Action Items

• Ensure teacher preparation programs incorporate the evidence-based practices and guidance outlined in the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan into their curriculum.
• Empower teachers to continuously learn and refine their literacy instruction practices based on the plan's recommendations.
• Implement the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan at the district level by reviewing current practices, identifying areas for improvement, and developing a plan to adopt the recommended evidence-based strategies.

Action Items

• Explore ways to make teacher preparation programs more accessible and appealing to career changers.
• Promote the benefits of career changers in the teaching profession and highlight successful transition stories.
• Provide more support and guidance to early career teachers, especially those transitioning from other fields, on the practical aspects of teaching.

Action Items

• Consider writing a book about the process of writing and include stories from working with students.
• Promote Kevin's blog where he writes about reading and writing.

Action Items

• Provide customized, targeted professional development to help teachers grow in the areas that will make the biggest difference.
• Explore the use of video, AI, and a "co-pilot" tool to help teachers spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on what they love - being with students.
• Reach out to Keisha Swearingham to learn more about the "Tortured Teachers Department" and how it can help support and retain great educators.

Action Items

• Lead an initiative through the Illinois P-20 network called "Keep Illinois Educators Engaged Professionally".
• Collaborate on creating "Mentally Healthy Schools" and discuss this further with interested panelists.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Illinois Legislative Black Caucus - The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, founded in 1967, stands for the progression of the African-American community by promoting education, health and welfare, minority business enterprise, job creation, consumer education and criminal justice reform.
• Sylvia Rosenfield | UMD College of Education - Professor Emerita, School Psychology, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
• Nadine Burke Harris | Speaker | TED - Nadine Burke Harris’ healthcare practice focuses on a little-understood, yet very common factor in childhood that can profoundly impact adult-onset disease: trauma.
• Russ Skiba, Indiana University Bloomington - Russell Skiba, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School Psychology program at Indiana University and Director of the Equity Project at Indiana University, a consortium of federal, state, and foundation-funded grants providing evidence to practitioners and policymakers in the areas of school violence, zero tolerance, and equity in education.
• Daniel J. Losen | National Center for Youth Law - Daniel J. Losen is the Senior Director for the Education team at the National Center for Youth Law and contributes to the organization's efforts in the area of education on behalf of all students, especially children of color and others that have historically been discriminated against. Dan's work includes promoting resource equity, the Honest Education campaign, and fighting against the school-to-prison pipeline at the national state and local levels. Dan oversees staffing for the Education Civil Rights Alliance, a National Center for Youth Law initiative that conducts research relevant to civil rights concerns, and engages in direct advocacy for systemic education reforms at the national, state, and local levels.
• Kent McIntosh | College of Education - Kent McIntosh, PhD, teaches and conducts research in the areas of positive behavior support, equity in school discipline, and sustainability of evidence-based interventions in schools. He is Director of Educational and Community Supports, a research unit in the College of Education.

Referenced in this podcast:

