Resources

Academy District 20 References

• Academy 20 DEI Program
• Academy 20 DEI Task Force
• Superintendent Newsletter
• May 20, 2021 DEI Task Force presentation to the board - initial recommendations.
• June 18, 2020 Open Letter to ASD20 on Racial Injustice
• September 18, 2020 Superintendent Newsletter announcing the program
• School Board Meetings
  • June 17, 2021 School Board Meeting

    • Features public comments opposing the DEI effort and Critical Race Theory.

  • June 3, 2021 School Board Meeting

    • Features public comments opposing the DEI effort and Critical Race Theory.

    • Public comment from teacher supporting of the DEI effort (@ 50m 1s

    • Board member LaValley mentions a training video from the Gemini Group (@ 57m 28s)

  •   May 20, 2021 School Board Meeting

    • The DEI Task Force’s presentation to the school board with their recommendations. (@ 1h 31m)

    • Public comments criticizing and opposing the DEI program. (@ 3m 33s)

    • Members of the task force making public comments about the DEI task force. (@ 1h 48m)

    • Board member LaValley asked a number of questions to the DEI task force and CEI. (@ 2h 38m)

  • May 6, 2021 School Board Meeting

    • Includes comments supportive of DEI program.

    • Includes comments opposing DEI and CRT.

    • Presentations discuss incorporating DEI into other facets of district

  • April 1, 2021 School Board Meeting

    • Pubic comment opposing the district’s DEI efforts.

  • March 18, 2021 School Board Meeting

    • DAC presentation asserting the need for DEI professional learning.

    • DEI update from Dr. David Peak discussing “the work” (@ 1hr 13m)

    • Heather Cloninger praises the effort and mentions the application of DEI beyond race.

  • February 4, 2021 School Board Meeting

    • Public comment from local activist thanking the district for the DEI effort, but condemned the district for its “privileged” position.

    • Highlighted the value of personal anecdotes, lecturing about privilege.

    • Professional learning plan presented includes DEI.

    • Presentation from Dr. David Peak about the DEI program’s progress.

  • October 15, 2020 School Board Meeting

    • Public comment opposing the district’s DEI effort.

  • October 3, 2020 School Board Meeting

    • Public comment from local activist thanking the district for the DEI program.

    • Acknowledgement of “push back” (this site) with a bizarre claims about this site.

    • Condescending lecture and prejudicial statement dismissing dissenting opinions as those of “white, straight males”.

  • September 17, 2020 School Board Meeting

    • Public comments supportive of the district’s DEI program.

  • August 6, 2020 School Board Meeting

    • Public comment support of district’s DEI program from local activist group. (@ 54m 36s)

    • David Peak met with this group on September 2, 2020

  • July 23, 2020 School Board Meeting

    • Public comment urging the district to implement a DEI program (@ 50m 27s)

  •   June 18, 2020 School Board Meeting

    • Public comment reading the open letter that claimed racial injustice at the district and demanded action. (@ 13:03)

• Local Media
  • KRDO (May 17, 2021): Parents Speak Out Against Teaching Critical Race Theory at Academy 20

Examples of related efforts in Colorado K-12

• D11 Equity Department
  • Read D11's newly adopted Equity Policy (May 2020)
• Denver Public Schools - Culture, Equity & Leadership Team
  • DPS 2017 Equity Report

    • Launched mandatory implicit bias training for about 1,200 employees who work in the district’s central office, plus another 100 who opted in. The nine month training, called the Equity Experience, consists of nine modules that employees complete on their own time.

    • The resolution requires all district employees to be trained on implicit bias, which refers to the unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that people hold.

  • DPS is "deeply concerned about [learning] pods’ long term negative implications for public education and social justice".
  • DPS Equity Experience key terms
  • DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova's Entry Plan
• Aurora Public Schools Division of Equity In Learning
  • APS policy on textbooks granting the DEI authority over supplemental instructional material.
  • Aurora Public Schools launches pilot program for Gifted & Talented selection.

    • Measure of success are based on racial metrics.

• Jeffco Public Schools - Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
  • Jeffco Public Schools Racial Equity Resources

    • They foster a social justice activist movement among their students with the Jeffco Student Voice program.

