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In Virginia, IDRA’s work to promote culturally sustaining education for all students includes helping leaders and communities understand and respond to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order 1. This order was aimed at limiting access to equity practices under the guise of ending the use of “divisive concepts.” In response, IDRA and other education leaders, researchers and advocates developed this guide for leaders to help them continue to promote culturally sustaining school practices.

Drawing on policy, civil rights law and educational leadership perspectives this guide is designed for school leaders, school division administrators and school board members, while attending to the interest of the diverse students, parents and caregivers, and teachers.

IDRA works across the U.S. South to promote culturally sustaining educational practices. These practices promote curriculum, climate, programming, pedagogies and policies that respect and honor students’ cultural backgrounds, while also nurturing, expanding, uplifting, centering and sustaining the cultural experiences of all students, particularly Black, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander and Indigenous students.