We envision a world in which educators actively work together to dismantle systemic racism by providing grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful instruction.
UnboundEd designs learning for educators that exemplifies equitable instruction so that students experience grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful instruction. We center our work on Black and Brown students so that ALL students have access to high quality instruction. In our professional development, we discuss the historical implications of systemic racism and marginalization while also focusing on research-based instructional practices. We believe in valuing cultural and academic identities in all students.
All of us have implicit biases and we believe in reflecting on them and taking action to combat them. We do not suggest nor accuse anyone of being racist nor believe that educators are to blame. Our goal is to support and enhance opportunities for educators and children to thrive.
Combining anti-racist ideology with culturally relevant pedagogy fosters grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful instruction that is evident in:
- Teacher knowledge and beliefs
- Teacher reflection and planning activities
- Teacher actions in the classroom
- Student learning experiences
To ensure systemic, sustained change, adults in a system must be aligned in their educational equity efforts at every level of the organization
Our Approach
Our learning is grounded in the intersection of the standards, content, aligned curriculum, and the equitable instructional practices that are essential for closing the opportunity gap caused by systemic bias and racism.
UnboundEd’s approach supports staff at all levels within the education system — from teachers to coaches to principals to principal supervisors to coordinators of curriculum and professional development, to technical assistance providers and chief academic officers — in order to ensure systemic, sustained change.
UnboundEd balances adaptive changes in mindsets and beliefs with technical changes in knowledge and skill. We seek to build educators and leaders’ asset-based and anti-racist beliefs and behaviors that impact student achievement, instructional practice, and systemic change for students of color. When educators at every level of the system work together to build knowledge and skills around college- and career-readiness standards, anchored in aligned and equitable instructional practices, systemic change can occur to close the opportunity gap for students of color.
Grounded in Research
UnboundEd grounds its programs in research and develops them for maximum impact through the lens of Thomas Guskey’s five critical levels.
Guskey’s framework aims to organize professional development and all related system supports around a common instructional vision and ensure that all supporting components (e.g., including the curriculum, professional development, supervisory feedback, leadership vision, and related organizational and time-based structures) align to that vision.
We ground our programs in scholarship from areas such as culturally relevant teaching, teacher expectations and self-efficacy, effective school leadership, and best practices in English Language Arts and mathematics instruction. Our work also centers around the importance of, and the evidence base for, college- and career-readiness standards.