The IDRA South Central Collaborative for Equity provides one- and two-day workshops to local education agencies with staff development needs in the areas of race, sex and national origin equity issues, supporting existing staff development plans or helping to establish new ones. IDRA professional development is designed to assist people to create educational solutions through innovative, participatory, and hands-on presentations, workshops and technical assistance that promote sustained growth and development. IDRA assistance values the needs and cultures of participants and acknowledges their experiences. Training is carefully crafted to include reflection and application.
Sample workshops are listed below.
Meeting the Needs of a Diverse Student Population
Participants learn about the three barriers to communication and the elements of surface culture and deep culture from several groups. Ideas will be generated for validating the culture of their students.
Racial Hostility and Violence in Schools
This workshop helps administrators and teachers understand their responsibilities regarding racial hostility and violence in schools. Procedures for identifying whether or not a hostile environment exists, procedures for conducting sexual harassment investigations at the campus level, and procedures for creating a report of findings are all presented in this workshop.
Second Language Acquisition: What Mainstream Teachers Need to Know
Bilingual education, and associated curriculum, are important steps in the education ladder. This workshop takes educators back to the basics by reviewing the language acquisition process. In addition, participants identify those skills needed for academic success and real-life skills.
Sexual Harassment and the Law
This workshop is designed to help administrators, particularly principals, understand their responsibilities under the law regarding sexual harassment. The session provides definitions of sexual harassment, information on the two types of sexual harassment, the legislation that governs sexual harassment, a review and discussion of liability and responsibility under the law, and procedures for identifying whether or not a hostile environment exists.
Teaching Content: ESL Strategies for Classroom Teachers
This workshop will enable classroom teachers to modify their teaching strategies to meet the needs of language-minority students. Participants will become familiar with the linguistic and cognitive needs of language-minority students in the content area classroom. Teachers will acquire strategies that will enable language-minority students to participate successfully in the content area classroom.
Working Together: School and Home (Trabajando Juntos: La Escuela y El Hogar)
Involving parents in their children’s learning experiences can be very beneficial to a school. This workshop will help parents examine ways that they can make a difference in their children’s academic success. Parents will also develop skills for conducting parent-teacher conferences and reinforcing learning at home.
Other workshop topics addressing equity issues are available upon request. If you are unsure which topic would best suit your needs, call us and talk to a desegregation specialist.
For more information on the South Central Collaborative for Equity contact Bradley Scott, Ph.D., at bradley.scott@idra.org or 210-444-1710.
