Iowa City Teachers Get Tool Kit To Help Check Lessons For Cultural Sensitivity

IOWA CITY — Teachers in the Iowa City Community School District now can check their lessons for cultural responsiveness with a tool kit and submit them to a team of teachers for feedback. The tool kit was created by district Director of Diversity and Cultural Responsiveness Laura Gray for teachers to “circumvent possible missteps, especially in lessons on race, slavery and things that are extra sensitive right now in our current climate.” The tool kit, however, is not available to the public or to students. Diane Schumacher, the district’s executive director of teaching and learning, said the tool kit is another step in the district’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to help teachers check their lesson plans. Data shows the district consistently has gaps in structurally disadvantaged subgroups — students who are Black, Hispanic, English language learners, on free- and reduced-price lunch or those with Individualized Education Plans, Schumacher said. “We have to have curriculum that represents our culture, and have kids see themselves in our curriculum and achieving at high levels no matter their race, demographic or economic background,” Schumacher said. The district is starting to review its Social Studies curriculum this year and making equity at the forefront of the conversation.