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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Through Literacy

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Located here, educators and administrators can find literacy and lesson planning resources to support the inclusion of diverse classroom  materials and ensure that an equitable educational experience is available to all students. 

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The NEA states ​diversity can be defined as the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different. The dimensions of diversity include race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, religion, mental and physical ability, class, and immigration status.While diversity itself is not a value-laden term, the way that people react to diversity is driven by values, attitudes, beliefs, and so on.

Professional Learning Materials:

• Using the Resources Guide: START HERE
• Video: ILA Classroom Libraries as Windows and Mirrors: Ensuring Diverse, Representative Books for Our Students
• ILA Literacy Brief: Expanding the Canon How Diverse Literature Can Transform Literacy Learning
• Cultural Competence for Educators
• Teaching Tolerance
  • Common Beliefs Survey
  • Common Beliefs Descriptions
• Glossary of Terms: Washington University, St Louis defines terminology for adults and students to facilitate conversations.
• Universal Design for Learning by CAST: The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning based on brain research.

Classroom Support Tools:​​

• Teaching Tolerance Learning Plan Builder
  • Selecting Texts
  • Digital Literacy
  • Creating tasks that align to standards
• Diversifying Classroom Libraries Checklist
• NEA Diversity Toolkit​​: Introduction
  • Class and Income
  • English Language Learners
  • Gender
  • Race and Ethnicity
  • Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
• ​A Teacher's Guide to Religion in the Public School​

​Text Collections
It is not enough to just incorporate more diverse texts; it is about how texts are used to accept diversity.​

• ​Diverse Book Finder​
• We Need Diverse Books
  • Where to Find Diverse Books
  • Summer Reading Series
  • Download the OurStory app on Google Play or Browser (free version available)
• University of Wisconsin:Cooperative Children's Book Center
• We Are Kid Lit Collective
• Teaching Tolerance Student Text Library
• An Inclusive Children's Reading List​

Extending diversity and equity into the content areas

• 50+ Multicultural STEAM Books for Children
• Multiperspectivity: What Is It, and Why Use It?
• Kicking it Up a Notch: Becoming a Culturally Relevant Science Educator