Equitable Practices

The School District of Springfield Township is proud of our work in the area of equitable practices. Over the past three years under our Equity Action Plan, we have strived to bring equity, belonging and inclusion to every area of our district while achieving and exceeding our annual goals. As we complete the first Equity Action Plan (EAP) and look forward to the future, we are excited to partner with the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium in order to conduct the district's 2nd Equitable Practices audit. This fall and winter, the MAEC will engage with students, families and staff members, review data and documents, and create a comprehensive audit and recommended next steps for the district. In preparation, we have developed an Equity Action Plan in Review document that will help guide our upcoming audit work and look forward to providing additional resources in the near future.

On October 23, 2024, the district provided an update on the EAP at the first MPA meeting for the 2024-2025 school year. The Equity Action Plan Updates slideshow provides information on the district's goals, data reviewed by building and district level data teams, and information on how we are addressing student and staff needs. The meeting was well attended and our administrative team was able to engage and answer questions from families and community members.

Our high school is a proud participant in the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit's Dreaming Forward program. Beginning in October 2024, our high school students will attend multiple meetings at the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit to work collaboratively with students across the county. Our students are dreaming and creating pathways for increased collaboration and belonging with their peers and we can't wait to see the projects that emerge from this group!

On November 14, 2024, students at Enfield and Erdenheim had the opportunity to participate in a joint EEHSP/MPA event, "Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day." This nationally recognized event honored the living legacy of civil rights activist Ruby Bridges and her work to integrate schools. Our students had the opportunity to learn more about Ruby Bridges and participate in an in-school walk experience.

The next Multicultural Parents Association (MPA) meeting is scheduled for December 11, 2024. Please look for communication from MPA and plan to attend!

In mid-October, students in grades 3 through 12 participated in our Fall 2024 Belonging Survey. Students answered 19 multiple choice questions and 1 open-ended question about their sense of belonging in the district and the Springfield Township Community. Here are the results shared recently at the MPA meeting held on October 23, 2024.

The School District of Springfield Township is pleased to present the 2024-2025 family information series, "It's Tough to Be a Parent." Mark your calendars for our upcoming events!

• Have You Had the Conversation?: December 4th at 6:30pm (Registration Link Coming Soon)

• LGBTQIA+ Allyship: January 29th at 6:30pm (Registration Link)

• 21st Century Teens: February 19th at 6:30pm (Registration Link Coming Soon)

• Social Awakening with Max Stossel: April 1st at 6:30pm (Registration Link)

• Cannabis, Kids, and Solutions for Anxiety: May 21st at 6:30pm (Registration Link Coming Soon)

All events will be held via Zoom. Please register to receive the link.

Recognizing the diversity of our community, The School District of Springfield Township is committed to and accountable for advancing equity and excellence for all of our students. We, in the School District of Springfield Township, endeavor to provide equitable opportunities for high level, meaningful, and engaging learning experiences for each and every student, regardless of racial/ethnic background, economic condition or other dimension of identity or difference.

We recognize that in order to achieve Educational Equity we must apply principles of fairness and justice in the allocation of resources and work toward the elimination of institutional barriers to access and opportunity. We aim to ensure that funding, policies, practices, and initiatives will enable every student to receive what they need to maximize their success. In order to foster growth toward equity, we must engage in continuous reflection and ongoing measurement of our efforts.

Our district is a proud member of the DVCEE, Delaware Valley Consortium for Excellence and Equity, an organization sponsored by the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Springfield Township is proud to continue our membership and work collaboratively with the 37 other districts in the Greater Philadelphia region to enhance equitable educational practices for all students.

For more information on DVCEE, please visit their website.

Year 3 of our Equity Action Plan is almost at an end. As we near the finish line for the district's first EAP, we continue to put best practices into place, learn about student needs, and delve into data to make actionable plans for progress.

One of our major projects has been the building review of student acheivement data. Data sets have been broken down to better understand how underperforming groups score on assessments and how to close achievement gaps. Our team has reviewed various data sets paying close attention to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Further work in the Equitable Practices committee has helped buildings delve into various data sets to explore student belonging and acheivement and how they intersect.

Additional administrative work has focused on helping new students and staff members feel at home in Springfield Township. New students now benefit from a defined checklist that provides for tours, ice breaking activities, and introductions to key staff and support. Staff who join our team outside of the summer will not benefit from a half day workshop that will help them acclimate and learn more about Springfield Township.

One of our greatest points of pride is our student voices! Across all buildings and dimensions of identity, our students come together to share their feedback. Our superintendent and assistant superindent meet with their building student advisories monthly. In our middle and high school, our students have joined together to create affinity groups, attended DVCEE student workshops, and held multiple events to share their culture with others. Our students are the future and their are starting to shape it through their work in our schools.

