 of The
Rehabilitation Act
The first disability civil rights
law in the U.S. It prohibited
discrimination against people
with disabilities in programs
that receive Federal financial
assistance. Predecessor of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
1975
Education for All
Handicapped Children Act
This act required all public
schools accepting Federal
funding to provide equal
access to education for
children with physical and
mental disabilities.

15. Timeline of K-12 Public Education Legislation
2010
Race to The Top (RTT)
Race to the Top was a $4.35
billion competitive grant that
was created to encourage
reform and innovation in both
state and location K-12
education. States competing
for the grants were awarded
points for enacting various
educational policies and
evaluation criteria.
2015
Every Student Success Act
(ESSA)
Replaced No Child Left
Behind and purposed with the
goal of providing all "children
with significant opportunity to
receive a fair, equitable, and
high-quality education, and to
close educational
achievement gaps."

16. Challenge Oppression and Inequities
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the
oppressor. – Desmond Tutu
• 1676. Bacon’s Rebellion. Poor white workers joined together with Black and white
indentured servants and slaves in protest against wealthy planters and their
colonial lawmakers. The Colony moved quickly to drive a racial wedge between
white and Black servants, making legal and social distinctions between ‘servants’
(white) and ‘slaves’ (Black).
• 1963. March on Washington. This was a key moment in the civil rights movement
of the 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement gave momentum and inspiration to many
other liberation movements: women, Chicano, American Indian Movement,
farmworkers, anti-war, environmental, and LGBT.

17. Racialization
Racialization shapes an institution so
that as part of its normal functioning,
and without anyone having a
consciously racist intention, it
produces disparities in outcome by
race.
Examples of racialization:
• Profiling
• Sentencing and over-incarceration of
minorities

18. Confronting Bias and Racism

20. Confronting Bias and Racism
Because of our country’s history and our life experiences, we have all either consciously or
unconsciously developed preconceived or unreasoned trends, inclinations, feelings, or opinions
towards people or things.
These preconceptions are called Biases.

21. Confronting Bias and Racism
40
11,000,000
● Pieces of information that are entering your brain
per second
● Pieces of information that the brain can process
per second

22. Confronting Bias and Racism
● Implicit Bias (Unconscious)
○ Implicit Bias is present when we have attitudes towards people or associate
stereotypes with them unconsciously
○ Our implicit biases often predict how we will behave more accurately than our
conscious values
● Explicit Bias (Conscious)
○ Refers to the attitudes and beliefs we have about a person or group on a conscious
level
○ People are more likely to express explicit biases when they perceive an individual or
group to be a threat to their well-being

23. Confronting Bias and Racism
• Interpersonal: When one group displays prejudices and discriminatory behavior against
another group and makes assumptions about their abilities, motives and intents based on
race.
• Internalized: When members of a stigmatized group internalize negative messages about
their own abilities and intrinsic self-worth that are portrayed in the dominant culture.
• Institutional: Assumptions about race are structured within the social and economic
institutions of our society, like schools, police departments, and businesses that
deliberately or indirectly discriminate or limit the rights of certain groups of people.
• Structural: Long-standing radicalized practices that have been embedded within our
social and economic structures.

24. ACTIVITY:
Privilege Walk

25. Why This? Why Now?

26. Resource Inequality

27. Disadvantaged Students: The 4 Key Groups in Districts We Serve
Socioeconomic Status
43.9% of students in Virginia public schools
are identified as economically disadvantaged.
Reading Proficiency
65% pass rate for economically
disadvantaged students in Virginia public
schools.
Minorities
51.6% of students in Virginia public schools
identify as non-white
Reading Proficiency
- AAPI: 89% pass rate
- Black: 65% pass rate
- Hispanic/Latinx: 66% pass rate
- White: 85% pass rate

28. Disadvantaged Students: The 4 Key Groups Districts We Serve
Special Education
8.76% of all students in Virginia public
schools.
Reading Proficiency
47% pass rate across all Virginia public
schools.
English Language Learners
8.36% of all students in Virginia public
schools.
Reading Proficiency
35% pass rate across all Virginia public
schools.
*Special education includes students with the following disabilities: autism, deaf-blindness, development delay, emotional disturbance,
hearing Impairment, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, specific learning disabilities, traumatic Brain Injury and visual impairments.

29. Implications of Low Literacy Skills
Low-income children are more
than 4x less likely to enter
Kindergarten with school-ready
reading and language skills than
their higher income peers.
A er grade 3, the curriculum
requires students to reading to
learn. Children that have not yet
learned to read are le behind.
Students who cannot read on
grade level are 4x less likely to
graduate from high school.
Without a high school diploma,
chances of leading a fulfilling
life as a productive member of
society are dramatically
reduced.
Unemployment rates for people
with low literacy levels is 2-4x
higher.
Between 2009 and 2013, 51% of
individuals were unemployed for
a full 2 years prior to
incarceration

30. What Is My Role in Ending Educational
Inequity?

31. Educational Equity
Educational Equity concerns the measure of achievement, fairness, and opportunity in
education.
Specifically, equitable education is essential to determining the outcomes of disadvantaged
students categorized by four key groups:
• Low socioeconomic status
• Minorities
• Special Education
• English Language Learners

32. Our Mission
Each historical moment that we discussed, has contributed to the varying outcomes
of student success that plague our education system. Understanding these historical
challenges creates a framework for the work that you will do over the next 10 months
and provides an opportunity for you to be equity practitioners in education.
At the Literacy Lab we operate with great urgency to provide low-income children
with individualized reading instruction to improve their literacy skills, leading to
greater success in school and increased opportunities in life.

33. ACTIVITY:
Building a Social Justice Wall

34. Check Your Biases
Steps that you can take to confront your biases:
● Acknowledge and accept that we all have them.
● Increase your awareness by seeking knowledge!
● Evaluate which life experiences may have contributed to their development and
avoid these experiences in the future.
● Engage in intentional interactions with others who are different from you (i.e.,
different lived experiences, opinions, race, gender, etc.)
● Be an advocate for dispelling biases

35. At Your School Site...
• Understand that schools are made up of different learners. Children learn
differently but that does not mean that they’re deficient. Define goals and
expectations for your students based on individual differences.
• Be intentional about engaging in equitable practices. For example, identify reading
passages that represent identities and experiences of your students.
• Get to know school staff and show respect for their profession (Teachers, front
office staff, custodians, librarians etc.). Treat everyone fairly!
• Get to know parents. Parents don’t care how much you know until they know how
much you care. Getting to know families show that you care about their children.

36. In Your Community...
• Research and learn about the the history of your community to be informed about
how things came to be.
• Be present in the community that you serve in by volunteering at a local library or
community center, attending social events, etc.
• Build connections with organizations that could be a resource for your students.
• Attend community conversations that invite residents of the neighborhoods to
discuss ideas regarding social justice and a more equitable future.

37. Resources
• Project Implicit: Implicit Bias Test
• Book: The Flat World and Education – How America’s Commitment to Equity will
Determine our Future by Linda Darling-Hammond
• Book: The Latino Education Crisis – The Consequences of Failed Policies by
Patricia Gándara and Frances Contreras
• Book: Their Highest Potential by Vanessa Siddie Walker
• Book: The Education of Blacks in the South: 1860-1935 by James Anderson
• Book: We Want to Do More than Survive - Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of
Educational Freedom by Bettina Love
• NPR: Why America’s Schools Have a Money Problem
• Short Film: I was born in Mexico, But…
• TED Talk: Bettina Love’s Hip-hop, grit and academic success
• White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack