--technology and adult education. She's the past chair of the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers. And she's going to be talking to us a lot today about equity through professional learning. We'll see a little bit of the Adult Education Teacher Competency, which is a project that Mariann also worked on. And so we are really happy to have her on for this webinar with us today. Mariann, off to you. 

Thank you. Thank you so much, Sudie and Veronica, for the warm welcome. And American Institute for Research has been a partner to Sacramento County Office of Ed in running this technical assistance project that's hosting this webinar for the past three years. And so we're really pleased to offer this webinar as one of the many things that we've done with SCOE and TAP and with all of you. 

So there are a few familiar faces in the participant list, so hi, everyone. And thank you for having me, Veronica and Diana and everyone at TAP. So Sudie said enough about my background. 

So the focus on equity-- today's webinar-- this is what you're looking at now, this first slide. It's just a screen grab from a webinar we conducted, my colleague Cherise Moore conducted on equity in the classroom, just this past October. And so I did want to reference it and distinguish what we did then from what we're doing today, and sort of the what's coming up that continues the focus we have on educational equity and equity for our learners. 

So in Cherise's session in October-- which maybe some of you were on. It was really a phenomenal session-- she took a look at systematic versus educational issues of inequity, and sort of created a differentiation between the systematic and the localized forms of inequity, and really dove into the topic of the exploration of privilege, bias, and stereotypes. 

So she covered a lot of the ground that you need to cover and need to attend to to dig into-- to meaningfully dig into this issue of equity. And like I said, she did a great job. And it's a big topic that we could run seminars on. And in fact, there are seminars and intensive institutes and degree programs. So what we can get to in a webinar is fairly limited. But the topic is essential to the effectiveness of our adult learning system. 

So today's webinar will have a focus on the most local-- the classroom experience and the things that instructors can do that are really-- instructors are in control of to assure a greater level of equity in their classrooms and for their learners. And anyone who's been part of adult ed for the last 10 or 12 years knows that there's been a big push towards standards, the use of college and career readiness standards, English language proficiency standards. 

And really, I'll be talking more about the standards in a moment, but that one of the drives of the standards based movement has been to increase rigor-- the rigor of instruction, and at the same time, to increase rigor as a mechanism for increasing the access to effective instructional programs and the equity in what's offered in instruction and in our adult ed program. 

So there's a way of seeing standards, and in the development of the standards, really an explicit lens-- equity lens-- was put into the development and the use of the standards. And I'll explore that more in a moment. But again, today's webinar will be the classroom and teacher learning, the things teachers need to know and be able to do. 

The good news is for this big topic of equity, CALPRO-- California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project. For those of you who are in the adult schools and, I believe, a number of representatives from the community college system, you're probably familiar-- maybe, hopefully you're familiar-- with CALPRO. We are now developing on CALPRO a community of practice, which is a locally offered intensive institute on the topic of equity and adult education. And we're really excited by this. 

The goal will be to support adult education staff at every level, to achieve personal cultural competence, and to create a culturally competent and equitable environment for each adult ed agency and student. What's cool about this upcoming community of practices is the audience. I'll just go down to the bottom of the slide. 

If you're familiar with CALPRO, you know that we offer a lot for teachers and a lot for administrators and teacher teams and program teams. Since equity is a systematic concern, we decided to create a community of practice that would include both certificated and classified staff. So we're going to be encouraging agency teams that really have representatives from across the program, because in every role, staff contribute to the equity of the programming, the inclusiveness of the programming. 

So look for that in the-- I think the spring we'll be piloting it and set to really offer it around the state beginning in the summer and fall. So that's something I'll point to a little later. So let's get started. I see some other folks have joined us. And I want to-- so that I'm not talking the whole time, we're going to have points at which I ask you to please add your thoughts to the chat pod. And then we'll do some review. 

So for this first piece, in the general chat-- now we have a-- that was magic. Thank you, whoever did that. How would you complete these sentences in the chat pod below the slide? Diversity is-- equity is-- inclusion is? So we just want to address sort of difference in these related terms. And there are no wrong answers, whatever you write. I just want to thank you in advance for your contribution. And I'll go over some definitions after you have a chance to write. 

