Leading Equity

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About Dominique Smith, Ed.D.

Dominique Smith is the director of student services at Health Sciences High & Middle College, where he also serves as a culture builder and student advocate. He is also a social worker, school administrator, mentor, national trainer for the International Institute on Restorative Practices, and member of ASCD's FIT Teaching® (Framework for Intentional and Targeted Teaching®) Cadre.

He is passionate about creating school cultures that honor students and build their confidence and competence. He is the winner of the National School Safety Award from the School Safety Advocacy Council.

Smith is the co-author of Better Than Carrots or Sticks: Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Management and Building Equity: Policies and Practices to Empower All Learners. He holds a master's degree in social work from the University of Southern California.

Show Highlights

• Why we need to remove labels
• Ways to change our current practices
• Owning our bias
• Addressing labels placed on students by administrators
• What happens when you gather information on students from previous teachers?

Connect with Dominique

Removing Labels: 40 Techniques to Disrupt Negative Expectations About Students and Schools

Twitter: @domsmithrp

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

REGISTER FOR THE LEADING EQUITY VIRTUAL SUMMIT: THE ART OF ADVOCACY

About Gabriel Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Gabriel Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University in the School of Education. His interdisciplinary research explores the relationship between educational inequality and race, specifically the interplay between the academic achievement, equality of opportunity, and the identities of Latinx youth and other youth of color in the context of demographically changing schools and communities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Speech Communication, a Master of Arts degree in Political Science, and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Show Highlights

• Being BIPOC and growing up in a White community
• Niceness
• LatinX youth in suburban schools
• Linguistic police
• What does belonging mean at your school?
• Strategies for educators in suburban schools
• Should I teach in urban schools or suburban schools?

Connect with Gabriel

[email protected]

Suburban schools as sites of inspection: Understanding LatinX youth's sense of belonging in a suburban high school

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

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About Mirko Chardin

Mirko Chardin is the Founding Head of School of the Putnam Avenue Upper School in Cambridge, MA. Mirko’s work has involved all areas of school management and student support. His greatest experience and passion revolves around culturally connected teaching and learning, recruiting and retaining educators of color, restorative practice, and school culture. He delivers keynotes across the nation on equity, social justice, and personal narrative. He is also a race, diversity, and cultural proficiency facilitator and leadership coach for the Aspire Institute at Boston University’s New Wheelock College of Human Development. He is a principal mentor for the Perone-Sizer Creative Leadership Institute, a Trustee at Wheaton College, and an active hip-hop artist.

About Katie Novak, Ed.D.

Katie Novak, EdD is an internationally renowned education consultant as well as a practicing leader in education in Massachusetts. With 17 years of experience in teaching and administration, an earned doctorate in curriculum and teaching, and seven published books, Katie designs and presents workshops both nationally and internationally focusing on the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and universally designed leadership.

Show Highlights

• Equity by Design
• Missed opportunities when providing options for students
• Are we creating barriers for our students?
• Intent and Impact
• Are we giving ourselves more work when using UDL?

Connect with Mirko and Katie

Twitter - @MirkoMilk  

Twitter - @KatieNovakUDL

Equity by Design: Delivering on the Power and Promise of UDL

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Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

About Todd Mealy, Ph.D.

Todd is the author of seven books, including Race-Conscious Pedagogy: Disrupting Racism at Majority-White Schools (2020); Displaced: A Holocaust Memoir and the Road to a New Beginning with Linda Schwab (2019); Glenn Killinger, All American: Penn State's World War I Era Sports Hero (2018); This Is the Rat Speaking: Black Power and the Promise of Racial Consciousness at Franklin and Marshall College in the Age of the Takeover (2017); Legendary Locals of Harrisburg (2014), Aliened American: A Biography of William Howard Day, 1825-1900, Vols. I and II (2010); and Biography of an Antislavery City: Antislavery Activists, Abolitionists, and Underground Railroad Operatives in Harrisburg, Pa (2007). Todd authored a chapter in From the Pews: The Story of the Bethel AME Church in Harrisburg (2015). He has also published several articles in Pennsylvania Heritage and American Heritage.

Todd's scholarship on the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania along with Black abolitionist and educator William Howard Day has been cited in works by Steve Luxenberg (Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation), Richard Blackett (Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery), and the late Hari Jones ("Deciphering the African American Mystery in American History"). His research on Glenn Killinger is also featured in Anne R. Keene's acclaimed book The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II (2018).

Mealy holds a Ph.D. from Penn State University. He also attained a Master's degree from the same institution, where he was the 2014 recipient of the John S. Patterson Award for academic and creative achievement. In 2018, he received the university's Sue Samuelson Award for his doctoral dissertation. 

He is a contributing writer for Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine. His publications in the magazine include pieces about the 19th-century trials that led to the end of legal segregation in Pennsylvania's public schools; the abolitionist and cofounder of the Liberty Party Francis Julius LeMoyne; an All-American football player from Penn State who reached the pinnacle of his career following World War I named Glenn Killinger; the 100-year history of the Penn State Nittany Lions - Pittsburgh Panthers football rivalry; and the greatest African American women's tennis and basketball player before World War II, Ora Mae Washington. 