    • They feature a video of a young student talking about “institutional racism”.

    • They link to a New York Times list of books, including Not My Idea - A Book About Whiteness

    • They link to the controversial infactual 1619 Podcast as a learning resource.

    • U.S. Historians Roast the 1619 Project

    • The Fight Over the 1619 Project Is Not About the Facts

• Cheyenne Mountain School District
  • July 20, 2020: Thousands sign petition to change Cheyenne Mountain High School’s Indian mascot
  • March 15, 2021: Cheyenne Mountain High School mascot will be changed
• Boulder Valley School District's Equity Program

Examples of related efforts in other K-12

• How diversity, critical race theory controversy unfolded in each Hamilton County school (IN)
• Rocky River parents fighting diversity and inclusion program being taught in schools (OH)
• Harford parents say schools are teaching ‘critical race theory,’ but officials stress ‘culturally responsive teaching’
• Philadelphia district launches equity initiative

  • Estelle Acquah, the director of special projects, said the district also plans to offer professional development“with an anti-racism focus,” and will enhance curriculum “through the lens of cultural responsiveness.”

  • The goal of the fellowship is to “build an army of equity champions across our district,” she added.

• Tumwater School District (WA)
  • Equity Policy
• Shorewood School District (WI)
  • Their link to a "Scaffolding Anti-Racism Resources" with racist content.
  • Their document for "Anti-Racism Resource List for Families"

  • “We learn about privilege and prejudice and how it relates to our daily life at school,” says SIS student Will Dworschack-Kinter. “We also learn how to interrupt prejudice when we witness it and how to teach others to respond to prejudices that they see in school.”

• Seattle Public Schools K-12's Mathematics Curriculum

  • Politicizes mathematics and introduces fringe social theory.

• Princeton Public Schools (NJ) Equity Page
• Webster Grove School District (MO) Equity Page
  • Moving to Equity

    • The high school counselors will try to schedule students of color together in advanced track classes to create student support groups.

    • Additional Anti-Racism staff training will begin during the 2018-2019 school year.

    • District staff engaged in professional learning related to implicit bias, and how we all have biases that we need to acknowledge and work to eliminate within our daily interactions.

    • Year two faculty and other staff and community participated in a four-day social justice workshop focused on developing and/or deepening their understanding of privilege and oppression, and the role each plays in their lives and the lives of others including their students.

    • Over 50 district staff participated in the annual social justice book club.

    • Staff from multiple schools and the central administration participated in a multi-day, regional workshop in support of understanding and analyzing systemic racism and bias.

    • Students trained by the Anti-Defamation League

    • Developing partnerships with universities and colleges in order to form relationships with prospective teachers of color prior to and including senior year

    • Staff are committed to attend Crossroads’ Anti-Bias/Anti-Racist (ABAR) two and a half day training focused on understanding and analyzing systemic racism.

    • Staff have participated in several social justice professional development opportunities both district and building level, with many opportunities planned for the rest of the year.

    • We’re working with Crossroads to provide staff and parents with anti-racism/anti-bias training.

    • Over twenty teachers will be attending the Witnessing Whiteness Program beginning in January.

• 160 Minnesota school principals sign woke 'de-centering whiteness' pledge: Demand end to 'racist' standardized testing that is an 'Americanized caste system'
• Minn. students told to hide 'equity survey' questions from parents

Other Relevant Links

• Social Justice Education In America.

  • A thorough report on the topic, particularly in higher education.

• Californians for Equal Rights Foundation
• Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committees Have Way Too Much Power. (Newsweek, Opinion; February 2021)
• Why is Critical Race Theory so divisive?
• National Council on Teacher Quality - Meeting the moment: Preparing teachers to teach for equity.
• Implicit bias training for California teachers

  • These findings raise the ironic possibility that well-intentioned efforts to portray the value of differences may reinforce the belief that fixed, biological characteristics underpin them.

• Disruptive Equity Education Project - DEI Consulting
• Gazette article about DEI programs increasing in Colorado Springs
• How do you teach anti-racism to the youngest students?
• The consciousness gap in education - an equity imperative | Dorinda Carter Andrews | TEDxLansingED
• Where microaggressions really come from: A sociological account