CRS Resource Repository

This document serves to support supervisory unions and/or school districts (SUs/SDs) as they define their local comprehensive assessment systems (LCAS) to ensure assessments are equitable and culturally relevant. The essential components listed should be used to guide conversations around equity and provide opportunities for system leaders and educators to intentionally use culturally responsive practices in assessment development.

This checklist provides a framework for educators to observe and reflect on their classroom practices in order to promote equity and inclusivity. It includes key areas such as classroom environment, instructional materials, and teaching strategies, and provides specific indicators that highlight equitable practices.

This article suggests seven strategies for schools to rebuild or newly build welcoming and belonging environments for their students following the Covid-19 pandemic. Suggestions include calling and visiting students at home to listen to their needs, introducing restorative practices in place of harsh disciplinary measures, and offering virtual learning options. School and district leaders should use the return to the classroom after Covid-19 as an opportunity to build warm, affirming environments that can equitably serve all students.

A professional development resource from the Connecticut State Department of Education. It presents real-world scenarios designed to help educators reflect on implicit and explicit biases, cultural competence, and ethical decision-making in diverse classroom settings. Through guided discussions, educators are encouraged to examine how their judgments and actions can impact students' sense of belonging and equity, fostering culturally responsive practices that affirm and respect all students.

These reflective writing prompts, in the form of exit tickets, can help young people internalize, sort, or articulate their thoughts and feelings after a lesson. A great tool for personal reflection, exit tickets provide a prompt to bring thoughts to a close before moving out the door. Designed to be handed to the facilitator as a "ticket" out the door, they may also be kept private if someone doesn't want to share their thoughts in the moment.

"Let's Talk: Discussing Race, Racism and Other Difficult Topics with Students" is a publication from "Learning for Justice" that provides guidance and strategies for educators to facilitate discussions on race, racism, and other difficult topics with their students. It also offers a set of practical strategies and activities for engaging students in these conversations and promoting critical thinking and reflection.

This is an inforgraphic chart describes Relationship Centred schools that integrate social emotional learning into school life. it champions such strategies as investing in staff, valuing students voices, and creating spaces for relationship building.

This article offers ways in which technology can facilitate relationship building both between teachers and between students and their teachers. In order for teachers to learn from one another, they can use tools like Twitter to exchange ideas and learn for other teachers' experiences. For student-teacher relationships, teachers can offer after-school opportunities to meet with students online for office hours or additional support. With a significant number of teachers and students preferring online learning to face-to-face, it is worthwhile to use technology in a way that helps foster relationships.

The website provides courses and resources to help teachers develop their skills in inquiry-based teaching and learning. It is designed to support educators in creating engaging and effective learning experiences for their students. It offers a range of courses that cover topics such as lesson planning, assessment, and differentiation. It also provides access to a community of educators who share ideas and best practices for inquiry-based teaching. To access the courses and resources, users need to create an account and log in.

In this brief article, Dr David E. Kirkland offers guidance on culturally responsive-sustaining remote education. The guidelines are for teachers, families, school leaders and students. Key amongst them are the four principles of culturally responsive-sustaiing remote education.

The article analyzes how English speaking teachers created a welcoming environment to allow students to maintain and utilize their first language through translanguaging in a high school class of English Language Learners.

​The article "How Leaders Can Support Culturally Responsive Instruction" from ASCD emphasizes the importance of empowering teachers, especially educators of color, to adapt curricula that reflect diverse perspectives and counter-narratives. It highlights that fostering teacher agency is crucial for creating inclusive learning environments and reducing turnover among teachers of color

This video offers strategies parents can use to create a safe and fun math learning environment for their students. The four approaches are; positive attitude, being patient and non-judgmental, balancing practice and play such as games, and giving meaningful feedback.

This article informs teachers how to use culturally responsive teaching as a way to build strong relationships with students. They cite successful examples from several schools across the country, such as creating targeted support networks for students, engaging with the community to foster student growth, and adopting an asset-based mindset.

This resource offers teachers several strategies to create a welcoming and affirming classroom environment for ELL students. These strategies fall under four categories: getting to know students, welcoming students' language and culture, engendering success in the classroom, and creating a shared classroom culture. Each section includes specific examples as well as videos to learn more.