An Introduction to the History and Policies Necessitating Learning Ecosystem Change

• In Event: Building Equitable Learning Ecosystems: Two Interdisciplinary, Sociotechnical Designs

Abstract

Our city has long been perceived as a diverse and privileged place. Over the last several years, however, it has begun to acknowledge and address systemic inequities producing racial and socioeconomic gaps in opportunities, experiences, and outcomes for its residents. These inequities are rooted in a long history of racist policy and resource allocation done through red- and green-lining that is not unique to our hometown. During the heightened period of red- and green-lining of the 1930s through 70s, lending, land, and school board policies intertwined to create segregated and unequal bounded realities for youth across the nation (Nelson et al., 2015).

While often discussed concerning the past, the impact of these fiscal and policy decisions continues to shape the daily lives of Black families, particularly those living in a historically Black neighborhood in our city, who have borne the brunt of the infrastructural changes used to integrate our schools without integrating our neighborhoods. Children in this majority-Black neighborhood were scattered across schools in majority-white neighborhoods when their school closed in the 1960s. Today students from this neighborhood and other students of color, as well as students seeking access to multilingual and special education services, still find themselves assigned to schools across the city in order to create more diverse schools and receive appropriate care. Not attending school with neighbors reduces these students’ chances to develop a sense of belonging and community at school. Being bused also often prevents them from fully participating in extracurricular opportunities due to transportation constraints. These challenges are exacerbated by a lack of resources in their neighborhoods. The community center in the historically Black neighborhood closed in the 60s. The public library briefly opened a branch there in the 70s, but it, too, shuttered just a few years later, divesting the neighborhood of most of its civic learning institutions. Consequently, families in this neighborhood have had to exert more effort than others to access everyday learning activities from their home addresses, such as walking to school, going to the library, getting to and from sports or music practice after school, and talking about school with neighbors.

In order to address both these historical and contemporary inequities, attempts to build a better educational ecosystem were warranted. The remaining presentations help explain how two systems-based efforts focused on out-of-school time learning and school assignment were supported by a research-practice partnership to engage our district and community in building a more just learning landscape.

Author

• Sarita Smith, Evanston / Skokie School District 65
  Presenting Author