North Andover Public Schools feature a large number of Professional Development Programs for our teachers and staff every year. This is common to most school districts as teachers
need to get a certain number of hours of professional development to maintain their license, which they must renew every five years.
However, this has now become another area where lessons rooted in CRT are being promoted.
At the February 17, 2022 School Committee meeting Dr. Gilligan gave his Superintendent’s “Mid Cycle Review.”
At the meeting, after announcing “The District will support a district wide commitment to social justice and equity for all students and staff” the following slide was presented:
A public records request of all the information pertinent to the aforementioned professional development programs was done. This was the findings:
First for all of these programs staff are encouraged to do “Pre-work” which includes taking an
“Implicit Bias Test
”,
thinking about why you want to take this course,
reading a paper entitled “Framing Brave Conversations about Race and Ethnicity”,
reviewing the “Stages of Racial identity Development”,
listening to an interview with Ibram X. Kendi, and reading an article
“How to Be an Antiracist Teacher.”
Principal Equity Arc
We received a large quantity of information on this program. We have created a separate page for our findings.
The primary text used was "Courageous Conversations About Race" detailed below. There was a great deal more presented in this extensive program that ran for 12 sessions over the 20-21 and 21-22 school years.
Heavily features topics such as "Equity/Anti-Racism", "Land Acknowledgements", "White Supremacy", and "Mythe of Meritocracy"
White Fragility
This was a book study group. We received the agenda. We have created a separate page to discuss this program.
From the book: "a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy" (p. 149)
Disrupting Inequity
This looks to be offered annually across all schools comprising many sessions. From emails we received it appears it was supposed to be a 2 part series but the 2nd part canceled due to lack of interest.
Teaching for Equity & Justice
Appears to be a program sponsored by “Facing History and Ourselves”, see below. All we got from the FOIA was the
proposal for the course. It consisted of 4 virtual workshops,
billed at a total of $24,000, and a supplement 2 day workshop “Teaching for Equity and Justice”, billed at $275/participant. The course is listed on the Facing History website here:
Teaching for Equity and Justice | Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History & Ourselves
Facing History is an organization. It appears they were the sponsor of the program “Teaching for Equity & justice” above.
It is referenced in several emails we received as a program that was run across the district. There appears to have been push back by people that signed up, particularly Middle School.
In these emails those promoting it wanted solid messaging from adminisration on its importance.
Other than internal emails we got nothing on this course.
Courageous Conversations About Race
This book provided the foundation for the course "Principal Equity Arc" above.
The full title is: Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools and Beyond
$24 on Amazon
Embrace-Empower-Educate
This was a book study group. All we got is the names of the staff that participated. Full title is: “Embrace-Empower-Educate & Include:
Four Principles of Equity for Conscious Educators and Schools” $24.99 on Amazon.
From the Amazon description: “Embrace, Empower, Educate, and Include provides educators with ready-to-implement and transformative principles grounded in culturally responsive and equity-focused pedagogies and practices.”
So You Want to Talk About Race
This was a book study group. All we got is the names of the staff that participated. It is available from Amazon for $12.
From the Amazon description:
“Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher.
Still, the task ahead seems daunting, and it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell your boss her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law hang up on you when you had
questions about police reform? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend?
In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the
model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life.”
Real Love Strategies for Reaching Students
A book we apparently got from Google for purchasing Chrome books. It is available on Amazon for $25.
From the description: “Rooted in the theories of Culturally Responsive and Reality pedagogy,” So unsurprisingly rooted in CRT. Follow this link for more on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy.
Building Learning Communities
We received nothing on this, nor does it exist in the lists of Professional Development courses for the 2021-2022 school years.