After realizing a need to drive toward more equitable practices and outcomes in classrooms throughout KIPP LA Public Schools, the region has created a Social Justice Steering Committee and identified four main initiatives led by leaders of the KIPP LA Team & Family including: (1) restorative practices; (2) trauma-informed teaching; (3) combating implicit bias and; (4) culturally-relevant pedagogy.

LeAnna Majors, the founding school leader of KIPP Compton Community School opening in the fall of 2018, is leading the charge on cultural relevancy in the classroom. “It is important to me personally that students, particularly students of color, are seen for who they are - including their cultures, families, neighborhoods, and histories - and that these important pieces are not erased from their school experience,” said LeAnna.

In the spirit of Black History Month, LeAnna has shared a few of her favorite books related to the subject of culturally-relevant teaching practices:

• The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future

• Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real About Race in School

• The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other

• Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice

• For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education

• Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom

• The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children

• Strategies for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning

Some of KIPP LA's initiatives have started to roll out in the 2017-18 school year through professional development training sessions and resource guides. Others will begin with baseline assessments and needs analysis, officially launching during the 2018-19 school year.

The KIPP LA blog will be following the implementation process of these important initiatives necessary to create a network of schools in which students and staff from diverse backgrounds can succeed. Follow along throughout the next school year for updates!