KEY FINDINGS
> > The National Board of School Psychologists, dedicated to helping students thrive, defines social justice as “both a process and a goal that requires action.” The aim is “to ensure the protection of the educational rights, opportunities, and well- being of all children, especially those whose voices have been muted, identities obscured, or needs ignored. Social justice requires promoting non-discriminatory practices and the empowerment of families and communities … to enact social justice through culturally-responsive professional practice and advocacy to create schools, communities, and systems that ensure equity and fairness for all children and youth” (NASP, 2017). > > Psychologist Walter Gilliam (2014) warns of an “implicit bias” against children of color. Specifically, “black children represent 18% of preschool enrollment, but 48% of children receiving more than one out-of-school suspension. Similarly, boys represent 54% of the preschool enrollment, but 79% of children suspended once and 82% of children suspended multiple times. > > “The primary goal of early care and education is to promote overall school readiness, especially for those needing the most assistance. Clearly, expelling or suspending preschoolers counters the overall objective of early education programs—to promote school readiness in order to improve later educational success” (Gilliam, 2014). > > Decades of research prove a simple truth: more often than not, strong families yield strong, successful students. All families have dreams for their children and want the very best for them, but without open communication and collaboration, how to best help families support their children isn’t always easy or clear. To this end, a strong school-family partnership can make all the difference as (Bryk et al., 2009) demonstrated in their study of Chicago schools. They found that student performance is not only influenced by the home, school, and community environments in which children live, but also by the relationships among these settings. When home, school, and community forces come together to lend students both academic and personal support, student motivation and participation increases. > > We certainly don’t want any students attempting the grand performance that is the summative assessment without continued checks that they are developing the collection of needed strategies and skills to the point that they can succeed (Afflerbach, 2016).
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SOCIAL JUSTICE
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