BOCES of New York State, with support from Tangible Development, have created the Culturally Responsive Learning Exchange, a statewide collection of resources that support culturally responsive learning environments, student belonging, DEI programs and policies, as well as Portrait in Practice resources. Through collaboration across all 37 BOCES regions, districts can share proven practices, learn from one another, and strengthen opportunities for every student in New York.
Educators across New York State, including public, nonpublic, and charter schools, are invited to submit their resources to the Exchange to reflect the breadth and depth of work being done across the state and to provide the field with opportunities for collaboration, learning, and growth.
Learn more about how to submit your Culturally Responsive Learning Exchange Resources.
Browse Resources by Topic
Creating a Welcoming and Affirming Environment
A welcoming and affirming environment feels safe. It is a space where people can find themselves represented and reflected, and where they understand that all people are treated with respect and dignity. The environment ensures all cultural identities (i.e. race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, language, religion, socioeconomic background) are affirmed, valued, and used as vehicles for teaching and learning.
View all resources on Creating a Welcoming and Affirming Environment
Resources contained within the exchange include:
Recruitment Flyer (Auburn Enlarged CSD)
- Audience(s): Parents and families, community members, BOCES leadership
DEI Movie Night Planning Overview (Rye Neck UFSD)
- Audience(s): Internal Staff
Equity Professional Development (PD) series English as a New Learner (ENL) flyer (Rush-Henrietta CSD)
- Audience(s): Community
Community Book Study flyer (Rush-Henrietta CSD)
- Audience(s): Community
Parent/Guardian University flyer (Auburn Enlarged CSD)
- Audience(s): Community
Equity and Inclusion LGBTQ (Rush-Henrietta CSD)
- Audience(s): Community
Identifying Inclusive Curriculum and Assessment
Inclusive curriculum and assessment elevate historically marginalized voices. It includes opportunities to learn about power and privilege in the context of various communities and empowers learners to be agents of positive social change. It provides the opportunity to
learn about perspectives beyond one’s own scope. It works toward dismantling systems
of biases and inequities, and decentering dominant ideologies in education.
Council of Champions (Elmira City SD)
- About the Resource: Council of Champions is designed to cultivate upstanding behaviors among students. The curriculum is aligned with NYS social emotional learning (SEL) Benchmarks (Equity Revisions) by ensuring that youth, particularly grades 5-8, have opportunities to develop self-awareness, nurture positive sense of identity, enhance their cross-cultural skills to effectively connect across differences, all while learning skills to become agents of positive change within their communities. In addition to the updated NYS SEL Benchmarks, the curriculum also aligns with the NYS Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework and DEI Policy Guidance.
- Audience(s): Students
Fostering High Expectations and Rigorous Instruction
High expectations and rigorous instruction prepare the community for rigor and independent learning. The environment is academically rigorous and intellectually challenging, while also
considering the different ways students learn. Instruction includes opportunities to use critical reasoning, take academic risks, and leverage a growth mindset to learn from mistakes. Messages encourage positive self-image and empower others to succeed.
View all resources for Fostering High Expectations and Rigorous Instruction
Engaging in Ongoing Professional Learning
Ongoing professional learning is rooted in the idea that teaching and learning is an adaptive process needing constant reexamination (Moll, et al., 1992; Gay, 2010). It allows learners to develop and sharpen a critically conscious lens toward instruction, curriculum, assessment, history, culture, and institutions. Learners must be self-directed and take on opportunities that
directly impact learning outcomes.
View all resources for Engaging in Ongoing Professional Learning
Summer Leadership PD-DEI and SEL (Rush-Henrietta CSD)
- About the Resource: Leadership Development Presentation
- Resource: A Framework for Reimagining Education: Equity – Instruction – Cultural Responsiveness – Mental Health & Wellness
- Audience(s): Community
Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain Session Presentation (Rush-Henrietta CSD)
- Resource: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain Presentation
- Audience(s): Staff, Community
Resources for Enhancing Cultural Humility (Elmira City SD)
- About the Resource: A collection of resources (articles, webinars, and modules) to enhance educators’ cultural humility skills. Note that the resource is not an all-inclusive list. It serves as a place to begin and/or continue enhancing one’s critical consciousness skills to enact responsive policies, practices, and behaviors within schools.
- Resource link: Elmira City SD Resources for Enhancing Cultural Humility
- Audience(s): Education Professionals, BOE
About the Exchange
What is the Culturally Responsive Learning Exchange?
The Culturally Responsive Learning Exchange is the state’s educator-to-educator resource-sharing network to support Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education, Portrait of a Graduate competencies, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives such as student belonging, inclusive instructional excellence, family and community engagement, and college, career and civic readiness.
How are materials selected for the Exchange?
All materials in the Exchange are submitted by educators from around the state. Each submission is reviewed by Tangible Development to ensure the resources are in alignment with the Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Framework.
Who is responsible for the Exchange?
This initiative is led by the BOCES of New York State in partnership with the diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm Tangible Development, and the State Education Department.
This work is grounded in the Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework developed by the New York State Education Department, in collaboration with a panel of experts and input from stakeholders.
About Tangible Development
Tangible Development, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm headquartered in Latham, NY, brings global insight and over 50 years of combined experience developing tangible outcomes for clients advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work. Using a blend of scholarship as researchers and practical, hands-on experience as educators and administrators, the Tangible Development team brings a research-informed approach to this work.
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