Fall 2022

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Newsletter

Diverse Staffing Update

LPS recognizes that people from different backgrounds offer new ways of seeing the world and solving problems (see LPS Strategic Plan). There is substantial research to suggest that students of color, especially Black students, benefit socially and academically from having educators who look like them. In LPS, our students, themselves, acknowledge this, as well as how important it is for white students to have the opportunity to learn from someone who is different from them. There is great power in the collaboration of individuals with different backgrounds, identities, and experiences, and it matters to our students. Staff diversity enhances our ability to creatively solve problems and improve the educational experience for students. We are able to identify new and more effective approaches to teaching and learning and solutions to challenging problems. In pursuit of this goal, we continue to use multiple recruitment and retention strategies to attract and keep diverse candidates, periodically evaluating the impact of specific strategies, monitoring our progress and making adjustments as needed. Some key accomplishments to date include:

  • Creating policies and guidance for hiring managers related to diversity hiring and supporting new staff from diverse backgrounds, which is updated annually and periodically re-issued to hiring managers. This guidance currently resides within our DEI Staff Guidebook and is also available through the LPS staff website, LexCommunicate.

  • Including student voice in the hiring process by inviting students to serve on hiring committees across the district and incorporating their feedback in hiring decisions.

  • Students from the DEI Student Advisory Council also helped to create new recruitment materials, including a video and electronic flyer. Our students produced a video about the need for teacher diversity that has been used by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as an example of elevating student voice in recruitment and hiring practices for two years running.

  • Lexington is becoming more diverse! In the last 3 years, approximately 1 out of 3 new LPS hires is an educator of color. During our most recent hiring season and based on a review of employee data from September 2022, 28.3% (21 employees) out of the 74 new employees with a hire date of July 1, 2022 or later were employees of color and/or Hispanic. Among our leadership positions, since July 1, 2022, we have welcomed three new administrators to the district, as well as eight internal candidates taking new leadership roles. Among these 11 staff members, four identify as employees of color and seven identify as white. Additionally two interim leaders (both employees of color) were permanently assigned to their roles.

See here for the complete annual staffing and professional learning.

Seal of Biliteracy

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education describes the purpose of the Seal of Biliteracy as "an award provided by state-approved districts that recognize high school graduates who attain high functional and academic levels of proficiency in English and a world language in recognition of having studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation.” Proficiency is typically demonstrated through formal assessments that will be administered outside the school day. We hope to pilot opportunities for students to earn the seal during the 2023-2024 school year. the late fall or early winter, students in the class of 2025 will receive a survey asking about their interest in the seal and potential languages for assessment.

Addressing Hate and Bias in School Athletics

Last spring, we reported on efforts to address hate and bias in school athletics. While the Attorney General’s work is on hold, we have made progress on the commitments outlined in the memo. We continue to be committed to using the MIAA mandated Discriminatory Incident Reporting Form for all of our interscholastic contests. For any student athlete, coach, official, administrator, spectator or other person at a contest or practice involving Lexington High School student-athletes, coaches or teams who engage in or use discriminatory, harassing, or bullying actions, language or behavior or who is in possession or of such signage or props will be addressed, removed from the facility or playing area and will be reported to the MIAA using the MIAA Discriminatory Incident Reporting Form.

As we indicated in the spring, beginning this fall all Lexington interscholastic student-athletes were required to read and sign the MIAA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Pledge before being allowed to participate on our teams. This has been successfully completed by the 1,025 student student-athletes competing on our fall teams in 2022. Despite reports that other communities experienced pushback on using this pledge in educational athletics, we did not receive any negative feedback from our participating student athletes and families, which is yet another incredible demonstration of the Lexington community’s commitment to this work.

Lexington will also initiate its own workshop for student-athletes and coaches to address best practices for building, supporting, and fostering positive environments in athletics and to prevent, report, and address hate incidents. We are planning a LPS’s coach’s round table with LPS Director of Equity and Student Support in early November, and we are working to offer a student-athlete workshop in November/December in collaboration with Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. This two-day interactive training will utilize the “train-the-trainer” model to help equip participants for bringing programming back to Lexington High School to train others.

Finally, Lexington also looks forward to continuing to actively engage with the Middlesex League superintendents, principals, athletic administrators, coaches and student athletes on initiatives to promote a more welcoming, inclusive and diverse environment at all of our games both on the playing field and off.

