1st Edition
Tangible Equity A Guide for Leveraging Student Identity, Culture, and Power to Unlock Excellence In and Beyond the Classroom
Move beyond the "why" of equity and learn what it actually looks like in the classroom. This powerful book by bestselling author Colin Seale shows how you can overcome barriers and create sustainable pathways to realizing equity for your students.
Part I of the book explains why all education stakeholders should not just prioritize equity, but go beyond the buzzwords. Part II looks at why good intentions aren’t enough, and provides six ways you can leverage your power to really start doing something about equity. Part III discusses the five classroom-level philosophical shifts needed to make real change, including how to think differently about gifted education and achievement gaps. Finally, Part IV offers a variety of practical strategies for making equity real in your classrooms, no matter what grade level or subject area you teach. Throughout each chapter, you’ll find stories, examples, and research to bring the ideas to life.
With the concrete suggestions in this book, you’ll be able to overcome deficit models, focus on opportunities for academic success and educational justice, and make equity tangible for each of your students.
Part I: The "Why" of Tangible Equity Introduction: Equity for what? 1. The Tangible Equity Equation 2. Beyond the Buzzwords 3. The Case for Tangible Equity 4. Avoiding Extreme Optimism and Extreme Pessimism Part II: The "How" of Tangible Equity 5. Beyond Good People with Good Intentions 6. The 6 P’s for actually doing something about educational inequities 7. Tips for Successfully Implementing and Sustainable Tangible Equity Priorities Part III: The Five Tangible Equity Philosophical Shifts 8. Classroom Level Philosophical Shifts for Tangible Equity 9. Beyond Relationships 10. The Top 10% Rule 11. From Closing Achievement Gaps to Shattering Achievement Ceilings 12. Low Floor, High Ceiling Part IV: Tangible Equity at the Classroom Level 13. Building the Low Floor, High Ceiling Ladder 14. Discussing Controversy without Becoming the Controversy 15. Mandating Joy
Biography
Colin Seale is an educator, attorney, and critical thinking expert. He founded thinkLaw, an award-winning organization, to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies that can close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and reach all students.
"Tangible Equity is a must-read for all educators who care about what it takes to truly live together in the "land of the free" and the "home of the brave." Using his personal experiences, shrewd observations and provocative metaphors, Seale offers us the clearest rationale for school-based equity practices coupled with commonsense 'Tuesday-morning-in-October' strategies for raising critical thinkers at every level."
—Kimberly L. Mitchell, Founder, Inquiry Partners
"I really couldn’t put it down. I said I’d read a chapter a night, but found myself wanting to see what smart and witty thing Colin was going to say next to poke holes in the status quo way of doing things. The range of topics that Colin covers is both informative and eye-opening. This is not just a book for educators. This is a book for anyone concerned about the wellbeing of kids—even their own or a relative's or a friend's. Colin addresses both the adaptive mindsets and the technical skills needed to really make change in how we address inequity in our schools and classrooms using both his experiences and the research. Highly recommend!!"
—Keith Brooks, Founder, The National Fellowship for Black and Latino Male Educators