• How to Be an Antiracist — Ibram X. Kendi - Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Instead of working with the policies and system we have in place, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.
• Women of Color in Higher Education: Turbulent Past, Promising Future - (2011), "Advertisement", Jean-Marie, G. and Lloyd-Jones, B. (Ed.) Women of Color in Higher Education: Turbulent Past, Promising Future (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 9), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, p. i. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3644(2011)0000009024
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo | Hachette Book Group - In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life.
• Gaëtane Jean-Marie - Dean Jean-Marie joins Rowan from the University of Northern Iowa, where, since 2016, she served as dean of the College of Education and the Richard O. Jacobson Endowed Chair of Leadership in Education. She also previously served as interim director of UNI’s Center for Educational Transformation.
• What is Servant Leadership? - Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership - Servant Leadership is a non-traditional leadership philosophy, embedded in a set of behaviors and practices that place the primary emphasis on the well-being of those being served.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Jonathan Kozol - Jonathan Kozol received the National Book Award for Death at an Early Age, the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for Rachel and Her Children, and countless other honors for Savage Inequalities, Amazing Grace, The Shame of the Nation, and Fire in the Ashes. The final and culminating work of his career is now nearing completion.
• The Little Book of Racial Healing - Tom DeWolf - The Little Book of Racial Healing is available NOW from the Good Books imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, this new addition to the Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding series presents the Coming to the Table Approach to racial healing in book form for the first time. PLEASE NOTE: 100% of author proceeds from this Little Book are donated to Coming to the Table to support the racial healing work described within its pages.
• Waking Up White – Debby Irving - Inspired by my own two-steps-forward, one-step-back journey away from racial ignorance, I educate other white people confused and frustrated by racism by transforming anxiety and inaction into agency and action.
• Racism Free Schools Act - The Racism-Free Schools Act requires every school in Illinois to adopt a specific policy on race-related acts of hate, train employees to recognize and report them, and inform student and families of their rights and reporting options. Together we can educate, repair, and prevent future harm.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Dr. Frank Harris, III - Dr. Frank Harris III is a professor of postsecondary education and co-director of the Community College Equity Assessment Lab at San Diego State University (SDSU). Dr. Harris is also a senior strategist in SDSU’s Division of Campus Diversity and Student Affairs, and, in 2021–2022, the SDSU President named Harris the faculty athletics representative. In Fall 2022, Harris began his appointment as associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion in SDSU’s College of Education, and he received the SDSU Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award for the 2021–2022 academic year.
• Dr. J. Luke Wood - J. Luke Wood, Ph.D. is the Vice President for Student Affairs & Campus Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer at San Diego State University (SDSU). Wood is also the Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Education and a tenured full Professor in the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education (ARPE) at SDSU. According to the Black in the Crimson in Black, Wood is the first and only Distinguished Professor of Black/African American descent in SDSU’s history. In 2023, Wood was appointed by the state Senate to serve on the newly established California Racial Equity Commission. He joined SDSU in 2011 and is an active researcher and equity-driven leader.

Referenced in this podcast:

• James Baldwin - James Baldwin (born August 2, 1924, New York, New York, U.S.—died December 1, 1987, Saint-Paul de Vence, France) was an essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him one of the most important voices of the 20th century.
• Teaching on Days After - What should teachers do on the days after major events, tragedies, and traumas, especially when injustice is involved? This beautifully written book features teacher narratives and youth-authored student spotlights that reveal what classrooms do and can look like in the wake of these critical moments. Dunn incisively argues for the importance of equitable commitments, humanizing dialogue, sociopolitical awareness, and a rejection of so-called pedagogical neutrality across all grade levels and content areas. By highlighting the voices of teachers who are pushing beyond their concerns and fears about teaching for equity and justice, readers see how these educators address negative reactions from parents and administrators, welcome all student viewpoints, and negotiate their own feelings. These inspiring stories come from diverse areas such as urban New York, rural Georgia, and suburban Michigan, from both public and private schools, and from classrooms with both novice and veteran teachers. Teaching on Days After can be used to support current classroom teachers and to better structure teacher education to help preservice teachers think ahead to their future classrooms.
• Brittney Cooper, Cultural theorist - With scholarship and incisive commentary that exposes the marginalized narratives hidden within "mainstream" history, Brittney Cooper writes at the vanguard of cultural criticism.
• Waking Up White – Debby Irving - Waking Up White is the book I wish someone had handed me decades ago. My hope is that by sharing my sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, I offer a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As I unpack my own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, I reveal how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated my ill-conceived ideas about race.
• DR. BETTINA LOVE - Bettina Love - Dr. Bettina L. Love holds the prestigious William F. Russell Professorship at Teachers College, Columbia University, and is the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller “Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal.” In 2022, the Kennedy Center recognized Dr. Love as one of the Next 50 Leaders dedicated to making the world more inspired, inclusive, and compassionate.
• A Comprehensive Guide to the Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model - Bronfenbrenner's ecological model is a framework that can be utilized to understand the complex systems that influence human development. In particular, this model emphasizes the importance of environmental factors and social influences in shaping development and behavior.