Thanks, Melanie, for getting us started. Just another couple of minutes for you to finish your thoughts and sentences. We'll have two minutes. 

And one more minute for anybody who's on who might want to contribute. OK, and please feel free to type. I'll just review a few of these responses, which all really look spot on in getting us moving in the direction we want to go. So Melanie wrote, diversity is uniqueness or difference. Let's see what else we have for diversity. 

Rachel wrote diversity is all things that make us unique and different. Carla wrote diversity is everywhere. Equity varies by need. Thank you for that, Carla. Sylvie wrote diversity is the inclusion of everyone, regardless of sexual preference, race, socioeconomic backgrounds, et cetera. Nuala-- I hope I pronounced your name right-- wrote, diversity is a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, et cetera. 

Christy Reyes-- hey, Christy-- wrote, I believe diversity is about ethnic ability, language, experience, et cetera. Shannon wrote, diversity is difference or variety. Equity is getting individual needs met. Inclusion is diversity plus equity. Everyone is met where they are in order to succeed. Thank you, Shannon. 

Let's see. And equity-- Melanie wrote, equity is everyone gets what they need to succeed. I'll just go to a few here, because it really seems like everybody's on the same track. Sylvie wrote equity is providing resources for those who need it based on identifiable needs. And Christy wrote, equity is everyone starts at the same place with the same opportunities. 

Thank you all for contributing. And these definitions-- and there's different ones, but they all attempt to capture about the same idea. I thought these were nice for our purposes today. So diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, encompassing different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. 

And as we said, it's often used in reference to race, ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education level, marital status, language, and physical appearance. I forget who said it so neatly in our chat, but it's all the things that make us unique and different. 

Equity is the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented full participation from some individuals and groups. And inclusion is the act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate. 

And again, I try to include for every reference the link so that you can go and explore more. There's so many great resources out there for our continued learning. So to move ahead, since equity is a big topic, and this is a slide borrowed from Cherise's October presentation. Again, today we're going to be focusing on localized inequity, the classroom level, in part because it's such a big topic and we have to pick somewhere to start. And systematic, historical, and institutional inequity is a big, long-term endeavor to change. It's difficult to change. 

I think everybody here is a part of that longer arc to change. But in terms of what we can do immediately, and it's in our control and in our hands, the classroom creates an opportunity for us to change things directly, which is why I'm going to focus there in the limited time we have, so a focus on educational equity. 

Just for background, so we all know what I'm talking about-- educational equity is achieved when all students receive resources, opportunities, skills, and knowledge they need to succeed in our democratic society. And so for today's session-- I'll just go back quickly again. So students come with different assets. They have different barriers and different needs. 

And so what we want to do in our programs and classrooms is assure a few things to have the greatest level of equity possible in what we offer-- high standards. We are expecting and providing opportunities for everybody to achieve their goals and to have a high quality, highly effective education. And part of that is standards. 

In order to have folks of all abilities and all backgrounds and all needs meet those high standards, we have to provide scaffolding, accommodation, and support. We'll be talking about what those things are right after we get to the standards. And then for learning to take place, we need to have inclusive, welcoming classrooms. There need to be places where people feel safe to learn. There aren't barriers we impose that would prevent somebody from being open to the learning experience. 

So these are the three pieces I'll be going over. So high standards-- setting high achievement targets or standards is important to raising the bar and signaling equity priorities. This is for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And in the International Education Community, high standards are a signal for equity. So irrespective of background, irrespective of national origin or ethnicity, we have the same high aspiration, expectation, and rigor for all students. 

And in fact, high standards-- this is from an American Institute for Research article put out a few years ago. High standards are, in fact, associated with lowering the percentage of struggling students over time. And so from a policy perspective, high standards are more likely to lead to equitable outcomes than low standards. So both in terms of a signal for expectation and what the research bears out, that if we have high standards, we will drive towards supporting students in meeting those. 

So in adult ed-- and I would imagine many of you on the call are familiar with the two pieces that I've put up on the screen, and maybe a couple of you are not. These have been out for several years now. In adult ed, we have two sets of standards for basic education, the blue book, the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education, which cover ABE and ASE-- Adult Basic Ed, Adult Secondary Ed, English language arts inclusive of reading, writing, and language, as well as math practices and math academic content. 

