Beyond Desegregation: Building Equitable Schools with MicroSociety

Are you looking for a way to make education engaging, empowering, and equitable so all students thrive and flourish? Join us for a workshop exploring MicroSociety, a revolutionary approach to learning that transforms schools into thriving microcosms of society. Journey with us to explore MicroSociety, a revolutionary approach to creating a new social contract inside school. In this interactive session, you will discover: How MicroSociety fosters critical thinking, collaboration, and real-world skills students need to succeed in the 21st century. Why MicroSociety is the perfect answer to move beyond closing the achievement gap to a place where all students discover who they are, where they fit, and have an opportunity to shine. Practical strategies for implementing MicroSociety in your school, regardless of grade level or subject matter. MicroSociety is more than just a model; it is a movement. It is about empowering black and brown students to take charge of their learning and their lives, envision a new kind of community, and ignite the internal desire and develop the skills they need to thrive in an ever-changing world.

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Bridging the Gap: Integrating Community into School Culture

In today’s educational landscape, fostering an environment where students from all backgrounds feel valued and included is essential. This session will provide administrators with practical strategies to effectively integrate community culture into the school environment. By leveraging the unique cultural assets within their communities, schools can create more inclusive, engaging, and supportive learning experiences for all students. Join us as we explore the importance of cultural responsiveness, provide actionable steps that can be seamlessly implemented, and highlight successful case studies. Participants will: Obtain a working definition of community culture and explore the theory behind its impact on education. They will understand the significance of community culture in creating an inclusive and supportive learning environment. This outcome will delve into the sociocultural theories that explain how integrating community culture enhances student engagement. Learn techniques to identify and leverage the cultural assets within their local communities. This includes understanding the diverse cultural backgrounds of their students and finding ways to incorporate these assets into the curriculum and school activities to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Receive a toolkit of actionable strategies to integrate community culture into their schools. This includes practical tips on creating culturally inclusive lesson plans, organizing community-focused events, and building strong partnerships with local cultural organizations and families to support student success.

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Brown “Colors” the Board of Education

Brown COLORS the Board of Education is an interactive activity where participants learn about and discover the historical context and current challenges around School Desegregation. In groups of 8-10, participants will “play” as characters from the history of school desegregation and work together using their special abilities to navigate the positive reforms and unintended consequences of school desegregation work. Rather than a lecture, a training, or a “sit and get”, Brown COLORS the Board of Education is designed to foster collaborative discussions, generate questions, create “aha” moments, and inspire each participant to consider what unique talents, gifts, skills, and passions they bring to this work themselves.

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Brown’s Promise Focus Group: What do you need from the state to create, support, and sustain diverse-by-design magnet schools?

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Building Meaningful Relationships with Alumni: METCO’s Journey

Several years ago, the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO)–an interdistrict integration program based in Massachusetts–embarked upon a journey to reconnect with the program’s roughly 10,000 alumni. With access to a handful of spreadsheets, boxes of dot matrix print-outs of class rosters from the 1980s and 1990s, and the help of a local researcher, METCO combed through and digitized decades of files. Today, METCO is managing a growing database of 600+ alumni, with more reaching out to volunteer every day. In this session, METCO will share some of the lessons learned through this process, and highlight which strategies have been most effective in connecting with and engaging alumni (an ongoing process). You’ll also learn how METCO has been able to learn about and leverage its alumni base, and why that is important for the program’s long-term success.

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Closing Out: Collective Reflections

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Data Informed Instruction: “Breaking Cycles of Oppression”

Rodrick C. Johnson, the founder of Energized Educator, will present an empowering and transformative workshop designed to address and dismantle educational inequities through data-informed instruction. In “Data Informed Instruction: Breaking Cycles of Oppression,” participants will delve into the critical role data plays in assessing the current state of educational opportunity and access. This session will provide educators with practical tools and strategies to identify and address persistent disparities, promote equity and close achievement gaps. Rodrick’s workshop will begin with an in-depth analysis of current educational data, highlighting systemic inequities and their impact on student outcomes. Participants will learn how to interpret and utilize data to inform instructional practices, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed. By examining case studies and real-world examples, attendees will gain insights into effective data-driven decision-making processes. The workshop will also explore the concept of culturally responsive teaching and its importance in fostering an inclusive classroom environment. Rodrick will guide participants in developing actionable plans to implement data-informed strategies tailored to their unique educational contexts. Through collaborative discussions and hands-on activities, educators will leave equipped with the skills to create equitable learning experiences that honor and uplift every student’s potential.

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From Desegregation to Integration: Creating Racially Just and Equitable Magnet Schools

70 years after Brown v. Board declared school segregation illegal, educators, families, and communities are still fighting for the opportunity for all students to learn in diverse, well-resourced schools. Magnet schools can play an important role in creating these diverse, thriving learning environments by bringing together students of different racial, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. But creating excellent, racially just schools is about more than just enrolling diverse groups of students: it requires thoughtfully transforming school and classroom practices and actively working to grow and maintain meaningful relationships across lines of difference.

Educators and advocates working to create diverse learning environments for students often point out the important difference between desegregation and integration. “Desegregation” is the process of dismantling the laws and practices that prevent people of different races, socioeconomic statuses, or other characteristics from attending school together. “Integration” means intentionally creating and maintaining schools with diverse student bodies, where students of all backgrounds are respected, affirmed, supported, and challenged, with cultures that encourage students to learn from each other across lines of difference. Integration begins with desegregation, but it requires much more.

