PLP Pathways: Equity Literacy, Act 77 and Professional Development

This past summer, over 125 middle-level educators gathered at the 2019 Middle Grades Institute which focused on the theme of Advancing Equity in the Middle Grades. PLP Pathways is committed to sustaining the focus of Advancing Equity in the Middle Grades through the webinars and blog posts this year.

Using the Equity Literacy for Educators: Definitions and Abilities as our conceptual framework, we will be keeping equity centered in our work this year. “Equity literacy prepares us to see even subtle ways in which access and opportunity are distributed unfairly across race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, language, and other factors” (Gorski).

Personalization, when done right, is a truly equitable practice. True personalized learning facilitates more equitable outcomes by promoting success for more students. By designing classroom practices that embrace individual differences, personalization can add depth to the learning experiences of all students.

What You Can Expect

Each webinar will have a theme that is connected to one of the four equity literacy abilities. Our first webinar’s theme is Starting Up: Building Relationships and Creating a Culture for Personalized Learning which is connected to the equity literacy ability recognize.

In each webinar we will be using the Equity Literacy Framework to share ways that we are practicing building the equity literacy ability in our classroom and schools within the context of the personalized learning theme.

We will share personal stories and experiences, resources to support you and your next steps, as well as provide discussion questions to use within your team meetings. Additionally, once the webinar is posted online to the PLP Pathways YouTube channel, educators can receive an hour of professional development credit by watching the video and completing a short assessment to earn a micro-credential.

This approach will support you and your team in the integration and development of equity literacy abilities as you implement the personal learning framework.

We hope you can join our fifth season of webinars as we
support educators implementing Act 77, developing
equity literate practices, and sharing our resources and
experiences to support Vermont’s students.