As we flow through our final year in the first Equity Action Plan, we have already started the planning for our next three years. Springfield Township will be working with the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) to start our audit process that will help develop our equity goals for 2025-2028.

We are extremely proud of our work here in Springfield Township and we hope that you are too!

On Tuesday, January 16, 2024, Superintendent, Dr. MaryJo Yannacone, presented a comprehensive review of Year 2 of the Equity Action Plan goals and how our cumulative work has positively impacted the district.

If you were not able to attend the Board presentation, you can view the video HERE or check out the slideshow HERE.

• Ensure that access and opportunity yield measurable outcomes (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Collaborate with parent organizations to develop a roadmap for decision-making K-12 (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Explore scholarships/reduced fees, and sibling childcare to improve access to extracurriculars (Complete)
• Create systems of support so that families, students and staff members new to the district learn and understand how to navigate systems (Complete)
• Identify, review, and report on primary indicators of growth/achievement (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Provide enrichment opportunities at the elementary level after school (Complete)

• Create a system for the collection, review and dissemination of relevant data (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Elicit feedback from students, staff, and families (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Create a K-12 course overview with language accessibility (Complete)
• Simplify and focus our communication to families (Complete)
• Improve our website's accessibility and ease of use/clarity (Complete)
• Train our MTSS teams to utilize the MTSS process to improve our systems of identification/readiness (Complete and embedded in practices)
• Utilize an online platform for feedback from students and families (Complete and embedded in practices)
• Continue to communicate and implement recommended strategies for recruitment and retention of a diverse, representative workforce across the district (On-going and embedded in practices)

• Adopt and enforce an Educational Equity Policy (Complete)
• Identify administrator responsible for conducting review and analysis of data and leadership of EAP (Complete)
• Communicate the purpose and goals of the EAP broadly and consistently (Complete)
• Support conversations in the classroom that help students to be prepared for difficult topics and conversations around equity (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Improve safety for marginalized students, including students of color and LGBTQ+ students (On-going)
• Utilize analytics to assess the impact our communication has on students and families (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Create feedback/communication system for parent teacher conferences (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Provide training for ALL district staff on equitable practices that are able to be implemented in the classroom and across district offices (On-going and embedded in practices)

The following information is shared with families to help strengthen equity conversations in the home. Please note that these resources are not shared in the schools. However, we encourage families to use these resources to engage your children in conversations around equity in the home.

From Amaze.org

This is how people choose to express their gender identity, usually through appearance and behaviors.

Gender Identity

This is a person’s internal sense of their gender. This can include:

• Cisgender
• Transgender
• Gender-Fluid

Everyone has a gender identity—a feeling or sense of being male, female or somewhere in between. Sometimes people’s gender identity matches their bodies, and sometimes it does not. A person may be born with a penis and identify as a boy or born with a vagina and identify as a girl. This person may have a gender identity that is called “cisgender.” Or someone may be born with a penis and identify as a girl or born with a vagina and identify as a boy. This person may have a gender identity that is called “transgender.”

When you share your gender identity with the world through clothing, makeup, how you talk, act and more, this is called “gender expression.” A person’s gender identity and gender expression can be different. Who someone is attracted to—their sexual orientation—is not related to gender identity and expression. Everyone has both a gender identity and a sexual orientation.

Gender roles are the unspoken rules in our society that say how girls and women as well as boys and men are supposed to behave. Sometimes gender roles can be harmful if they keep people from being who they truly are. For example, gender roles that say boys are only supposed to be tough and like sports may keep boys from expressing feelings like kindness or doing things they might enjoy, like knitting.

What’s important to remember is that people deserve to express themselves in ways that feels right for them and to be respected no matter how they identify, look or dress.

From LearningforJustice.org

To set the stage for discussing diverse cultures, help children develop a strong sense of self and identity while recognizing and honoring diversity in the world. Emphasize that our differences make us special, and the world is better when we embrace our diversity. Because we are different, we find space for new thoughts and ideas and opportunities to appreciate diverse ways of being and living.

Our similarities allow us to connect as families, friends and communities. These similarities are recognized in various ways. Many people who seem very different share many similarities. Our differences should not keep us from also finding our similarities.

Emphasize that we have multiple identities. We are sometimes known by our race and the color of our skin, or by our gender, our family names, or even the groups and clubs we belong to. It’s OK to be proud of our many identities. It is not OK to hurt others because of their identities.

Encourage and support children to express pride, confidence and healthy self-esteem without denying the value and dignity of other people.