The Century Foundation’s Bridges Collaborative brings together school systems and housing groups across the country to advance integration in their communities. Join experts from Bridges Collaborative to learn what it takes to create and sustain a truly integrated school. We will discuss the difference between desegregation and integration and provide frameworks for understanding the multiple dimensions of integration within a school, from academic opportunities to discipline policies to staff diversity. We will share tools for assessing your magnet schools’ strengths and areas for improvement concerning integration and equity and work in small groups to share experiences and observations. Participants will also learn from successful case studies featuring concrete strategies for promoting integration that have been used by the districts and schools we work with, and they will leave with resources for going deeper.”

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Have a Seat at Your Magnet Table. Don’t Forget Your ID

In many cases, we make school-wide decisions based on “what” gets the “most votes”; a process that is usually deemed as “fair”.

However, is it possible for this method to produce a system that celebrates “the top” while dismissing “the bottom”?

A system that identifies “quantity” as an honorable and unbiased approach?

And, as a result… create a system that slowly implements a system of educational negligence?

In this presentation, we cordially invite you to sit at the table as an honored peer to discuss a topic that often escapes many: what happens to school culture when intersectionality collides with the climate of “well intentions” and “best practices”?

Whether you are a magnet teacher or a school administrator, all are welcome to take a seat at the tables that are proudly sponsored by the Lenses of Equity and Inclusion.

All we ask is that you bring us an updated “I.D.”

Let’s talk about “Implicit Devaluation”.

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Magnetism in Action: Utilizing Your Theme to Influence Pedagogy

Drawing from the rich experiences of an MSAP (Magnet Schools Assistance Program) grant implementation, participants will uncover how thematic elements can effectively enhance staff capacity while fostering inclusive and affirming learning environments. This session offers an interactive exploration of thematic approaches to teaching and learning. Through engaging discussions, real-world case studies, and hands-on activities, attendees will gain practical insights into infusing thematic elements into their instructional practices. Key takeaways include an understanding of the pivotal role magnet themes play in shaping pedagogy, insights into successful thematic integration from MSAP grant experiences, practical strategies for incorporating thematic elements into lesson planning and curriculum design, opportunities for personal reflection and professional growth, and collaborative brainstorming sessions to generate innovative ideas for theme-driven instruction. Whether you’re an educator seeking to revitalize your teaching approach or a school leader committed to promoting cultural responsiveness, this workshop offers valuable guidance for leveraging the magnetism of themes to influence pedagogy and cultivate inclusive learning environments that empower all students to thrive.

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The Marshall Effect

Thurgood Marshall, a native of Baltimore, challenged the Baltimore County school system to integrate high schools in 1937. Though he lost the case, it led to the establishment of Sollers Point Technical High School in 1947, aimed at providing technical education to African American students. My presentation will examine the economic impact on Turner’s Station and Dundalk communities resulting from this skilled workforce, from 1947 to the present. Following the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, Sollers Point remained a beacon of hope until 1966, when integration transformed it into a majority white school. Today, the struggle to diversify the student population continues. This presentation will explore strategies for diversifying school populations while ensuring the provision of skilled technicians to support economic growth.

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Message Testing: Brown’s Promise

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NCSD Focus Group: Strengthening and Supporting Magnet School Policy and Practice Through Student Voice and Engagement

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School Integration, Transportation Access, and Mobility Justice

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Sharing Best Practices in Magnet Schools: Notes from the Field

As evaluators of magnet schools for more than 30 years, two of the most common questions we are asked by our school district clients are: “How are we doing compared to other magnet schools?” and “What are other districts and schools doing to develop successful magnet programs?” In responding to these types of questions, we draw on our collective experience working with more than 160 magnet elementary, middle, and high school programs in urban, suburban, and rural school district contexts, which has given us a unique lens into what works in magnet school initiatives. In this session, we will conduct a short presentation summarizing the best practices of magnet programs that we have observed in our evaluation work aligned to the five core components and six elements of the Magnet School Implementation Framework. Attendees will then engage in small group conversations to review and add to our findings and to brainstorm how practices from other schools/districts can be applied to their own programs. The session will engage attendees in share outs from their group discussions and a whole group brainstorming on magnet best practices. Participants will walk away from the session with concrete ideas for enhancing their magnet programs based on implementation strategies that have proven successful in magnet schools across the country and MSAP funding cycles.

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What Do We Mean By ALL? Identifying Resource Disparities to Improve Student Outcomes

Magnet schools are prime to implement innovative and culturally relevant pedagogy. However, in many instances the successful implementation of those strategies is not enough for all students to reach proficiency. This can lead to schools receiving the federal designation of Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI). In this session, school and district leaders will learn how to identify resource inequities that contribute to underperforming subgroups of students as well as learn strategies to improve student outcomes and exit Targeted Support and Improvement status.

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What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?

Park Medical Academy will share an overview of our journey to transforming a traditional school into a focus-choice school. Participants will conquer their fears by engaging in collaborative discussions and exploring the possibilities within their own school communities. By the end of this transformative experience, participants will leave with a clear outline to overcome their fears and doubts, and be empowered to propel their mission and vision forward.

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