A national, federally funded center that provides capacity-building information and technical assistance for identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective school-wide disciplinary practices. Includes valuable tools and materials for school use.
The tool from the National Center for Culturally Responsive Education Systems Training (NNCREST) provides an overview of how RtI can be understood and used with diverse learners. It is useful for practitioners because it offers insight into how RtI can extend beyond a policy prescription in order to truly be responsive to all learners.
Esparza Brown, J., and Doolittle, J. A Cultural, Linguistic, and Ecological Framework for Response to Intervention with English Language Learners. Washington, DC: Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, 2008.
The empathic-mindset intervention is an online exercise to refocus middle school teachers on understanding and valuing the perspectives of students and on sustaining positive relationships even when students misbehave. This intervention reduced suspension rates especially for Black and Hispanic students, reduced the racial disparity over the school year by 45%. Significant reductions were also observed students with disabilities and for students with one previous suspension. These reductions persisted through the next year when students interacted with different teachers, suggesting that empathic treatment with even one teacher in a critical period can improve students’ trajectories through school.
Okonofua, Jason, J. Parker Goyer, Constance Lindsay, Johnetta Haugabrook, and Gregory Walton. 2022. “A scalable empathic-mindset intervention reduces group disparities in school suspensions.” Science Advances 8, no. 12, https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.abj0691 (accessed January 30, 2023).
This CDE-approved self-assessment tool provides three checklists that address 1) district and school resource issues; 2) system policy, procedure, and practice issues at district, school, and classroom levels; and 3) environmental factors, all designed to aid in efforts to identify possible root causes of disproportionality and to help districts develop hypotheses and action plans for more detailed explorations of racial disproportionality.
Losen, D.J., Annotated Checklist for Addressing Racial Disproportionality in Special Education. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (2008).
The technical assistance guide provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and components of PBIS and functional behavior assessments (FBAs). The guide is useful for practitioners that seek to clarify their understandings about the purpose and use of PBIS and FBAs in practice.
George Sugai, Robert H. Horner, and others. "Applying Positive Behavioral Support and Functional Behavioral Assessment in Schools: Technical Assistance Guide," 1999.
This toolkit defines social justice and describes the importance of communal agreements prior to a series of activities that address identity, power and privilege.
This technical assistance manual is used for identifying root causes to assist educators seeking to understand disproportionality as an outcome of policies, practices, and beliefs.
Fergus, E., Ahram, R. Equity in Education—Addressing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education, Volume 1. Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, NYU Steinhardt, 2009.
The resource is a technical guide for understanding how disproportionality is calculated and what the benefits and drawbacks of each method are. It is useful to practitioners that seek to understand the mathematics and logic behind a numerical citation for disproportionality.
Methods for Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education: A Technical Assistance Guide. (Westat). 2014.
Teachers—especially White teachers—rarely have opportunities to learn how to teach for racial equity. This study explored a teacher professional development model organized around EQUIP (https://www.equip.ninja/), a research-based classroom observation tool that generates quantitative data on equity patterns in students’ classroom participation.
Shah, N. Ph.D., Reinholz, D., and Harris, A. (2023) Using Equity Data from Classrooms to Support Teacher Learning for Racial Equity. California MTSS Research Consortium, UCLA Center for the Tran