And then for ESL, we have the English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education, which create the standards for English language acquisition in support of preparing students to become college and career ready. These two sets of standards are by design interrelated, meant to work together for our adult ed system. 

What we're moving all our students toward, whether they're ELLs or an ABE, ASE, high school credit recovery, is college and career readiness. So when they exit our basic and secondary ed level instruction, they're ready for career credentialing, post-secondary, academic post-secondary, or careers with family-sustaining wages. 

And Sudie I'm going to keep an eye on the chat. We are a pretty small group. So if at any point you have questions, you could just feel free to fire away in the general chat. But I don't think I see any new inputs. But please do feel free. 

OK, so these are the standards we use for adult ed. I believe they're written into the California Unified State Plan. Through CALPRO and through the TAP, the Technical Assistance Project, we have offered many, many professional development opportunities and activities on the standards. Sudie or Veronica or Vicky, if you're on the line and wouldn't mind putting in the maybe the CALPRO website URL. If folks are interested in finding out more, I think, really about any of the topics I'm covering, or how to access a training on ELPS or CCRS, they could go to the CALPRO website. 

I believe also the TAP website-- oh, thank you, Diana. We have a link at caladulted.org, which is the CAEP program website. Go to that. And in the event calendar as well-- thank you, Melinda-- the event calendar as well as the resources, I believe, Diana, you'd be able to find these things. 

OK, I'll go ahead. So we have our standards. And we know that having standards is a lever and a mechanism for increasing equity. Now we need to reduce the barriers that students experience in relation to achieving those standards. So achieving equity standards requires looking at equity from several different lenses. And I highlighted-- this is all relevant-- I highlighted the sentence in the center. Something that we have to do is seek to understand what supports we provide for students who need extra help to achieve academic goals. 

So if we have high standards but we are not differentiating to support students and providing scaffolding to support students and meeting those standards, it doesn't really get us where we need to be and where we want them to be. 

So in an equitable as opposed to a merely equal classroom, each student-- an equal classroom being everyone has an expectation that they'll meet high standards. But in an equitable classroom, each student is given support and scaffolding to optimize their educational progress. And that may mean a few of these things. 

Students will have different expectations-- and these are examples. On this page, these are items which I think, to a degree, are actionable. You could take away these bullet points and endeavor to do them in your classroom. So this slide and the next slide are sort of action items. Some students will have different expectations on assignments, such as only writing three paragraphs instead of five. 

And I think that example in particular is if you have a multi-level classroom, multi-level ESL classroom. That's a regular question we get when we do trainings on the standards, like I have a multi-level ABE classroom. More typically, I have a multi-level ESL classroom. What are the kinds of things I need to do to differentiate? This is one of many possible examples. 

Some students will have extra time to complete an assignment or other accommodation designed to meet their educational needs. Some students will have resource teachers or aides that provide additional support in the classroom or in a pull out environment, like a tutoring time, lab time program-level supports. And some students will have resources provided at a different reading level or in a different language. 

I hope this is not too hard to see. It's not as big as it could be. For the English language, this is a pull out screen grab from the English Language Proficiency Standards. And what we did in that-- I was the project director who oversaw the development of those standards. And we put them out, I think, in October-- October 2016 they were published. And one of the items that I think is particularly useful from the standards, and we thought were important-- this is in Appendix C, towards the back of the book. 

Sylvie wrote, how can I get access to the two publications mentioned earlier? And maybe, Diana, you're pointing-- there you go. Thank you, whoever said that. Let's see. So anyway, this is in Appendix C of the English Language Proficiency Standards. And they are three types of scaffolding supports by level. So for the first category of support is teacher language and teacher student exchanges, so the things that you can do as a teacher in your presentation or in an exchange with students that you can do by level. 

So for ELP levels 1 and 2, I'm not going to read through all of these. Some are give wait time, use think alouds, concentrate on meaning rather than correctness. And ELP level 3 and 4 in teacher language, teacher student exchanges-- again, giving wait time, using contextual clues in our language, repeat, paraphrase, and model. And for the highest level-- there are five English Language Proficiency levels in the standards, I guess not to be confused with the six NRS levels, although they're very closely related. 

