Inclusive & Responsive Education

Overview

Inclusivity and responsiveness are the foundation of all rigorous and meaningful learning experiences. The Department of Student Voice Engagement facilitates learning that helps educators be more student centered and culturally responsive by responding to students’ needs and interests, as well as inclusive of their diverse perspectives, cultures, identities, and experiences.

Our goal is that every student in CPS experience an education that fosters and incorporates the Inner Core: their identity, community, and relationships.

Goals of the Inclusive & Responsive Team

The Inclusive and Responsive Education team leverages their experience and expertise in the areas of student voice, responsive, participatory, inclusive, and interdisciplinary education in support of the district’s Instructional Core vision.

Our primary objective as the Inclusive and Responsive Education team is to increase district coherence and alignment to the Inner Core vision.

We do this in two-folds:

  1. Increase interdisciplinary work and collaboration between students and teachers, across school departments and teams, as well as between departments and offices at the district level and
  2. Support the design and implementation of guidance, resources, policy, curriculum enrichment, and professional learning experiences that:
    • Center responsive and affirming curriculum, instruction, and assessment across all content areas, and
    • Uplift inclusive, responsive, and affirming practices across school and district teams, departments and decision-making structures.
Sabrina pic
Sabrina Chen
Inclusive & Responsive Education Manager
schin2@cps.edu

Sabrina is an educator in CPS for over a decade as a middle school mathematics teacher and a school-wide social emotional learning (SEL) specialist. She is a product of CPS and a proud parent to a CPS PreK student. She was a grassroots community organizer in the Chinese-American community prior to teaching in CPS. Sabrina is passionate about elevating student & community voices, reimagining student data, and advocating for the holistic & humanizing learning spaces for all CPS students.

Priscilla Lizasuain-Vazquez pic
Priscilla Lizasuain-Vazquez
Inclusive & Responsive Education Specialist
plizasuain@cps.edu

Priscilla has been a part of the Chicago Public School system for most of her life, first as a student, and then as an educator. She student-taught at Kelvyn Park High School; she was a SECCA at Westinghouse College Prep, and a history, English, and ELL teacher at the Greater Lawndale High School for Social Justice for twelve years. Her passions are teaching for social justice, creating space for student voice and choice, and developing interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students.

The Inclusive & Responsive Team is committed to enhancing the Inner Core by utilizing the University of Chicago’s Cultivate Survey and its accompanying Learning Conditions Framework, which posits that there are nine conditions all humans need in order to fully and meaningfully engage in the learning process.

In order to develop teachers’ ability to foster these nine Learning Conditions, the I/R team has learned from and collaborated with departments across the Office of Teaching and Learning, Office of Early Childhood Education, Office of Network Supports, as well as educators from across the district.

Learning Conditions Overview: Cultivating Student-Centered Classrooms

Grade 5-12 Student Perception & Analysis of Learning Conditions: Provides general context and definitions of Learning Conditions in student-friendly language.

Grade 5-12 Data Conversation of Focal Learning Condition Item: Provides a process to guide a focused data conversation with students on a specific question item.

PreK-4 Elementary Perception & Analysis of Learning Conditions: Provides an initial conversation starter around a Learning Condition of choice with additional aligned statements to explore with students.

PreK-4 Student Perspective Guidance: Provides initial guidance on creating a process at the school level to elevate PreK-4 student perspectives, grounded in the Learning Conditions.

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