November 16, 2021

Resources for Transgender Awareness Week

In a year during which lawmakers across the country continue to restrict the rights of transgender people—particularly transgender students—we encourage you to propose supportive policies and lead critical conversations about transgender and nonbinary students at school. These resources can help.

Language Access: More Than Translation // Julie Feng

Kaia Speaks Up // Kaia Woodford and Crystal L. Keels

Teaching Honest History: A New LFJ Resource for Teaching the Civil Rights Movement
Apply for Our Professional Learning Cohorts!
Applications are open for our upcoming Teaching Hard History Professional Learning Cohorts. The cohorts will engage with our Teaching Hard History: American Slavery framework and learn how to use it to enrich lessons on American enslavement, build students’ civic engagement and critical thinking, and deepen their mindsets around inclusion and empathy. The deadline to apply is December 3, and the sessions are set to begin in January.

A Film for Teaching About Indigenous Slavery

The enslavement of Indigenous peoples predated and shaped the enslavement of Africans on land that is now the United States, stretching across the continent and through the 19th century. Use the LFJ film The Forgotten Slavery of Our Ancest-ors to introduce students in grades 6-12 to what historian Andrés Reséndez calls “our shared history.”

Students Lose When Black Women Aren’t Supported

To mitigate the harm against Black students and all children of color in schools, we must love and support Black women in school leadership roles. In her latest piece for Learning for Justice, Jamilah Pitts shares her experience of choosing herself and abruptly resigning from her school leadership position—and why schools “must honor Black women who say no and move away from disparaging a woman who seeks to value herself and, ultimately, her students.”

The Curb-cut Effect and Championing Equity

The term “curb-cut effect” is rooted in decades of disability activism. Named for the ramps that make sidewalks more accessible, this effect has come to illustrate a broader phenomenon: If we focus on equity for those denied equity, the entire community benefits. In our Fall issue, LFJ Senior Writer Cory Collins explores how the pandemic demanded curb-cut thinking and a focus on equity.

Check Out What We’re Reading

“Simply telling students, ‘You belong!’ ignores their legitimate concerns. Worse yet, it shifts the onus to the student: We’ve assured you that you belong. If you still don’t think you belong, that’s your problem.” — Education Week

“Meanwhile, the number of school librarians in the U.S. has dropped about 20% over the past decade, according to a July 2021 study funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Many states, including Arizona, Texas and Pennsylvania, do not fund or mandate school librarian positions. And an analysis from the National Center for Education Statistics revealed that Hispanic, nonwhite and nonnative English speakers are the students most affected by the decline in librarian positions.” — The Conversation

“Studies repeatedly show that students of color in K-12 schools are suspended more often and more harshly than white students. Yet drawing from ten years of New York City public school data from grades 4 to 8, a new working paper found that Black, Latinx, and Asian American students were less likely to face such exclusionary discipline when their teachers matched their racial or ethnic background.” — Diverse Issues in Higher Education
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