Referenced in this podcast:

• StrengthsFinder 2.0 - To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in 2001 which ignited a global conversation and helped millions to discover their top five talents. In its latest national bestseller, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more. While you can read this book in one sitting, you'll use it as a reference for decades.
• The White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America, 1865–1954 - A historical investigation into the political and ideological foundations of the "miseducation of the Negro" in America, this timely and provocative volume explores the men and ideas that helped shape educational and societal apartheid from the Civil War to the new millennium. It is a study of how big corporate power uses private wealth to legislate, shape unequal race relations, broker ideas, and define "acceptable" social change. Drawing on little-known biographies of White power brokers who shaped Black education, William Watkins explains the structuring of segregated education that has plagued the United States for much of the 20th century. With broad and interdisciplinary appeal, this book is written in a language accessible to lay people and scholars alike.
• Mike Schmoker - School and District Improvement, Assessment, Curriculum and Staff Development - Dr. Mike Schmoker is a former administrator, English teacher and football coach. He has written several bestselling books and dozens of articles for educational journals, newspapers and for TIME magazine. His most recent ASCD bestsellers are the expanded second edition of FOCUS and Results NOW, 2.0. which was a "#1 New Release" on Amazon. The first edition was a finalist for "book of the year" by the Association of Educational Publishers.

Note: As of this rebooted release in February 2024, Dr. Drew Hines is now the Community and Private Land Conservation Field Chief for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Referenced in this podcast:

• City of Chicago :: Greencorps Chicago - Greencorps Chicago is the City of Chicago’s green industry job training program for individuals with barriers to employment.
• Greencorps Chicago - Greencorps Chicago’s mission is to empower residents from Chicagoland’s underserved neighborhoods to create change in their lives and communities through training, service, and career opportunities in environmental fields.

Referenced in this podcast:

• MY BLOCK MY HOOD MY CITY - MISSION STATEMENT: To inspire youth, empower communities, and build a better world one block at a time. We believe in providing opportunities for others to step outside their comfort zone and explore new communities, cultures, and cuisines in an effort to gain a greater understanding of the world.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Social Justice Initiative | Governors State University - The SJI’s mission is to transform vulnerable populations, racial and economic injustice, and structural and social barriers of underrepresented individuals, families, and communities in the Southland and in the State of Illinois. SJI’s goal is to address these social conditions through the utilization of research, policy, advocacy, restorative justice, and experiential learning.
• Legal Clinic | Governors State University - The GSU Self-Help Legal Assistance Clinic (GSU-LC) provides free self-help legal assistance and non-legal resources to low-income Illinois residents using the court system without legal representation, understand and navigate the legal system. At the clinic, a team of attorneys, social workers, and volunteers work together under the supervision of a licensed attorney and social worker to increase access to legal services in underrepresented communities.

Referenced in this podcast:

