Equity

The Office of Equity and School Improvement is dedicated to elevating access and opportunity for all.

Calvert County Public Schools will nurture a diverse and inclusive community where WE:

• Value and accept difference;
• Grow through meaningful diversity experiences;
• Teach and work in a culturally responsive fashion;
• Examine and challenge our biases, assumptions, world views, and institutional structures; and
• Seek to understand and abolish inequities.

The Maryland State Department of Education adopted this policy in 2019 with an emphasis on improving achievement for all Maryland students and eliminating all achievement gaps between student groups.

COMAR 13A.01.06 Educational Equity Policy

This policy specifies focus areas necessary for CCPS to create an equitable learning environment for each student.

Policy 1015

Cultural Proficiency is a mindset, a way of being, a worldview, and a perspective that is the basis for how one navigates a diverse society. This plan will help our system to better serve the needs of diverse cultural groups, as well as the needs of all students.

5 Year Action Plan

Anti-Racism Resolution of the Board of Education

Purpose: To build the knowledge and skills we need as educators to remove the existence of bias and inequity in our spheres of influence

• District Equity Leadership Team
  County level team comprised of building representatives and central office staff tasked with learning, guiding, and implementing the work of equity throughout our system.
   
• Building Based-Equity Teams
  School and department-based teams comprised of administrative, instructional, and support staff tasked with learning and facilitating the work of equity throughout their building.

Countywide book study with the following program goals:

• Foster discussions on compelling social issues
• Encourage reflection of self and understanding of others
• Inspire Action
• Create an equitable learning and work environment

2019: Closing the Attitude Gap: How to Fire Up Your Students to Strive for Success by Baruti Kafele

According to Kafele, educators can achieve remarkable results by focusing on five key areas:

1. The teacher's attitude toward students
2. The teacher's relationship with students
3. The teacher's compassion for students
4. The learning environment
5. The cultural relevance of instruction

2020: What If I Say the Wrong Thing? 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People by Verna Meyers, Esq.

The author uses personal experiences, real world examples, and practical tips to help readers develop the skills and habits necessary to be culturally effective.

• Message to the CCPS Community about Race & Racism
• Equity Brochure
• Children’s Books: A Resource for Talking About Race with Young Children
  The primary purpose of Raising Race Conscious Children is to support parents and teachers who are trying to talk about race and diversity with young children. The goal of these conversations is to prepare young people to work toward racial justice.

• Speak Up at School
  How do you respond when someone—a student, a colleague, even a parent—uses biased language or stereotypes in our system? This guide helps adults to develop the skills to speak up and helps students learn to speak up as well.
   
• Teaching Tolerance
  Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.
   
• Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain
  This is a blog where we can get answers to our collective and individual questions about how we can help students become confident and competent learners.
   
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Danger of a Single Story
  Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice—and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.