So at the highest level, we can model complex grammatical language about concrete and abstract topics. Then the next category is materials and activities. And this gets to purchasing choices. I think there were a few program administrators on the line with us. So these are teacher-created or purchased materials. And again, they're organized by level. Some examples from the LP level 1 to 2, the lower levels, use visuals, do total physical response, graphic organizers, provide audio books, provide sentence starters, et cetera. 

And for those of you who are ESL teachers, I bet these are probably familiar to you and things you already do. So I hope that's sort of the validation of your good work. And there's probably in the six-- we had a panel of educators who contributed to this. So hopefully there's a few things there that are new to you and give you some ideas for the classroom. 

For ELP levels 3 to 4, similar stuff. Use non-native language text or ELP-level appropriate texts, as an example. Purposefully teach vocabularies-- again, sort of targeted and also contextual. Provide word and phrase banks. Provide sentence starters and frames. And then for our higher levels, I guess sort of similar to our intermediate levels, provide audio books in English for the higher levels that would be appropriate. 

But you're reinforcing that language learned through the use of the audio books, graphic organizers. Teach vocabulary in a purposeful way. And then the third category of scaffolding and support are student groupings. And these are the same across the board. 

And even though they're just in the ELP standards document and I don't believe in-- not in the CCR document, these type of student groupings, I think, are valuable, if even essential, for ABE, ASE, and ESL. So partner work-- at all levels doing partner work with, in the case of lower levels, additional scaffolds. See the items above. And small groups with teacher support and additional scaffolds for both the lower level and intermediate level. 

And then the higher level, we're working towards independence. The whole idea of a scaffold is it's a temporary structure. We do these things to support learners in their productive struggle with the academic content or the language acquisition content. But the goal is to remove them and have students be able to do these-- do whatever substantive content independent of these scaffolds. Let's see. 

Sylvie-- I hope it's OK if I call you out, Sylvie-- wrote in the-- I don't want to deter people from writing into the chat. I'm just keeping an eye on it. Sylvie wrote, to make college more accessible to adult school ESL students and be the equity minded, have college or adult schools developed a transition course? 

I don't know the answer to that. I believe through the endeavor of the consortium that hold-- the curriculum alignment transition level coursework has definitely been a concern. And you wrote, sure-- thank you. I guess you let me off the hook for not having an answer, Sylvie. But I know that both at the state level as well as at the consortium level, that's been one of the objects. 

And in fact, I believe on the TAP project, we have offered some technical assistance in terms of curriculum alignment and a couple of, I think, Diana, you pointed out bridge courses. So some of those program level transition efforts have been bridge programs, integrated education and training programs, which are, of course, part of WIOA funding, but a endeavor larger than just WIOA. 

So there's been a lot taking place. And others are typing. So if you have some information, this is a great time to share it with the group. Carla wrote EGACE. And I will admit, Carla, I do not know what that stands for. Is it Elk Grove Adult and-- yeah, of course, Carla. Elk Grove Adult and Continuing Ed has implemented career and academic preparation programs, bridge courses, and reading and writing. 

Thanks, Carla. It took me a second. But I recognized your name and then made the connection. Yeah, and you know, I believe Carla and the team from Elk Grove did a webinar for us not that long ago on the whole issue of education, workforce alignment, and specifically WIOA Title I-II alignment, which is working with the-- I keep wanting to call them one-stops. The American job centers. 

And Diana points out many now have transition specialists, but I would have to check more about specific courses. Yeah. There's programming and there's roles. And so as Diana points out, the idea of the role of transition specialist has-- I don't know how many consortiums have hired for that role. But I know that it's definitely something that came up many times in sort of initial planning processes. 

Carla writes, yes, we have a transition specialist. I bet many others do, as well. All right, I'm going to go on. OK, so standards-- CCRs and ELPS-- we know that for students to be successful in meeting the academic expectation enshrined in the standards, we have to provide scaffolding to reduce barriers. And the next piece is the final piece of my presentation, or the final concept of the presentation. The standards are taught and the scaffolds are offered in an inclusive classroom, one that values and models a value for diversity. 