• National Youth Advocate Program - We are National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP). We have a non-negotiable commitment to do what is best for children, youth and their families and have an abiding faith that every person has an innate ability to learn, grow and develop. We provide opportunities and resources to youth and families through our innovative programs and services, and we strongly support and offer guidance to our dedicated foster parents. We work hard to build community support and advocate with public agencies and officials on behalf of youth and families. We are united by our humanity and enriched by our diversity and are committed to supporting and protecting youth and families and to strengthening the communities we are proud to serve. We are NYAP.
• Benchmark Family Services Therapeutic Foster Care - Benchmark Family Services is a network of professional, therapeutic foster homes and committed staff across two states with the goal of providing stable out-of-home placements for children in need. We work alongside child welfare agencies to provide stable care to youth in the least restrictive setting possible as they work toward their goals. The results we see in the youth that pass through our care encourage us to carry on in our mission to give even the most traumatized and troubled children a safe and stable home.
• Indiana DCS: Foster Care - Indiana Department of Child Services resources on foster care.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center - Judith Altmann was born in Jasina Czechoslovakia, which was invaded by the Nazis in 1939. In 1944 she was arrested and transported to Auschwitz concentration camp with her niece where they were selected for work. From there she was sent to Essen and Gelsenkirchen Labour camps where she remained until March 1945. She survived the "death march" that ended in the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. Sick with typhus, Judy was barely alive when she was liberated by the British Army in 1945.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Community Health and Wellness at Aunt Martha's - Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness boldly commits to supporting the well-being of our communities, ensuring equity in access and delivering exceptional care inspired by a culture of innovation.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Books by Marcia Farr
• Angela Valenzuela - Angela Valenzuela is a professor in both the Educational Policy and Planning Program within the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin and holds a courtesy appointment in the Cultural Studies in Education Program within the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. She also serves as the director of the University of Texas Center for Education Policy.
• Angela Carrasquillo | Teachers College Press - Angela Carrasquillo, the Claudio Aquaviva Distinguished Professor of TESOL at Fordham University Graduate School of Education, retired 3 years ago but continues her involvement as an educational consultant and program evaluator. She is nationally known in the area of second language and bilingual education and has published extensively on these topics.
• Donna Ogle - Donna Ogle, EdD, is Professor Emerita at the National College of Education of National Louis University, where she co-directs the Reading Leadership Institute. She serves as a consultant to arts integration projects funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art and is senior consultant to the STEP intermediate reading assessment development project at the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute.
• Sonia Soltero - Sonia W. Soltero is professor and chair of the Department of Leadership, Language, and Curriculum and former director of the Bilingual-Bicultural Education Graduate Program at DePaul University in Chicago, as well as a former bilingual education teacher and dual language coordinator.
• Kathy Escamilla | School of Education | University of Colorado Boulder - Kathy Escamilla is a professor of education in the division of social, bilingual and multicultural foundations. Dr. Escamilla's research centers on educational issues related to Spanish speaking language minority students in U.S. schools. She is specifically interested in issues related to the development of bilingualism and biliteracy in early elementary grades for this Spanish speaking population.
• Patricia Gandara - Patricia Gándara has been a bilingual school psychologist, a Social Scientist with the RAND Corporation, she has directed education research in the California Legislature, and since 1990 she has been a Professor of Education in the University of California system.
• Ofelia García - Ofelia García is Professor Emerita in the Ph.D. programs of Urban Education and of Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures (LAILAC) at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She has been Professor of Bilingual Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, Dean of the School of Education at the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University, and Professor of Education at The City College of New York.
• María Luisa Parra-Velasco - Dr. María Luisa Parra has a B.A. in Psychology, a Ph.D in Hispanics Linguistics and fifteen years of experience in the fields of Second Language Acquisition and Child Bilingual Development.
• Guadalupe Valdés' Profile | Stanford Profiles - Dr. Valdes' research explores many of the issues of bilingualism relevant to teachers in training, including methods of instruction, typologies, measurement of progress, and the role of education in national policies on immigration.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Latinx Resource Center | Governors State University - The mission of the Latinx Resources Center (LRC) is to intentionally serve Latinx students by creating an intersectional and empowering space where they are supported, appreciated, and culturally represented.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Dr. Darrell Griffin - Rev. Dr. D. Darrell Griffin is a highly sought-after speaker, author, and leadership coach. He helps individuals and organizations grow and thrive through change. Dr. Griffin is the author of two books, "Building a Better YOU: Using the Enneagram to Find Purpose, Healing, and Success in Relationships" and "Navigating Pastoral Leadership in the Transition Zone: Arriving in the Middle of the Movie."

Referenced in this podcast:

• Governors State University Department of Occupational Therapy - The Department of Occupational Therapy is dedicated to preparing the Occupational Therapists who will shape and lead the profession in the years to come. Our graduates are first and foremost Occupational Therapists, well-versed in the sciences and skills that enable clients to restore function and adapt to the new realities and limitations that follow life-altering events. The following programs are offered through our Department: Master of Occupational Therapy, MOT entry-level OT program. Doctor of Occupational Therapy, DrOT - post professional advanced degree.
• Illinois Occupational Therapy Association - The Illinois Occupational Therapy Association (ILOTA) is the official representative of the occupational therapy profession in the state of Illinois. ILOTA acknowledges and promotes professional excellence through a proactive, organized collaboration with occupational therapy personnel, the health care community, governmental agencies and consumers.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Building Brave Spaces - Brené Brown - Brené Brown's podcast episode "Building Brave Spaces" is referenced in our conversation.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Dr. Debbie Joffe Ellis - Dr Debbie Joffe Ellis is a licensed psychologist (Australia) and mental health counselor (New York), adjunct professor at Columbia University TC, and is affiliated with several major psychological associations and societies − including being a Member of the Australian Psychological Society, and an International Affiliate Member of the American Psychological Association. She has a doctorate in alternative medicine (MDAM) from the Indian Board of Alternative Medicine in affiliation with the World Health Organization, from whom she also received a gold medal (1993) in recognition of her service to the field of alternative and holistic medicine.

Referenced in this podcast:

• LivingWell@GSU | Governors State University - With a variety of new mental health resources for students through LivingWell@GSU, find support options that works best for you. It is free and confidential.