ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

Education can be transformed if we eradicate our fixation on big data like standardized test scores as the supreme measure of equity and learning. Instead of focusing on “filling” academic gaps, we must re-envision the system from the learn up—with classrooms, schools and systems built around students’ brilliance, cultural wealth, and intellective capacity. This call to action has never been more timely. Street data is the qualitative and experiential data that emerges at eye level and on higher frequencies when we train our brains to discern it. Street data is asset based, building on culturally responsive education by focusing on what’s right in our students, schools, and communities instead of seeking out what’s wrong. Street data reminds us that what is measurable is not the same as what is valuable and that data can be humanizing, liberatory and healing.

Many of our schools’ equity efforts focus on oversimplified quick fixes and implementation of off-the-shelf solutions. While we may feel a sense of urgency to address deep-rooted equity issues, our attempts are often thwarted by landmines that can be identified and removed through strategic analysis and creative action. This session offers educators the opportunity to examine some of the most common traps and tropes while finding the courage and agency to unhinge ourselves from a legacy of “implementation” over imagination.

By breaking down street data fundamentals: what it is, how to gather it, and how it can complement other forms of data to guide a school or district’s equity journey, authors Shane Safir and Dr. Jamila Dugan offer an actionable framework for school transformation. Join us for this dynamic workshop as Shane and Jamila lay out their transformational model and help you shift your focus from satellite-level data to real-time, on-the-ground stories, experiences, and artifacts.