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President's Corner

Every day of every year, America’s public schools welcome students of all cultures, traditions, religions, values, languages, abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Our educators are committed to helping each one attain a bright future, regardless of what that may look like for each student.

Daunting as it may sound, districts can serve all students, including those who are historically underserved and have varied needs. This work can be supported by emphasizing a few core strategies.

Establish a school climate of safety and inclusion. That means fostering an inclusive school environment where all students feel safe, respected and valued. Student empowerment, strong anti-bullying policies, active inclusion efforts and effective interventions help establish a positive climate.

Ensure a diverse curriculum. Learning materials should reflect a range of cultures, ethnicities, genders, languages and abilities. Provide professional development to explicitly develop teachers’ awareness, knowledge and skills to incorporate culturally relevant content and teaching methods that resonate with diverse student populations and promote critical analysis of social issues.

Advocate for adequate resources and support. Ensure equitable — not equal — distribution of resources across schools to support all students’ needs, with additional resources provided where there is a concentration of needs. That includes guaranteeing appropriate access to special education services and mental health supports, necessitating culturally competent counselors.

Recruit and retain a diverse workforce. Students can’t be what they can’t see. The research is clear on the positive impact of diverse staff on diverse students’ achievement. Diversifying the education workforce at all levels has many benefits, including providing role models so students can see themselves succeeding in all areas.

Provide staff training and support. All staff should be trained on educational equity, implicit bias and culturally responsive teaching practices. Ongoing professional development will support teachers in addressing the needs of all students, especially those who are marginalized.

Engage the entire community. Encourage authentic engagement with the whole community, not only those segments who are traditionally overrepresented among those who show up and speak out. Proactively reach out to harder-to-reach communities, with communications in families’ home languages and meetings where they gather. Partner with families and organizations to better understand, develop solutions and meet the needs of diverse students.

Assess, evaluate and revise. Seek feedback and regularly review disaggregated student data to identify achievement and opportunity gaps and areas needing improvement across all groups. Develop and implement targeted interventions, provide focused teacher training and adjust programming based on data analysis of what’s working and what’s less effective.

There is no single solution or easy route to meet the needs of all students since each student’s needs are unique to each individual. But these core strategies are a strong step in the right direction to support success for all.

A Parting Word

It has been my honor to serve you as president of Âܲ·AVÊÓƵand share my thoughts in this column throughout the 2024-25 year. Best wishes to incoming Âܲ·AVÊÓƵPresident David Law and President-Elect LaTonya Goffney.

Together, as a community of school superintendents, we will continue to serve our communities, support each other as fellow superintendents, mentor the next generation of school leaders and promote the essential value and transformative power of public education in our country, serving all families and meeting the needs of every student.

Gustavo Balderas is Âܲ·AVÊÓƵpresident in 2024-25.