Responding to Our Students and Today's Challenges
Date: 08/20/2021
Author:
In an ever-changing community that is part of a constantly evolving world we, as educators, are called on to grow, adjust, and be responsive to the needs of the students we serve.
Wildfires, floods, pandemics, social movements, and a shifting economy have changed the fabric of our community. They have stressed our mental health and resiliency. At the same time, our students are more diverse than ever before, and we are tasked with preparing them for a world that is radically different from the one that existed just 10 years ago.
During the summer of 2020, as civil unrest rippled across the country, students of color reached out to local educational leaders and asked for a chance for their voices to be heard. When we really began listening, we were saddened by what we heard: Instances of overt and more subtle racism were far too common in our schools, and this had serious consequences. You can read these powerful student statements of subtle and overt discrimination in our schools in the SonomaStudentVoices website, which captures insights from a series of Student Voices Forums held in the Fall of 2020.
After the forums, SCOE is committed more than ever to supporting equity work among teachers and districts.
Our county’s educational outcome statistics show us that when students feel less engaged in their education, they are often less motivated to do well. This manifests itself in the rates at which students are suspended, expelled, or chronically absent, as well as college-going rates. These numbers, and the students’ own voices, serve as a powerful call to action to do better.
Schools can and should consider student voices when they develop policies that impact those students. We commend local educators for rising to the occasion to listen to our students when they asked to be heard, and to consider change when they asked for it. Schools may consider offering ethnic studies courses, diversifying their curriculum, creating a student advisory panel, participating in a reading project such as Conversations in Common,
One such equity effort SCOE is spearheading is increasing teacher diversity in Sonoma County. While Latinx students make up 46 percent of our student body, only 8 percent of teachers represent this group. We know that students are more engaged and do better when they see leaders in the school system who look like them and understand their background. SCOE has launched a teacher diversity full scholarship program to help encourage and expand the opportunities for diverse teaching candidates. Learn more at ncsoe.org
SCOE strongly supports state, county, and school district efforts to promote racial/gender justice, confront bias, and foster tolerance in our school communities.
We encourage you to use these resources to supplement your own learning and teaching so that our school communities can be a place where all students feel they are welcomed, have their voices heard, and reach their full potential without bias and discrimination. By listening to our students, we can ensure that everyone has the support they need to be healthy, feel welcome, and find success in school.
Learn More and Take Action
- View a range of suggested actions based on student insights shared during 2020 at sonomastudentvoices.org.
- Find ways to listen to student perspectives on your campus, such as creating a diverse student advisory board or holding school-based forums featuring student voice
- SCOE’s Social Justice, Equity, and Anti-racism Resources page offers resources for educators, parents, and community members, carefully curated by a group of equity-minded mental health professionals and educators who work for the Sonoma County Office of Education.
- Read and share SCOE’s Spotlight on Equity
