Helping teachers build equitable classrooms and schools for student success
The mission of the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) is to transform schools to ensure that all students succeed. Our organization’s mission is rooted in the drive for educational equity, and our vision for a just and equitable world also depends on a student-centered environment that helps students become not merely college and career-ready, but also compassionate, thoughtful and contributing global citizens.
Our research in urban schools, as well as our years of experience in coaching, have shown us that schools that pilot new and innovative student-centered approaches to learning fail to move the needle for students of color if culturally responsive teaching is not included. Similarly, we have seen that when schools and districts neglect to audit their policies, practices, and outcomes for equity, they are not able to address the root causes of existing inequities through their innovations. If we believe that schools must transform to ensure equitable and student-centered outcomes, then we must continue to innovate intentionally toward greater equity of outcomes. This means including cultural competence, culturally responsive teaching, and equity audits as integral elements of a redesign cycle.
Therefore, Building for Equity is not in any way separate from our organization’s work. Rather, it is the encapsulation of what we have learned after years of working at the nexus of equity and innovation: that when carefully navigated hand-in-hand, the two produce schools that are truly equitable and excellent for all students.