Following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the BEST/VTPBIS State Team has become acutely aware of our responsibility to interrupt racism by disrupting and addressing issues of inequity, hate, and bias in schools. We honor the lives and contributions of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color and acknowledge the painful history and ongoing impact of colonialism, enslavement, discrimination, and injustice. We are committed to centering equity and justice within our work.
We acknowledge that when implementing PBIS without fidelity and without intentionally centering equity, unintended acts of oppression and harm can occur. VTPBIS is diligently engaged in strengthening and transforming our systems and practices to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion to achieve equitable outcomes for all students.
You can find our Equity Action Plan below, our evolving Equity Resources here, and our land acknowledgement page here.
BEST/VTPBIS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan for 2023-2024:
- Define the mission, vision, and membership of State Team to be more inclusive, culturally responsive, and equitable.
- Increase State Team capacity to support schools in using data to assess disproportionality interpreting ethnicity data for decision-making.
- Prioritize and increase professional learning on DEI for VTPBIS TA Providers, Trainers, and Coaches
- