Ethnic Studies Timeline and Notes Academic Years 2014-2015 April - PDF document

Ethnic Studies Timeline and Notes Academic Years 2014-2015 April 49 students at Lynnwood High submit a petition asking for an African-American History course. Academic Year 2015-2016 November Teachers Doug Trost and Henry Shaw work with Content Lead Kathleen Hodges and Vice Principal Mike Piper to develop a course proposal. Submit proposal for the course titled: African American/US History. December District’s Course Equivalency committee approves course. LHS History Department did not approve of the course. Felt it would be too divisive. Wanted a more culturally encompassing course. Academic Year 2016-2017 September Assistant Principal Mike Piper works with History department and the department is willing to develop a Senior History: Ethnic Studies course that would be equivalent to Senior History. Jeff Stone and Mike Piper begin discussing how the district can support the course development. October Sharon Kriskovich, Doug Trost, and Jeff Stone began researching other districts who had implemented/are looking to implement an Ethnic Studies course and researched to learn what other Ethnic Studies courses exist, learn how they are organized, and learn how they were (were being) created. Decided on a format that would be the most open to our diverse student population. We decided to not limit the course content to a single race, ethnic, or gender group. November Based upon the work of other districts, states, and universities, Doug Trost, Sharon Kriskovich, and Jeff Stone develop the course outline. See Senior History: Ethnic Studies . Lara Drew commits $13,000 from the Student Learning budget to support the development of the course. December District Course Equivalency Committee meets and approves Senior History: Ethnic Studies . Ethnic Studies Team (EST) add Leighanne Law from Scriber Lake High School. EST develops an outline that includes obtaining student and community input. January Doug Trost, Sharon Kriskovich, and Leighanne Law attended the two day Undoing Institutional Racism training sponsored by the district.

February Jeff Stone presents to each 11th grade US History course, giving each an overview of the potential Ethnic Studies course. Part of presentation is to elicit suggestions on what topics should be covered. Student presentation . Student input obtained via survey. EST hosts a Community Round Table in order to provide an opportunity for families to learn about the course and contribute ideas. Materials were translated into top five languages and translators for top five translators were provided. Round Table presentation . Community members that were invited . Promotional materials . Community input was obtained on poster paper and private/individual sheets of paper. Doug Trost, Sharon Kriskovich, and Jeff Stone attend training specific to Ethnic Studies course. March-June The EST spends much time taking the students suggestions, community suggestions, and course requirements to develop the course. This was lots of work!!! July Wayne Au, Professor at UW-Bothell, and Karena Hooks provide feedback on the developed outline for Senior History: Ethnic Studies. The EST meets to continue the developing the curriculum. August Leighanne Law, Doug Trost, Sharon Kriskovich, and Jeff Stone attend the Acosta Learning Partnerships training. A two day training focused on culturally responsive pedagogy. Academic Year 2017-2018 September Instruction begins. Data collection to measure the impact of the course begins. Consultant with Hooks Global October Consultant with Hooks Global First Community Panel: 7 district and community members share their experiences with identity development. Continued course development and refinement through sub-release days. November Collected first quarter student data on course. Ethnic Studies Team meets to examine the survey data and makes adjustments to our plans for second quarter. Met with Mountlake Terrace High regarding adding Ethnic Studies to their course offerings. December After Edmonds-Woodway students expressed the desire to bring Ethnic Studies to their school, they brought a petition to their schools administration and Social Studies department. Edmonds Heights decided to also offer Ethnic Studies.

January Continued course development and refinement through sub-release time. Added in Erin Grambush from Mountlake Terrace High, Martin Louie from Edmonds Woodway, and Joseph Erickson from Edmonds Heights. Collected second quarter student data on course. February Promoted the course at LHS, MTH, and EW through classroom visits and participation in electives fair. Visited affinity clubs to collect student (and staff) ideas for the content of Ethnic Studies courses. Continued to develop and refine through sub-release time. Via Homeroom, collected initial round of student data on grades and attendance. Met with Dr. Wayne Au of UW-Bothell, area expert on Ethnic Studies, to discuss various approaches for supporting teachers and the larger Edmonds system to ensure that educators had both the skills and content knowledge to teach the course. This included ideas for developing a base of qualified teachers to support the expansion of Ethnic Studies throughout the district. March Sharon and Jeff present the work on our Ethnic Studies program at the Washington State Council for the Social Studies spring conference. April Collected third quarter student data on course. Continued course development and refinement through sub-release time. Building Capacity Think Tank. Based upon the recommendations of Dr. Au and Karena Hooks, held a community forum focused on exploring options for building the capacity of Edmonds to support and offer additional Ethnic Studies courses.