Helping school boards stay focused on their priority: our children — By Carrie Douglass & Ethan Ashley If there’s one thing the majority of parents in the United States can get behind, it’s that schools’ first priority is preparing students for future success and careers in a culturally diverse world. Recently, however, national political fights have sown new divisions among parents…

By Gisele C. Shorter — By Gisele C. Shorter Greetings BELE Community, As we kick off 2022, I continue to be deeply grateful for everyone who remains devoted to creating an education system that ensures all children thrive and supports the adults who make that possible. While 2021 may have exposed deep fault lines within…

By Claire Schu — By Claire Schu Supporting the healthy social, emotional, and academic development of students has long been a priority, yet the past two years have created an even greater focus on social and emotional learning (SEL) in schools. A recent survey by Tyton partners reports that 70%-80% of school and district-based…

Simple tips for navigating the backlash against antiracist policies and practices — Simple tips for navigating the backlash against antiracist policies and practices By The BELE Network The COVID-19 pandemic both exposed and exacerbated inequities in our schools, and along with 2020’s racial reckoning, it has created an overwhelming demand for tools and resources to build equitable learning environments and a will…

How to Strategically Invest Funds To Build Equitable Learning Environments — How to Strategically Invest Funds To Build Equitable Learning Environments By The BELE Network On April 22nd, the BELE Network hosted a webinar led by Bethany Little of EducationCounsel and LaShawn Chatmon of the National Equity Project to discuss how the strategic investment of funding from the American Rescue Plan…

A Conversation on How Districts Can Create More Equitable Math Classrooms — By The BELE Network The Student Experience Research Network (SERN) and EduColor co-sponsored an installment of Just Equation’s “Mathematics of Opportunity” series in February. Moderated by Nicole Beechum of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, the panel featured: Neil Lewis, Jr., Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine

What Districts Need Now to Take Innovative Action — By The BELE Network The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) continued its virtual convening, Examining Education Research through the 2020 Lens, with a conversation on “Confronting New and Persistent Equity Challenges: What Districts Need Now to Take Innovative Action.” …

Roads to Reinvention: Building Equitable Learning Environments webinar series by Transcend x AASA — Roads to Reinvention: Building Equitable Learning Environments webinar series by Transcend x AASA By The BELE Network In February, Transcend Education and AASA hosted an installment of their Roads to Reinvention webinar series on equitably responding, recovering, and reinventing school systems. The webinar featured Superintendent Scott Muri from Ector County…

How following the lead of young people can dismantle inequities in education — By The BELE Network The Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) kicked off its #ReclaimSEL webinar series on February 3, 2021 with an installment titled “The Intersections Between Social-Emotional Learning and Education Justice.” The panel, moderated by Cierra Kaler-Jones and Jaime Koppel of CJSF, featured: Zakiyah Ansari of the Alliance…