Todd's latest publication in Pennsylvania Heritage is "Muhammad Ali at Fighter's Heaven," a 4,000-word article taking a look at the eight years Muhammad Ali spent training at a long-forgotten training camp in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He has one forthcoming article due out in Spring 2021 titled "Without Fear and without Reproach: Octavius V. Catto and the Early Civil Rights Movement in Pennsylvania," which explores the life of Octavius Catto, an African American civil rights activist and educator killed in Philadelphia trying to protect Black voters on October 10, 1871, just a year after the ratification of the 15th Amendment.

The newest book written by Todd is Race-Conscious Pedagogy: Disrupting Racism at Majority-White High Schools (McFarland & Co.). It is an appeal for race-conscious education at predominantly white high schools. The book's Foreword is written by Dr. Terrence Roberts, known for his role as one of the Little Rock Nine students that desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 and the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Writing the Afterword is philosopher George Yancy, author of several books on race, including Across Black Spaces; Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Race in America; and On Race: 34 Conversations in a Time of Crisis.

In 2020, Todd launched the Equity Institute for Race-Conscious Pedagogy, LLC to advance scholarship in race-centered learning while advocating for social justice through pedagogy and curriculum. Founded to help educators at all levels write curriculum with a critical race lens, the institute also carries a research agenda to enhance race-conscious pedagogies through academic publications. 

Todd also is an adjunct professor in the History Department at Dickinson College and works as Director of Equity and Instruction at The Bond Educational Group. The Bond offers coaching services to under-resourced K-12 and postsecondary students and provides professional development coaching to educators, athletic coaches, and professionals in the corporate sector, which includes specifically tailored programming. As Director of Equity and Instruction, Todd is The Bond's curriculum writer.  

Mealy was born in Bradford in 1979, grew up in Harrisburg, and currently lives in Lancaster with his wife, Melissa, Ed.D., son, Carter, and daughter, Adeline. He has taught in Lancaster County public schools since 2001. He spends summers traveling to countries in Europe, Asia, and South America. He also coached high school football for twenty-two years. These experiences helped shape his focus on issues related to social justice, race theory, political history, and sports culture. 

Show Highlights

• Race Conscious Pedagogy
• The importance of Multicultural Education
• The colorblind classroom
• When you haven’t personally experienced racism
• Being silent
• What happens when we shut down conversations about race in the classroom
• Authentic conversations

Connect with Todd

Equity Institute for Race Conscious Pedagogy - https://www.raceconsciouspedagogy.org/

Author's Website - https://www.toddmealy.com/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ToddMealy

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/todd.mealy.7

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-m-mealy-ph-d-37492b191/

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

About Clement Townsend

Clement Townsend spent close to two decades in front of the camera as a Sports Journalist including time spent on the local news, cable and the internet.  His career took him to several markets including San Angelo, Texas, Mobile, Alabama, Lynchburg, Virginia and Chicago Illinois.  Clement has covered numerous big events throughout his career such as the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Game, and multiple college football National Championships.  Clement is the author of “How to Become a Broadcasting Star” and the founder of Broadcasting Career Mentor (BCM).  BCM provides media training for youth across the country.  BCM offers in person training and virtual training through the Video Journalism Pro Online Course.

Show Highlights

• Why representation matters
• Who is telling our stories?
• Opportunities for getting students involved with media
• Social Media platforms
• Can we integrate media beyond English and Journalism classes?
• Choosing a media platform
• The long-term benefits of public speaking

Connect with Clement

www.videojournalismpro.com

LinkedIn: Clement Townsend

Facebook: CTownsendTV

Instagram: CTownsendTV

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

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About Stephanie Abraham, Ph.D.

Dr. Stephanie Abraham is an Associate Professor of Language and Literacy Education at Rowan University in New Jersey. Her research and pedagogical interests focus on the documentation of the rich language and literacy practices of racialized, emergent bilinguals, as well as helping their teachers develop high quality, critical pedagogies. She is the principal investigator of the Spencer Foundation-funded project, Translanguaging as Resistance and Restoration in a Community-Based Writing Center. Her scholarship has been published in Radical Teacher, the Journal of Education Policy, and Teaching and Teacher Education. Most recently, she has published a critical discourse analysis of the word gap discourse in Equity and Excellence in Education, showing how racial erasure works to make the word gap discourse appear as a humanizing solution to poverty in the United States.

Show Highlights

• The Word Gap
• Does a parent’s level of education impact the Word Gap?
• What is the Word Gap really about?
• The Wordometer
• What should we be focusing on?
• A message to future researchers of the Word Gap

Connect with Stephanie

[email protected]

What Counting Words Has Really Taught Us: The Word Gap, A Dangerous, but Useful Discourse

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

Inquire about the Leading Equity Center’s “Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools” training

About Deanna Lough

Deanna is a wife, mom, puppy mom, and English teacher and department coordinator, who has taught both middle and high school. She is a former Instructional Coach and current equity advocate. When she’s not teaching, Deanna can be found recording the Speaking Educationally podcast, enjoying the outdoors, and crafting.

