Highline Public Schools is deeply engaged in work around equity, race and identity to better foster and support an environment in which our students, families, and staff grow, thrive, and succeed.This work, and the language used to describe it, is rapidly evolving.This procedure will be reviewed at least annually to reflect current practices and language.
Culturally responsive instruction or practices have been defined as those actions that empower students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural references to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes. (Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, The Dreamkeepers [1984]) Highline Public Schools is engaged in ongoing work to make meaning of this phrase for our district.
Objective: Embedding culturally responsive practices in our work, and ensuring that all staff use these practices in their interactions with students, families, staff, and the community, will result in increased levels of success and satisfaction. Proactively engaging our families and community in identifying these practices and educating our staff in how best to use them will ensure a robust array of practices. To that end, we will:
- Engage our staff, students, families and community members in the development and implementation of culturally appropriate and effective partnerships between home and school.
- Use culturally responsive practices that effectively engage individual students, staff and community.
- Intentionally seek out and include the student and family perspective, particularly racial perspectives, in the development and implementation of culturally responsive teaching and learning practices and curriculum.
- Celebrate families’ heritage and culture and consider families as funds of knowledge to inform school and district practices.
- Leverage our social emotional learning (SEL) work to provide culturally responsive spaces for learning and working.
- Support home language learning through enrichment programs, heritage language classes and community learning opportunities.
- Ensure that the implementation of a guaranteed and viable curriculum (GVC) has culturally responsive practices at the core.
- Culturally responsive teaching practices include (Dr. Ladson-Billings, The Dreamkeepers):
Accountability
At least annually, the Superintendent will issue a report updating each area of work, including progress made and areas for improvement, as well as areas that will be changing for the upcoming year. The report should include both qualitative and quantitative data and may result in recommendations to change policies, procedures, or practices throughout the district.
Highline School District 401
Adopted by the Board: November 2019