2022 Inclusive Innovation Convening

Inclusive Innovation Convening

Join our team members Karina Rodriguez (Director of Research & Analytics), Malika Ali (Chief of Innovation), and Shawn Rubin (Executive Director) in Los Angeles, CA for our sessions at the 2022 Inclusive Innovation Conference, hosted by the Center for Inclusive Innovation & Digital Promise!

We’re excited to present at the following events:

Monday, October 17 from 3:30-4:30PMBreakout Session: Learnings and Resources from the FieldKarina Rodriguez & AERDF
Tuesday, October 18 from 1:45-2:45PMThe Student Experience Survey: Actionable Data to Support Culturally Responsive TeachingKarina Rodriguez, & Malika Ali

2023 NCME Annual Meeting

Join Karina Rodriguez (Highlander Institute), Lauren Kendall Brooks (AERDF), and Teaira McMurtry (University of Alabama at Birmingham) online for a virtual session as part of the 2023 NCME Annual Meeting.

Session Title: Beyond Basketball & Bodegas: Pursuing True Cultural Validity in Formative Assessment

Date & Time: Thursday, March 30, 2023 from 1:00PM – 2:30PM CT / 2:00PM – 3:30PM ET

Description: Tropes related to basketball, clothing, hair, and superfluous community contextual details permeate the narratives that constitute “multicultural” test items from teacher-derived formative assessment to large-scale assessment tools. As instrument developers pursue inclusion and representation through test content, they walk a fine line between being complicit in using racist, ableist, and gendered language and creating a test environment that honors the linguistic and cultural heritage of its intended users. Through the eyes of a community of developers brought together for a new inclusive, equity-informed R&D initiative, this session will feature lessons learned from the implementation of a culture-forward approach to validity for K-12 formative assessment. This panel will highlight how cultural validity must expand to include the positive experiences of multi-generational American students who sit at the intersections of oppressed identities, and why our evaluative processes that govern some of the most critical gateways within their educational experiences must change. Through a dialogic process with attendees, this session will feature how we can collectively tackle the better psycholinguistic approaches in technology-enhanced and technology free assessment prototypes and why community must be a partner in this process in order to expand a new approach to asset-based, culturally representative assessment content.

2023 School Redesign in Action Conference

Join Malika Ali (Chief Innovation Officer) and Shawn Rubin (Executive Director) in Newport, RI for the 2023 School Redesign in Action Conference, hosted by Great Schools Partnership.

Session Title: Culturally Responsive School Change

Date & Time: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 from 10:30AM – 11:45AM ET

Description: Collaborating with students, parents, and teachers within a school improvement process increases dialogue, improves solutions, and strengthens accountability across a building. Highlander Institute’s partnership with Baychester Middle School has provided a strong foundation for sustainable instructional shifts. Participants will learn how this school reflects on student experience data, co-constructs a culturally responsive vision, and implements high-leverage strategies at scale – and how these moves have improved student experiences and academic outcomes.

2023 Next Education Workforce Summit

Join Malika Ali (Chief Innovation Officer) and Karla Arevalo (Program Coordinator, Central Falls School District) online for the 2023 Next Education Workforce Summit, hosted by Arizona State University.

Session Title: Partnering with Communities to Address Complex Student Needs

Session #1 Date & Time: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 from 3:15 – 4:00PM ET

Session #2 Date & Time: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 from 4:05 – 4:50PM ET

Description: Since 2020, Highlander Institute has piloted several new partnerships activating community educators, substitute teachers, and paraprofessionals. We’ve learned about the entrenched challenges districts face related to human capital and recommended ways for leaders to take a more active role in the design of new staffing models. In this session, learn how we’re centering the experiences of students and community members to support SEL and academic growth both inside and outside of school systems.

2022 Aurora Institute Symposium: Developing an Evidence Base for Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Instruction

Aurora Institute Symposium Book Club 10/24/22 3:30PM Malika Ali

Join Malika Ali (Chief Innovation Officer) online for the 2022 Aurora Institute Virtual Symposium!

Book Club Session Title: Developing an Evidence Base for Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Instruction

Date & Time: Monday, October 24, 2022 from 3:30PM – 4:30PM

Session Description: Building an evidence base for culturally responsive teaching presents an interesting challenge: the majority of education research has been conducted with White, native-English-speaking, middle-class students. In this session, hear how our team conducted a research review focused on studies led by and centered on people of color, and how the results reinforce a holistic approach spanning the domains of Awareness, Community Building, Cognitive Development, and Critical Consciousness.

2022 Aurora Institute Symposium: Awareness is Key

Aurora Institute Symposium Breakout Session 10/24/22 12:00PM Stephanie Garcia

Join Stephanie Garcia (Instructional Equity Partner) online for the 2022 Aurora Institute Virtual Symposium!

Session Title: Awareness is Key: Why All Change Efforts Should Start Here

Date & Time: Monday, October 24, 2022 from 12:00PM – 1:00PM

Session Description: Personalization practices in isolation can shift instruction, but often will not sufficiently empower all students. At Highlander Institute, we realized our school change efforts must start by acknowledging systemic inequity in order to be successful. Join us to hear how professional learning centered on sociocultural awareness can cultivate more nuanced understanding of students and families; confront personal bias; and move us beyond the limited scope of who school is best designed to serve.