Launched in 2017, the Educator Leaders for Equity (EL4E) program deepens understanding of the racial literacy and the cross-cultural relationship and communication skills required to successfully work with our diverse students in CPS.
This program emerged out of focused efforts by CPS educators to understand the learning needs of their colleagues around issues of equity and cultural proficiency. The resulting educator-designed course draws together colleagues from across the district and grade spans to learn, challenge and support each other in examining how issues of race, equity, identity, intersectionality and privilege impact the learning and teaching environment in our classrooms and schools. The full EL4E course consists of 18 hours of classroom time, with reading and writing expectations between each of the 9 sessions.
A total of 45 CPS faculty representing every school have participated in the EL4E course, including a diverse group of educators who began in January 2020. Current participants range from early childhood to high school grade levels, and bring between 1 and 25 years of experience. Facilitated by faculty from Wheelock’s Aspire Institute, the course includes case studies, self-reflection, curriculum analysis and reflections on cultural diversity. Findings from the Building Equity Bridges project have been incorporated into the most recent session.
Some graduates of the EL4E course have organized focused professional learning sessions in collaboration with their school Principal. Others have founded book or discussion groups, including the White Educators against Racism Employee Resource Group. As CPS works to strengthen equity-based learning expectations for all faculty, the Educator Leaders for Equity course will be a key source for content and inspiration.
Educator Leaders for Equity Participants
Amigos: Oscar Carillo; Vionette Matos
Baldwin: Christine Leonard
Cambridgeport: Maisha Sport
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Kelly Petit; Tori Corpas
Fletcher Maynard: Tonya Katz; Pascale Pokou
Graham & Parks: Claudie Jean-Baptiste; Debra Gadsden-Holliday
Haggerty: Kerri Favreau; Nicole Golding
Kennedy-Longfellow: Sarah Branz; Susan Moynihan
King Open: Jonathan Horowitz
Morse: Sally Dewart; Joe Maloney; Mary Gallant
Peabody: Elizabeth Hill; David Pendergast
Tobin Montessori: Stacey DeSimone
CSUS: Daniel Jaffe; Marissa Jones; Laura Smith
PAUS: Megan Laskarzewski; Jo Quest-Neubert; Andrea Baker
RAUC: Justin McNulty
VLUS: Matt Sadowski; Anna Marsh; Heba Abu
CRLS: Dacia Antunes; Ariel Maloney; Edward Walker
HSEP: Daniel Goldman