Dear Educators,
Black students' academic brilliance beams when classrooms are caring, inclusive, student-centered, challenging and affirming. The newly formed Black Student Success Team is committed to accelerating teaching practices that ensure every Black student in DPS has the opportunity to shine. Through a research partnership with the University of Denver, we are identifying bright spots where our Black students are experiencing joy, engaging curriculum and academic success. We're thrilled to illuminate those teaching practices through a few of our Black students' insights.
Arafat, an eighth-grade writing student at DSST Cedar, shares that his teacher is one of the teachers helping us learn how to improve districtwide, “supports my learning experience by checking in with me to make sure I’m good and understand. When kids are sassy in class, she keeps it cool and focuses on our learning.” Another student, Lilly, adds, “It’s really helpful when we do practice planning and writing together as a class. I can plan and write independently better because of what we did together.” Arafat and Lilly’s teacher, Anne Sulsky, gets to know her individual students and responds to their needs; she also makes learning explicit and creates collaborative learning spaces.
Another eighth-grade teacher and research participant, Nicole Saab, from the Denver Green School Southeast, knows the value of creating both caring relationships and a caring learning environment to support students through the challenges of the learning process. Eighth-grade student, Aniyah shares, "Ms. Saab supports my learning experience when she helps me when I'm having a bad day or when I'm struggling with my work. Ms. Saab is a genuine teacher; I'm really happy to call her my language arts teacher because I love her and I've grown so much in her class. I will miss her when I go to high school."
We extend our deepest gratitude to our educators who are currently participating in the research study with the University of Denver and look forward to sharing tangible strategies districtwide after the study concludes.
Respectfully,
Dr. Tony Smith
Deputy Superintendent