And the slide that's up now is from the Adult Education Teacher Competencies. Maybe some of you are familiar. They've been around for some time. I think we put them out in 2013. Time went by quick on that. It's been six years. I was the project director of that effort. It was funded by US Department of Ed, OCTAE the whole idea of the competencies-- and this is where we're really getting to teacher professional learning. 

If the standards, CCRS and ELPS, are meant to say, this is what students need to know and be able to do, the adult ed teacher competencies are the corresponding piece for teachers. These describe what teachers need to know and be able to do. And for the adult ed teacher competencies, those four colorful squares are the four domains, like the big buckets that describe what teachers need to know and be able to do. 

Monitor and manage, the first piece, monitor and manage student learning and performance through data. To the right of that, in I guess the dark red, plants and delivers high quality, evidence based instruction. I'm going along clockwise in the bottom right. Dark brown pursues professionalism, continually builds knowledge and skills, so pursuing our own professional growth and learning. 

And then the pull out here is domain 3, which is effectively communicates to motivate and engage learners. Now, within each domain, there are a set of a few competencies-- I think between three and five for each domain. For our pull out here, effectively communicates to motivate and engage learners-- for that domain, one of the competencies is models an understanding of diversity. 

And what does that mean? So with the teacher competencies, we go from the big to small. The domains are the biggest feature. And then the competencies narrow down descriptively what the competencies-- what the domain is composed of. And then we get to these performance indicators that are our most granular. So what does it mean to model an understanding of diversity? 

These are the three performance indicators associated with this one competency. So we use diversity of learners, home language, culture, and prior language literacy learning experiences as a resource for learning and building a classroom. So again, seeing those differences not from a deficit perspective, but rather as a sort of foundation perspective. 

When evaluating learner performance, tailors feedback based on an understanding of linguistic, cultural, and ability differences, such as when learners are members of vernacular speaking communities, are ELLs, or possibly have learning difficulties. And uses language and chooses classroom materials that respect learners' identities as individuals. 

And this is not exhaustive. I think with any document like the competencies, choices have to be made. We wanted to make sure in developing this with US Department of Ed, OCTAE and with our panel of professional learning experts, and psychometrician, and all the people who are involved in these types of standards documents that we captured what we thought of as the most essential ideas. 

So there's more to it than this. And I think we, as a group, would come up with more. So for the next couple of minutes, I think with the competencies or the performance indicators, to actually do something with it, it's like, what does this look like? What does it look like in action? And so for each of the performance indicators-- I just read through the three-- we also created a sample. I forget what we call them. Sample something or other. 

Maybe Sudie or somebody else who is on the line will remind me what we-- there's like an official word in there to describe the test example and practice that we gave. So for our first performance indicator, uses diversity of learner's home language, culture, and prior language literacy as a resource. The example-- and if you could bear with me, I'll just read through it, because I think the font is really small. 

The example of doing this-- in ADE literacy, teacher invites learners to create a class calendar of different holidays and festivals celebrated by learners in the class. The teacher uses the calendar to reinforce the spelling of days of the week and months of the year. In addition, the class votes for those holidays that they will celebrate in the class. The teacher invites learners to share cultural practices they'd like others to know about. For example, learners of Muslim faith may fast during Ramadan and may refuse food at break time. 

So it's taking, in this example, which I have a feeling if you're an ESL teacher, you have done something like this. When I was an ESL teacher, way before these competencies were put out, I did something like this, as well, because it's good practice. And it honors our students in the classroom. 

So we are both honoring our individual differences, in this example, and using them as a source for the learning that takes place. Let's see. Our next performance indicator-- when evaluating learner performance, we tailor feedback based on an understanding of linguistic, cultural, and ability differences. The example is, an intermediate ESL teacher identifies common errors made by native speakers of Spanish, such as using adjectives after nouns, as is common in Spanish, instead of before nouns, as is common in English. 

The teacher shows learners how English and Spanish are different in this area, demonstrating an understanding of the differences-- so a teacher who's tuned in to the native construction for language, and again, makes that a resource for the classroom. And then finally, our performance indicator uses language and chooses classroom material that respect learners' identities as individuals. 

