School Excellence Solutions

An open letter to Black women educators
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It's way too late to be working and probably too early for me to be sharing bc successfully rebranding takes a whole lot of strategy, time, energy, and TIME, but I'm so jazzed about this so I'm sharing NOW. For four years, Toni and I have operated School Leadership for Social Justice. We had a relentless focus on equity and justice in K-12 schools and have traveled all over the country inspiring and educating teachers, school administrators, and district leaders, and, for a couple of business novices, we've seen unbelievable success. But for the last two of those four years, we've gotten really clear on our message, our method, our intended impact, and our audience, and our name didn't sufficiently capture the depth nor breadth of our work nor what we fundamentally believe about how to achieve equitable outcomes for kids. So, we've been praying and thinking and praying some more about who we are and what we do and how to reflect that in our organization's name.

Then...BOOM!

One day as I was working on a proposal for one of our schools, it hit me! School Excellence Solutions. We are in passionate pursuit of equitable outcomes and we believe that is achieved through excellence! Effective, excellent leadership and exemplary instruction are the keys to equitable outcomes. We often hear the phrase 'excellence and equity,' but excellence IS equity! And when excellence is the standard, equity will be the outcome!

More to come (like cleaning up the website and all of our collateral and renaming all of our social media pages),
but for now...

Goodbye, SLSJ.
Hello, School Excellence Solutions!

Every year, Toni L. Harrison-Kelly and I spend a week in Killington, Vermont presenting a week-long strand on becoming an equity-centered educator.

Every year, during and after the event, we reflect on how hard it is to be often the ONLY Black people at a 500-person conference....in Vermont.

Then every year, people share what a transformational experience it is for them.

This year was no different. We showed up. We leaned in. And we changed lives - including our own.

Despite having led racial equity work for nearly a decade now, I am always amazed at what these experiences do for me and mean to me as a Black woman, Black educator, and Black equity practitioner - and even more amazed at how deeply our work impacts others.

In today's seemingly anti-DEI climate, please know that there are people whose hearts and minds are open to this work and who understand just how important it is for them to learn and grow so they can best serve all students - particularly those who have tragically, unjustly, and persistently been underserved in our schools. The comments below show just how much this work matters to people and how much people NEED and WANT high-quality learning experiences in racial equity and educational excellence. School and district leaders, please be bold. Please invest in this work. Educators want it. They need it. And kids deserve it!

Also, it feels appropriate to share that School Leadership for Social Justice is becoming School Excellence Solutions! This name change has been in the works for awhile now, and we are super excited about the shift, as it more accurately reflects our entire body of work, which is focused on achieving educational excellence through effective leadership, exemplary instruction, and equity-centered policies, programs, and practices. We'll share more as we work through the rebranding but for now know that SLSJ is becoming SES!

Y'all. Guess what.

We wrote a book.

We wrote a book. And it's ready.

We wrote a book. And it's ready. And it's fire.

Triumph in the Trenches is an anthology written BY more than 20 Black professionals FOR Black professionals on successfully navigating the workplace.

My chapter closes out the anthology and offers insight, wisdom, and 10 recommendations to help Black professionals thrive professionally and overcome challenges of workplace inequity, racism, and overall BS.

And please don't think you can't get the book if you're not a Black professional. You can. Lol. But for real, if you are an equity advocate or an organizational leader committed to building and sustaining inclusive workplaces, you should also read it because you need to understand the realities of being Black at work so you can become a champion for change because it's hard out here in these Black at work streets! But beware, there's lots of truth in these 144 pages - and truth can be hard to hear sometimes, but we need it. Because like I said, IT'S HARD OUT HERE IN THESE BLACK AT WORK STREETS!

Okay, friends. That's all for now. Until next time, buy a book.



https://www.liftedbysharla.net/product-page/triumph-in-the-trenches-pre-order

What are we not doing that we should be doing? What are we doing that we should NOT be doing? National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend data is out and student achievement in the US is reaching a critical point and not enough people are paying attention.

Kids. Are. Not. Learning. Like. They. Need. To.

And to add insult to injury, Black students are learning EVEN LESS. Black student scores declined 7 points in reading and 13 points in math - and this decline is from the already basic and below basic levels.

There's no easy answer to the complex and growing challenges in education, but there ARE answers! But broadly, we just aren't doing nearly enough of the things that we could (should) be doing to reverse this troubling trajectory. Some immediate thoughts:

1. Invest much more deeply in middle grades teacher preparation. Middle grades (4th-8th grades) are a critical time for brain development. The way pre- and early-adolescent children see the world and process it is at odds with current middle school learning structures and even more at odds with the way instruction traditionally takes place. Educators have to understand how the middle school brain works and lean into new models for middle grades learning.

