Highlights from the BELE National Convening

This month's updates from The BELE Network [View this email in your browser]( Greetings, BELE family: Last week, we gathered virtually for the annual BELE National Convening—titled Partners, Power, and Pathways: Mobilizing a Coalition to Transform Student Experiences—to connect and share best practices, stories, and learnings to catalyze progress in our education system. Kicking off the convening was [Dr. Shawn Ginwright]( an author, professor, and activist on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. Pulling from his latest book, [The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves]( Dr. Ginwright shared four pivots we can make to create the conditions needed for young people to thrive: - Lens to Mirror: Instead of solely focusing on external success, we need to ask questions about our own selves. As Dr. Ginwright said, “Mirror work allows us to get real with ourselves so that we can heal the things that are preventing us to be powerful leaders.” - Transactional to Transformative: “Working with young people is not a transactional endeavor,” Dr. Ginwright said. We need to pivot to transformative relationships which “are built on vulnerability, trust, transparency, intimacy. These are relationships that are functions of our humanity.” - Problem to Possibility: “The greatest casualty of oppression is the destruction of our ability to dream beyond it,” said Dr. Ginwright. As a result of that, “our leadership is focused on problem reduction, as opposed to possibility creation… When we imagine and dream, it opens us up to new kinds of possibilities.” - Hustle to Flow: “There’s a persistence of us feeling like it’s okay to be busy and in frenzy… When we engage in flow, it is simply a shift in our relationship with time,” Dr. Ginwright said. Flow allows us to “be intentional about [our] relationship with time” so our value is not connected to how busy we are. As we move forward from the Convening, we look ahead to putting our collective learnings and Dr. Ginwright’s pivots to practice, looking inward to transform our leadership, and expanding the national movement for equitable learning environments. In Partnership, The BELE Network The Latest from the BELE Network Elevate in Action: The Network for College Success and Chicago Public Schools | PERTS [The University of Chicago Network for College Success]( (NCS) worked with Chicago Public Schools to implement [Elevate]( and supported teachers in reflecting on student feedback to develop school policies that center student voice. PERTS’ new case study details strategies NCS implemented to effectively use student experience data. Read it [here](. Elevate in Action: How the Bank Street Education Center and Yonkers Public Schools Used Elevate to Support Deep Learning in Middle School Mathematics | PERTS PERTS’ new case study shows how schools in Yonkers, New York acted on student feedback to support deeper learning in math classes. Several schools achieved or made significant progress and saw improvements in other learning conditions as well. Read about this success and the interconnectedness of positive learning experiences [here](. The Canopy Project | Transcend and the Center for Reinventing Public Education Transcend and the Center for Reinventing Public Education recently released the [Canopy project]( an interactive data portal showing high-level trends for education leaders, school designers, and researchers to explore a diverse set of innovative school examples. Search for schools that are redesigning learning environments in service of an improved student experience [here](. Exploring Chicago Connected | UChicago Consortium on School Research UChicago’s new report shares findings from [Chicago Connected]( a program launched in June 2020 to provide reliable internet access to Chicago Public School students. As the pandemic showed, internet access is a necessity for education—not a luxury. The report identifies findings on the need for internet access and where to focus future efforts to address inequities. Read the report [here](. Transcend Announces the Learner-Centered Leadership Lab Cohort 4 | Transcend Transcend just introduced the newest members of the Learner-Centered Leadership Lab, a program for systems leaders passionate about transforming education. They will collaborate and support each other in creating conditions that enable learners to thrive in a constantly evolving world. Meet them [here](. Submit to the BELE Network Newsletter We’re always looking for new content from the BELE Network to include in the newsletter. Please share any relevant news, upcoming events, or case studies with us from your organization that you would like to share with the BELE Network. To submit, complete the form [here](. Upcoming Events & Opportunities Invitation to Apply for the Position of Director of Marketing and Communications | CASEL Remote CASEL seeks a Director of Marketing and Communications to execute strategic marketing and communications to advance CASEL’s mission and elevate its brand as the field leader and trusted expert in social and emotional learning. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Find information to apply [here](. June 13-14: Coaching for Equity Institute | NEP Oakland, CA NEP is hosting a two-day institute for coaches to develop and refine their coaching practices to support people in their schools, districts, and organizations to become more effective teachers, teammates, and leaders. Attendees will learn about their own coaching style through an equity lens, and practice new skills with other coaches. Register [here](. June 14: Leaders as Learners: Cultivating the Community | CASEL Virtual CASEL is hosting their last webinar in a 4-part series on adult social and emotional learning (SEL), where attendees will explore research, practices, and policy conditions to build supportive systems and adult capacity. Part 4 asks “what policy conditions are necessary for adult SEL?” Access past sessions and register for the last one [here](. June 25-28: ISTE Live 23 | International Society for Technology in Education Philadelphia, PA or Virtual The International Society for Technology in Education invites educators and education leaders to their annual conference to engage in hands-on learning, share best practices, and hear from innovative leaders in education. Register to attend in-person or virtually [here](. June 27-29: Leadership Teams: An Essential Key to Sustaining School-Wide Continuous Improvement for Equity | EL Education Atlanta, GA Join EL Education’s institute on leadership teams and learn how to implement [EL Education Core Practices]( in support of student achievement. Teachers, staff, and leaders who are a part of new or established leadership teams will engage in a collaborative community of learning, explore how to be an effective team, and enhance practices. Register [here](. BELE in the News Advocacy for Mental Health in Schools Starts With Us | EdPost Susana Cordova, Transcend’s Superintendent-in-Residence, writes how school and system leaders, educators, and other caring adults can address the mental health crisis young people are facing. She shares a two-fold path, including creating a school culture that values mental well-being and investing in mental health supports for students. Read it [here](. Big Thompson Students Develop Sustainability Plans | Loveland Reporter-Herald EL Education hosted [Better World Day]( on May 5th, a day to showcase students’ contributions to their communities nationwide. The student council at Big Thompson Elementary School participated by establishing two new environmentally sustainable programs during lunchtime. Read more about it [here](. New to BELE? Start Here [The BELE Framework: A Guide to Building Equitable Learning Environments]( We may have inherited a public education system that nurtures racial and class-based inequities, but it is ours to redesign. The BELE Network created a framework that gives educators, administrators, and policymakers the tools that are needed to create an equitable learning environment. [The BELE Resource Library: Find the Best Resource for Your Needs]( This new, collaborative space is an evolving repository of resources and recommendations from across the BELE Network, curated to help educators, parents, and policymakers create classrooms where every student feels valued and has what they need to thrive. [BELE Services Information]( Learn about the organizations that make up the BELE Network and the services they provide to see how you can partner with them for your organization's needs. Have a question? Contact us at info@BELENetwork.org Follow us on social media below! Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. 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