Embracing Diversity

District 6 recognizes the uniqueness of all cultures, languages, and communities. As a district, we understand the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of our community. We see all classrooms as multicultural, and we work towards respecting, valuing, and celebrating our own students’ unique strengths in creating unbiased classroom communities.

Research shows that more diverse environments increase all students’ level of critical thinking, raise levels of their knowledge and awareness, challenge assumptions, and raise levels of their contact connections and communications. We embrace our diversity and strive to foster a healthy environment for all groups.

Equity, Leadership District Committee

District 6 has developed and established a committee that ensures equitable practices for all students and staff members. The Equity, Leadership District Committee’s commitment is to increase knowledge and awareness of District 6 cultural diversity, to enhance district employees’ cultural proficiency, and to promote practices among the staff members that are inclusive of all cultures. Some tasks that are continuously targeted by this committee are:

The identification of conditions for learning that helps students be successful, and the establishment of norms and expectations related to a culturally responsive climate.

The identification and evaluation of policies and practices that impact students who are culturally and/or linguistically diverse. For example, a review of leadership opportunities for minority teachers and students might lead to the implementation of policies that incorporate such opportunities.

The development of an electronic dashboard that illustrates the cultural and linguistic diversity of District 6 students and their progress toward success using a variety of indicators including:

Academic achievement data
Language acquisition data
Number of advanced classes in which linguistically and culturally diverse students are enrolled
Graduation data
The development and delivery of a series of online and face-to-face professional development modules to develop the cultural proficiency of staff members.
Increase the use of effective instructional strategies for English learners.
Increase the number of teachers who are CLD-certified.
Increase the percentage of highly qualified minority certified and classified employees.
Increase the percentage of minority teachers participating in the Principal Leadership Cohort.
Celebrate and highlight cultural events in the district and the community.