The Official Colorado State Affiliate of ASCD
Champion for Equity and Cultural Diversity
Micro-Credential Series
Please note: In order to access these Micro-credentials, you must first complete the three foundational Micro-credentials. Determining your specialty pathway is dependent upon your core values, your vision, and your mission as a leader in education. CO ASCD's Teacher as Learner and Leader Foundational micro-credential will help you identify those areas first allowing you to choose the pathway that most appeals to you!
Understanding Diversity at Large
Diversity is the state or condition of containing many different elements. Diversity in schools, as in other social settings, has many dimensions that relate to the variety of ways that people can differ. Teacher leaders who understand diversity use knowledge and understanding of the different backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, languages, and other dimensions of diversity in the school community to promote effective interactions among colleagues, families, and the larger community.
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In this micro-credential, learners examine the relationship between the dimensions of diversity and implicit bias and how those might affect interactions with students’ families in their schools. They develop and implement a plan for addressing a misunderstanding, confusion, or conflict that results from differences in diversity dimensions or the influence of implicit bias. They evaluate the plan's results and reflect on how they will continue developing their understanding of diversity and implicit bias.
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Being Culturally Responsive
Being culturally responsive means acknowledging one’s own cultural identity and views about difference and being able to learn from and relate with people from one’s own culture and other cultures. Culturally responsive teacher leaders facilitate colleagues’ self-examination of their own understandings of community culture and diversity and how they can develop culturally responsive strategies to enrich the educational experiences for students and achieve high levels of learning for all students. They develop a shared understanding among colleagues of the diverse educational needs of families and the community.
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In this micro-credential, learners work with a group of colleagues to use the three levels of culture (concrete, behavioral, symbolic) to identify gaps in their knowledge about one of the cultures in their school. They develop and implement a plan to assist their colleagues in filling the identified gaps and using culturally responsive strategies to engage families from the selected cultural group in supporting student learning. They evaluate the results of the plan and reflect on how their experiences with the micro-credential helped them to understand the diverse education needs of their school’s families and use culturally responsive strategies to address them and to assist their colleagues in doing the same.
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Ensuring Equitable Access and Achievement
Equitable access means equal inclusion in opportunities to receive services (e.g., high-quality instruction), participate in programs and activities (e.g., Advanced Placement, Gifted and Talented), and obtain benefits and recognition (e.g., college- and career-readiness) from the education system. Teacher leaders understand that different kinds and levels of support may be necessary to ensure all students have equitable access and achievement. Teacher leaders can ensure equitable access and achievement for all students by promoting instructional strategies that address issues of diversity and equity in the classroom, and by modeling and teaching effective communication and collaboration skills with families.
In this micro-credential, learners examine data about staff skills in using culturally responsive instructional strategies. They work with a group of colleagues to design and implement a plan to improve their use of culturally responsive instructional strategies in one or more areas. They evaluate the results of the plan and reflect on how they might use what they learned through the micro-credential experiences to help administrators and teachers understand and fulfill their cultural competency roles.
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