Show Highlights

• Why gradeless?
• A journey of discovery towards a gradeless classroom
• How do you assess your students?
• The one-point rubric
• Getting students involved with their learning
• Gradeless during distance learning
• Gradeless resources

Connect with Deanna

Twitter: @Hessteacherest

Speaking Educationally Podcast

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

Inquire about the Leading Equity Center’s “Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools” training

About Taquan Stewart, Ph.D.

Dr. Stewart obtained his undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Delaware. From there he worked with the United States Army, in the area of Interior Ballistics. After a short time in Interior Ballistics (and two groundbreaking ballistics reports later) he turned his attention to teaching. He began teaching secondary school science in the Christina School District (Delaware). He then brought his passion to Los Angeles, where he taught physics and other academic subjects. While teaching Taquan earned his Master’s in Education and Administrative Policy Studies, and his Doctorate in Educational Leadership. From 2007 through 2012 Dr. Stewart served as a secondary principal in South Los Angeles. He currently serves as Faculty Advisor for the CalStateTEACH and Los Angeles Urban Teacher Residency (LAUTR) programs, housed  at California State University, Fresno and California State University, Los Angeles, respectively. He also coaches budding administrators. In addition to this he serves as Program Director for Project Youth California– a non-profit organization designed to provide additional educational services to underserved youth of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area – previously sat on several boards, and consistently mentors youth.

An educator for nearly 30 years, Dr. Stewart’s interests lay in the opportunity gap in science, urban education, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and the preschool to prison pipeline. In 2017 Dr. Stewart released Thoughts of a Ghetto Scatterbrain: The EP – a text using the intersection of science fiction and critical race to jump start the minds of educators (teachers, administrators, parents, family and community members) to dream of possibilities not always considered. In the same year he released a book of poetry, Penumbra: Me, My Shadow, and the Artificial Light Source.

As a teacher educator, Dr. Stewart stresses a humanizing pedagogy.

Show Highlights

• Preparing future advocates in teacher prep programs
• Erasing the “Savior” complex
• Challenging the concept of GRIT
• Taking a brave stance with advocacy
• Recommended literature

Connect with Taquan

Instagram: doc_alamin

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

Inquire about the Leading Equity Center’s “Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools” training

About Lee-Ann Stephens, Ed.D.

Dr. Lee-Ann Stephens, Minnesota Teacher of the Year 2006, has been an educator for 30 years with K-12 teaching and leadership experience. She currently serves as a teacher on special assignment with the St. Louis Park Schools in Minnesota, as the High Achievement Program Coordinator which serves Black, Brown and Indigenous students in advanced classes. She is an affiliate with Pacific Educational Group: Courageous Conversations about Race, an Advisor for Integrated Schools, and she has been appointed by Governor Walz to the Education Commission of the States, a partner with education policy leaders to address issues by sharing resources and expertise. At the beginning of the pandemic she partnered with other racial equity leaders in MN to create an Equity Lens Reflection and Exploration Tool for Learning, which can be found on the Minnesota Department of Education’s website.

She holds a B.A. in International Studies, B.S. in Elementary Education, M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership. Her scholarship focuses on the needs of Black and Brown students in advanced classes.

Show Highlights

• High Achievement Programs
• Standards of Excellence
• Myths of BIPOC students and their academic ability
• BIPOC students are constantly having to prove their worth and abilities
• Retaining BIPOC students in advanced courses
• BIPOC teacher representation in advanced courses

Connect with Lee-Ann

Twitter: @MNTOY2006

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

Inquire about the Leading Equity Center’s “Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools” training

About Floyd Cobb, Ph.D.

Floyd Cobb is an adjunct faculty member with the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver. His coursework focuses on teaching methods along with the intersections of race, class, power and privilege. He has held a leadership role in issues related to educational equity for almost 15 years and has also served as a central office leader responsible for curriculum and instruction. Floyd holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and is the author of the book, Leading While Black (2017) and co-author of the book, Interrogating Whiteness Relinquishing Power. 

About John Krownapple

John Krownapple specializes in professional and organizational learning and development in the areas of belonging, inclusion, and equity. He is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University where his coursework focuses on organizational and pedagogical responses to the issues that emerge from diversity, and he served as the coordinator of cultural proficiency and coordinator of diversity, equity and inclusion for 14 years in a public school district of over 50,000 students.  John is also the co-author of Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity: The Keys to Successful Equity Implementation (Mimi & Todd Press, 2019) and author of Guiding Teams to Excellence with Equity: Culturally Proficient Facilitation (Corwin, 2017).

Show Highlights

• Dysfunctional equity implementation
• Functional equity implementation
• Sense of belonging

Connect with Floyd

Twitter: @DrFloydCobb2

Belonging Through A Culture of Dignity: The Keys to Successful Equity Implementation

Connect with John

Twitter: @JKrownapple

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

Inquire about the Leading Equity Center’s “Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools” training