State Education Agency (SEA) staff have shared with the Center that they clearly see from their existing data the disparities in experiences and outcomes in their states, but for a variety of reasons, the pace of progress toward more equitable outcomes remains stubbornly slow. Specifically, individual mindsets and beliefs, interpersonal relationships, and systemic policies and practices have created obstacles to deeper, more lasting equity work.
To respond to this need, we have launched a new peer collaborative opportunity for SEA teams. Building from their existing well-being data, participants will explore innovative approaches to developing a more nuanced, strengths-based understanding of student well-being. Building from their existing well-being data, participants will use a liberatory design approach to develop a more nuanced, strengths-based understanding of student well-being. This collaborative will support SEA teams to work together and with peers in other states to build deeper, fuller truths about the experiences of young people in their state, discern the root cause of inequitable experiences and outcomes in their state, and then take courageous action to advance equity. At the end of the collaborative, participants will have identified a sustainable equity practice or set of practices that they will integrate into their existing processes in an ongoing way.
The collaborative will run from January 2022 to June 2023.