In this example, we have an ASE math teacher. Teacher reviews mathematics texts looking for problems that can be used in an ASE math class. The teacher discovers a few problems that are mathematically rich but that contain gender and other cultural stereotypes. The teacher recognizes that the problems as written would offend some learners, would create a classroom atmosphere that undermines trust, and would distract from the content of the lesson. The teacher rewrites the problems to remove those references. 

OK, I'm just checking on time. OK, so those were-- I think I covered a lot of ground and pretty quick. So from your perspective, for just a few minutes, from your perspective as a teacher or administrator, because I think we're in different roles here, what classroom and instructional actions can you take to assure equity in the way it's defined for this webinar? 

High standards, accompanied by scaffold and instruction, and an inclusive classroom? Sudie says please use the chat pod to the right. So your turn to put in whatever you would like to add to this. I'll give everybody a few minutes. 

SBAS-- I don't know what-- I'm assuming Adult School, but I'm not sure. SBAS, if you want to, in the chat pod on the left, let us know who you are. South Bay, OK. OK. I was thinking Santa Barbara, too, but South Bay. Really the South South Bay. Yeah, Redondo Beach. Another here in the North Sea. You think of somewhere in the San Francisco area. 

OK, so South Bay Adult School writes, the first couple of weeks of school I like to do exit tickets to know their names, but also to start to see their comprehension and writing skills, and begin to assess each learner's needs. Yeah, thank you for putting in on that. I didn't touch at all on intake, the intake and assessment process. But that is surely really having a fine-grained understanding of where each student is at is essential, to be able to select the type of scaffolds we've been talking about. So thank you. 

Rachel from Shasta wrote, I'm not in the classroom and my goal will be to bring equity training to my Adult Ed teachers. Fantastic. And Rachel, it would be great when we start to offer the CALPRO equity training-- although I think there's a lot of good stuff on equity out there-- but it will be available to you and your programs around summer or fall. We hope that you'll go to the CALPRO site and maybe take us up on that. 

Let's see. Sylvie wrote, if you are talking about high standards, we need to include follow up work completed outside the classroom by students. This would prepare them for college work load. Absolutely. Extending the classroom learning experience is a scaffold, in fact, for preparing students for the level of rigor expected in the college workload. So thank you for that, Sylvie. 

Melanie wrote, to prepare for and present to different learning styles. Melanie also wrote, discuss diversity and equity in the classroom. Yes. And I forget-- I know that there's resources on that, Melanie. I'm actually going to bring that issue to our folks who are developing the CALPRO Equity Institute if there will be some sort of stuff to do in the classroom ready thing. So thank you for that suggestion, Melanie. 

Carla wrote, not in a class, as well. Enable teacher efficacy and needing increased rigor. Integration of ELPS and cultural proficiency. Absolutely. Administrators play that essential role in providing access to all of these resources to their teachers. And Melanie wrote, multi-tier systems to support create a welcoming environment for all students. Thanks, Melanie. And from Nuala, giving students with a little experience with this alphabet writing system models and allowing them to answer questions orally while developing written skills. Fantastic. 

Sudie I think, is adding one more. Also from Nuala, allow students to retake assessments and some students take longer. Yes. Thank you, Nuala. And I'm happy to give you the last word, Carla. I see you typing. Teacher support as in providing professional learning supports is continuous? That's how I'll take it. Oh, you're right. Yes. OK, good. We understand each other. 

OK, so we have a few minutes left. Thank you for putting in on that. So kind of backtracking now in our last few minutes, and again, I do know we covered a lot of ground pretty quickly in this. We started with our definition and the definition of diversity. And we talked about what it means to have equity, things that are under our control as instructors and program administrators. And so with this in mind, those things that we can do, how would we answer-- how would we complete this sentence? It's a little different than how we started. 

Valuing diversity can be modeled in the classroom by-- if you wouldn't mind finishing that sentence. Sylvie  wrote, using the language of equity, demonstrating what equity is, and using activities that are equity-minded. Thank you, Sylvie.  Absolutely. 