DEI Curriculum Update

Staff who came together this summer to write the preliminary lessons for our foundational DEI learning for all students have finished up their drafts and district leadership is finalizing the first phase of our roll-out. We expect this to be an ongoing, iterative process, as we engage all stakeholders in reviewing the curriculum and structures for delivering this learning.

In preparation for the delivery of our DEI curriculum at LHS later this year, staff is currently engaging in collective learning focused on supporting students’ work toward the Social Justice Standards. A number of LHS staff members helped facilitate an afternoon of professional learning centered on Learning for Justice’s “Let’s Talk” program, which was aimed at helping educators facilitate critical conversations with students. These facilitators will help tailor the learning for our current staff and students with the goal of preparing all LHS staff members to engage with students around this learning. At the middle schools, staff preparation is connected to our work on restorative practices, and the elementary schools are assessing the needs of staff and developing professional learning plans to prepare all educators to lead the new lessons.

As we further prepare for this rollout this fall at the elementary level, we are finding that many of the foundational concepts that were planned for the DEI Curriculum rollout this year are already covered by our talented educators in a variety of ways. To avoid inadvertently creating redundancies, we are allowing flexibility in how educators deliver content that aligns with the Social Justice Standards during this first phase of the curriculum implementation. All of our elementary students will still receive content aimed at meeting the standards for the “Identity Domain” this year, and we will continue to assess how to bring those practices in alignment with one another for consistency across the district. At the secondary level, lessons are being finalized that focus on all four of the social justice domains. These lessons will be delivered simultaneously to all students at various points in the year.

Dyslexia/ADHD Awareness Month

October is Dyslexia/ADHD Awareness month, and our community partners provided many opportunities for everyone to learn more about the experiences of these diverse learners in our schools. Activities included a film screening of the documentary Normal Isn't Real, "Story Time" at Cary Library led by LHS teens, and a rotating StoryWalk display featuring the words of LPS students.

K-5 Literacy Professional Learning

At the start of the current school year, the K-5 Literacy Department members all opted into one of three book groups where they will read and discuss one of the following texts, each written by a Black educator:

These texts are aimed at identifying the characteristics of culturally sustaining literacy instruction and grounding practice within a strengths-based framework. Discussions will be rooted in how to help all children become strong readers and writers with the agency to pursue their goals and engage in critical conversations along the way.

Professional Learning for Paraprofessionals

We are offering a series of five professional learning opportunities for paraprofessional staff, tailored specifically to their unique roles in our schools. Katie O’Hare Gibson will teach these courses that have been adapted from some of the lengthier training we provide for teachers and administrators. The learning will parallel the four domains of the Social Justice Standards that are guiding the new DEI curriculum: identity, diversity, justice, and action.

Equity Teams

Following last year’s equity team alignment led by several longtime LPS staff members, the current school year will be the first year we have equity teams up and running in all ten of our school buildings. As noted in previous reports, equity teams are building-based groups dedicated to removing long-standing barriers and inequities. They recognize and dismantle hierarchical structures deeply rooted in an ongoing history that privileges certain groups and oppresses others. Teams are led by two co-facilitators at the building level, and these staff members also participate in a districtwide equity team to promote further alignment across buildings and grade levels. One major component of the teams is the engagement of circle practice, a relationship-building foundational component of our restorative justice efforts. While each school building has different needs and is in a different stage of readiness for tackling those issues, all equity teams use circle practice to run meetings. They will partner with their building leadership to consider when and how to promote restorative justice in their schools. This is long-term work, and we are excited to have dedicated staff helping us lead the way!

Eight Grade Critical Literacy

As part of our ongoing work to evaluate curriculum and ensure the learning our students experience adheres to our core values, the 8th grade Diamond English team has developed a series of questions to promote critical literacy as they approach their subject matter this year. The goal is to promote savvy consumers of media in our oldest middle school students, developing the critical skills necessary to evaluate information being presented to them and consider what thinking is simultaneously being challenged or reinforced. Introduced in tandem with carefully selected texts, these “thinking questions” will frame the 8th graders’ work for the year:

  • Whose story is it? Whose voices are represented?

  • Who is the author and what is their identity?

  • Whose story is missing?

  • Who is advantaged by the story? Who is disadvantaged by the story?

  • How are people of color portrayed?

  • How are different ages, genders and family structures portrayed?

Students will use these questions throughout the year to analyze, examine, and critique texts they read in order to become more informed, aware, and thoughtful members of our community.

Resources

The following are recent articles, editorials, videos, and educational news items to check out as we engage in the lifelong journey of bringing greater equity to our community!

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