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Tools & resources to help organizers, students, parents, & educators make schools more culturally responsive.

People sitting in a school staff room
 
 

TALK TO ME ABOUT CRE

The following documents highlight core values, principles, vision, and talking points about culturally responsive education. They are intended to help the community gain a deeper understanding of CRE in practice. You can download and share them.

Culturally Responsive Education One Pager
A one-page document that makes it easy to introduce almost anyone to Culturally Responsive Education.

Transforming Our Public Schools: A Guidebook to Culturally Responsive Education
A guide on what culturally responsive education looks like in the classroom, instruction, school climate, and family & community engagement.

Culturally Responsive Education:
The Need & The Solution
Facts and talking points drawn from current research findings on the need and impact of culturally responsive education.

Culturally Responsive Education: Facing Pushback
Learn how to address common questions and pushback about CRE from opponents.

Our Culture, Nuestras Escuelas: The Battle for Ethnic Studies in Tucson, AZ | Watch the short version here.
A panel discussion with key Ethnic Studies teachers and experts. Learn about the history, core values of Ethnic Studies, and experts’ take on the most pressing issues in the field.

Lessons from Educators: Anti-Racist Teaching & Learning Collaborative
Learn from teachers in Connecticut working to implement anti-racist pedagogy in their classrooms about their practices, experiences, and insights for teachers that want to follow suit.

 
 
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START YOUR CRE WORK & CAMPAIGN

Race Forward’s H.E.A.L. Together Toolkit

This toolkit is a resource for organizing campaigns around educational equity and honest, fair education.

A Brief Guide to Making Your Schools More Culturally Responsive
This tool is a guide to help advance culturally responsive education in school curriculum, climate, teacher recruitment, and family engagement.

Questions for Planning a CRE/ Ethnic Studies Campaign
This document offers questions to think about in planning a campaign for culturally responsive education or Ethnic Studies.

Sample CRE/ Ethnic Studies Policy Demands
This document gives examples of CRE policy demands you can run in your campaign and lists examples of groups that have won.

Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecards
This tool helps evaluate the books in English Language Arts and STEAM curricula for cultural responsiveness.

Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard Toolkit
This toolkit is an in-depth guide for parents, educators, principals, and schools to make their classrooms and schools more culturally responsive after completing the Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard.

S.T.A.R Academy’s Equity Journey: A Profile
Learn about the start of S.T.A.R. Academy, P.S. 63's, work in NYC over the past decade implementing culturally responsive education from revamping classroom curriculum to professional development of teachers and staff in an elementary school.

Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Culturally Responsive Schools Toolkit
The Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) shares the Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Culturally Responsive Schools Toolkit. 

 
 

MAPPING CRE & ETHNIC STUDIES

The Ethnic Studies Legislation Database below highlights victories for legislation across the country that supports Ethnic Studies and CRE. It also includes historical and present-day fights, schools, and districts that have implemented Ethnic Studies and CRE.

Click on the points on the map to learn more about the efforts of grassroots groups, in partnership with elected officials, to fight for CRE. You can click on the square icon on the top left to filter the map by legislation category. For in-depth information of each of these pieces, visit the drive here.

We want the creation and maintenance of this database to be a collaborative effort with communities. If you know of any Ethnic, Indigenous, or LGBTQ+ Studies efforts that aren’t included here, please help us add them by emailing us at nyu-ejroc@nyu.edu

This map details the national and local legislative efforts to adopt ethnic studies, Native, and LGBTQ studies in K-12 public schools.

 

DEVELOP YOUR ORGANIZING CAMPAIGN

Education Data Resource List
Resources for information about school districts, school finance, corporate influence, school discipline, charter schools, and more.

ONLINE TOOLKITS TO GUIDE YOUR CAMPAIGN

Midwest Academy Strategy Chart
A guide to develop campaign strategy: set goals, identify allies and opponents, make organizational considerations, find targets, and develop tactics.

Center for Story-based Strategy Influence Map
A worksheet to help you think about campaign targets— decision-makers, influential allies, and opponents— to shape and direct your campaign.

School of Unity and Liberation Training Resources
A guide for groups to build individual and organizational capacities for organizing and movement building.

Chicago Activism Toolkits
A comprehensive collection of toolkits for organizers, from choosing an issue and planning strategy to building networks and taking action.

Alliance for Quality Education Toolkit
An example campaign toolkit designed to help students, parents, educators, and legislators fight for funding New York schools.

Three students preparing for a group activity in a classroom
 
 

CREATING RELATIONSHIP CENTERED SCHOOLS

Transforming relationships within schools is key to tackling issues of equity and implementing CRE. Californians for Justice has been working to implement relationship centered schools (RCS) in California. They provide key tools and resources here.

Relationship Centered Schools Infographic
Introduction to relationship centered schools

Relationships Centered Classrooms
A self-reflection tool to assess the classroom

Disrupting Unconscious Bias
6 ways school staff can disrupt unconscious bias

Student Learning Walks
A tool for students to observe classrooms for what they want to see created and changed

A man leading a group session with students
 
 
Two men and a woman in a group discussion

FROM DISTRICTS EMBRACING CRE

Ethnic Studies Survey
An example of a survey used in Oakland Unified School District to learn about students’ experience in Ethnic Studies courses.

NYC Department of Education CRE Definition
The CRE Working Group with the NYU Metro Center co-wrote the definition for culturally responsive education that the DOE adopted in July 2019.

New York State Framework for CRE
New York State's CRE framework and guidelines to help educators create student-centered learning

San Francisco Unified School District Equity Studies Framework
San Francisco Unified School District’s Equity Studies Framework for 6th to 12th grade.

Indiana Academic Standards Ethnic Studies
In June 2018, Indiana adopted Ethnic Studies Standards for K to 12th grade.