Carla wrote, first examining our own biases and having honest self reflection. Absolutely. And thank you for that, Carla. It's like I really didn't address that piece. But that is essential and will be addressed in the CALPRO community of practice. And Carla, since you're in Elk Grove, we're going to be piloting that equity, community of practice in the spring. I bet Sudie knows when we're doing it. 

And you guys are-- we're here in Sacramento. So you guys are pretty local to us. Oh, thank you Carla. Maybe we can figure out having your team, because I think you guys are often a part of our testing. So great. And I don't want to belabor this. Nobody else wants to put in. So I'll go forward. 

Inclusion-- the act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate. I have a sentence starter. I looked at it again, and I didn't think this is a good sentence starter. 

But the idea here is, what features and characteristics will an inclusive classroom have? So if you can finish this sentence, feel free to have a better sentence starter. Inclusive classrooms will-- you can improve on that, though, if you would want to. Sudie made it better. Thank you, Sudie 

OK. Melanie wrote, inclusive classrooms will feature students of all backgrounds and instructional materials. Yes. Thank you, Melanie, for saying that. That's definitely something we want to look for in our material creation and selection process. 

Diana wrote, an inviting atmosphere welcoming to all students. Absolutely, Diana. And that's in the hands of everyone-- the front door that students work in really has to be staffed by somebody who can create from the start that type of inviting and welcoming environment. Thank you for that. 

Carla writes, inclusive classroom will have a curriculum that reflects our diverse student population. I think the same sentiment as Melanie. And Sylvie wrote, a welcoming atmosphere in which everyone is accepted for they are and what they bring to the classroom. 

And I think to Carla's point on the last slide, to be able to do that, an instrument in doing what Sylvie suggests here, is examining our own biases and those things that would affect the classroom environment, the program environment, the instructional environment. 

And I know your fingers are burning up because I'm asking you to do a lot of typing. And this is the last piece. So educational equity is demonstrated when-- again, boy, I'm looking at these sentence starters, and I guess you could look at it a million times and want to do it differently a million times. But I guess, well, how do we know when educational equity is achieved by what is taking place? How would you answer this sentence or improve on my starter? 

And there are a number of you in the participant list-- I will not call anybody by name. But if you have not written anything, this is your last chance to have your voice be part of this. So how would you complete this sentence? Educational equity is demonstrated when-- 

And I don't see anyone else typing, so Carla, I'm happy to have you have the last word, because you usually have good words, good last words. When students discover their potentials and we're able to get them to achieve it. So nobody else is typing. Oh, Sylvie. Sylvie wants the last word. And that's fine with me. And others, too, who have not put in, feel free to go for it now in our remaining minute. 

OK. OK, good. That's fine, Carla. You do get the last word. And it's a great one for us to wrap up on. This is all about our learners, and getting them where they want to be. So with that, I don't know if-- if you have some questions, now's your chance. Sudie wrote, I believe the equity pilot is March 17 and 31, so like a face-to-face part one and a face-to-face part two. Keep an eye on the CALPRO calendar for this information. 

We do it in our Sacramento office. So if you're anywhere in the region, we usually get folks from the Bay Area up to-- really all the way up the 5, across the 80, so a big part of the northern region. The 10s. So we would love to see you there. And I guess with that, thank you. Thank you, everybody. This has been my pleasure to present on this important topic. 

And I'll hand it off to Veronica or Sudie if there is any at final housekeeping or requests. 

Thank you. Thank you, Mariann. And thank you all very much for participating in this afternoon's webinar on equity in the classroom. I have posted the URL of exactly where the webinar recording as well as the PowerPoint presentation will be uploaded later on this afternoon. So please be sure to review this information, and also share with other colleagues were unable to participate in today's website. This is an ongoing conversation and we'd like everyone to be informed on the matter. 

I am about to close the webinar room. And when I do, an evaluation will appear. Please be sure to complete the evaluation and let Mariann know what you thought about today's webinar, and if there are any other professional development or technical needs you may have at this time. 

Again, thank you all for participating and thanking Mariann. And thank you for the members of the American Institutes for Research team as well as the CAEP TAP team. Thank you all very much. Happy holidays. And we'll see you all next year. Thank you, and goodbye.