Erin Godly-Reynolds, Ph.D., Psychological Science, UNC Charlotte
Thousands of students attend high-poverty, low-performing schools across the district. Many stakeholders agree that factors outside of schools’ control, such as highly segregated neighborhoods and areas of concentrated poverty in Charlotte harm students, particularly students of color, by widening inequality of educational experiences and outcomes between students based on race and socioeconomic status (e.g., see Billings et al., 2014). Regardless of the mechanisms by which students, families, and teachers ended up in this situation, the Charlotte community needs school-based supports and interventions that are effective within the context of our current reality. Opportunities exist that are within our control to improve educational experiences and outcomes for all.
To present the broad topics of resilience and educational equity, the reading list will include a range of interdisciplinary sources, such as one author’s account of growing up in poverty in his book, The Other Wes Moore; a documentary that explains resilience science; and peer-reviewed journal articles that introduce theoretical frameworks (e.g., ecological systems theories, resilience-framed models, stage-environment fit theory) and school climate and culture literature that informed, “The School Environment Project: Measuring Key Elements of School Climate and Culture in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools”. This research project was completed in 2022 as part of a collaborative effort with two community partners: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Multiple participatory steps led to the development of survey items that were piloted with CMS teachers from grades 3-8. A resulting measure, the 25-item School Environment Survey, captures three domains of school environment and may be a useful tool because school environment scores positively related to student learning outcomes.
The seminar leader aims to share knowledge acquired through research and facilitate knowledge acquisition and related discussions (i.e., co-generate knowledge) that could empower elementary and middle school teachers to improve their school environments. This seminar will focus on learning conditions and practices within the school environment domains of academics, safety, and shared vision. Dimensions of potential interest include (but are not limited to) communication with parents/guardians, high expectations for students, social-emotional safety, restorative justice, behavior management, partnerships with parents/guardians and community members, school pride, stories that celebrate success, and connectedness. For example, one item that captured the dimension of social-emotional safety is, “Students’ social and emotional learning is as important as their academic learning”. While it is meaningful that teachers’ attitudes towards students’ social and emotional learning predict academic outcomes, additional survey items offer strategies that could be incorporated into curriculum to apply what was learned during this seminar, such as, “Students are encouraged to be themselves (e.g., authentic)” and “Students are given opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings about the school”.
Note: While open to all grade levels, a particular focus of this seminar will be on elementary and middle school environments.
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