2. Stop the assault against culturally responsive, affirming, and sustaining curriculum pedagogies. Black students deserve to experience exemplary academic and non-academic success in school, and they cannot continue to be denied the basic civil right of education because systems and the people that lead them refuse to acknowledge that there is a way of being, doing, and learning that is different. And it is NOT deficient; it is just different. To require Black students to participate in mandatory schooling where they are not sufficiently and adequately schooled relative to their non-Black peers is educational injustice. And to refuse to embrace, adopt, and require culturally relevant, affirming, and sustaining curriculum and pedagogies in said schooling systems is essentially educational malpractice.

3. Fully embrace and adopt evidence-based interventions like high-quality instructional materials and high-impact tutoring to ensure that students have access to coherent, standards-aligned curricula and just-in-time supports to ensure mastery of content. Yes, these interventions are expensive. Yes, they require a shift in resources and practices. And yes, we should adopt them anyway. Just because it's hard doesn't mean we don't do it.

4. Completely redesign middle school. Spaces. Schedules. Curriculum. Standards. Courses. Teacher preparation. Leader preparation. Credentialing. Literally everything. What are doing now is built on antiquated, outdated research and methods that largely focused on middle-class white students, but do not work for today's students - nearly none of them! Why are we still doing what we've always done? Why are we so beholden to ineffective methods that are harming our kids?

Can we just start with some of these things? Maybe - just maybe - they will work. Can we start with doing things differently - like making decisions based on data and research and doing what we know works? And if all else fails, just tear down the whole system and start over. This one is clearly broken.

Ready to talk real transformation and devise an actionable strategy to improve student outcomes? [email protected] | https://www.slsj.us/contact



https://lnkd.in/gP-P28Ed

📍AUSTIN, TX

2023 National Charter School Conference

Our session, Toward Black Excellence, was a call to understanding, mindset shift, and reflection. Charter teachers, school leaders, system leaders, and board members gathered to learn policy and practice recommendations for radically improving Black student outcomes in PK-12 education. We offer actionable recommendations in 4 specific areas that can be applied in any school, district, or state.

In short…
1. Understand the historical context of educational policy and practice and the current implications on Black students
2. Leverage existing policy and develop new race-conscious policy
3. Implement evidence-based race-conscious practices

Want to know more?

If you’re at the conference, join us tomorrow (Wednesday) for our second presentation at 12 pm. If you’re not at the conference, reach out to us for a presentation or session for your school or district!

Hey, SLSJ Community!

Happy Friday! Wanted to make sure that you know about FOUR things, including an opportunity to join the SLSJ team!

We are finally offering our Beyond Academia webinar for the SLSJ community! It is for those who want to leverage their doctoral degrees or research for impact in education outside of academia. It is also for those who have a specific passion/expertise that they want to leverage beyond their school or district. It is an amazing webinar that has helped many people tap into their passion and purpose in ways they didn't understand were possible! It is only $39 and it will be held next Thursday, January 26 at 6:30 pm CST. https://www.slsj.info/event-details/beyond-academia-leveraging-your-doctoral-degree-outside-the-ivory-tower?utm_campaign=2e58cdd4-f147-4250-8c0e-990343b2cba4&utm_source=so&utm_medium=lp

This week's SLSJ newsletter has some great information to help you get ready for Black History Month. We hope you find it useful and inspiring! Check your email for the resources and guides, and if you aren't on our email list, you can access it right here! https://www.slsj.info/so/a4ONGEizV?languageTag=en

We have refreshed our website, and we LOVE it! Check it out when you can. www.slsj.us

We will be hiring a few coaches and consultants to work with us in the 2023-2024 school year. If you are deep into your personal equity and justice journey, are a skilled presenter and communicator, are willing to learn the SLSJ session and series content, and want to positively contribute to the educational outcomes of thousands of students across the United States, submit this preliminary interest form: https://www.slsj.info/interest-form

Thank you for all you do for children!
-Sharla

Beyond Academia: Leveraging Your Doctoral Degree Outside the Ivory Tower | SLSJ You've earned (or are earning) your doctorate, but you don't want to enter academia. So what else is there? This session leads you through some reflection and exploration to help you identify opportunities that are right for you! It's one of our favorite sessions & we can't wait to share with you!

We presented two sessions at Green Dot Public Schools-CA annual conference last year and got this card in the mail a few days ago from the conference coordinators. We are always grateful for all of our school and district partners who graciously allow us to enter their space, believe in our work and our process, and trust us with their people. It's an honor to be able to do this work! School Leadership for Social Justice has been a gift to Toni & I as much as it has been a gift to the thousands of educators we have served and supported over the last three years.
-Sharla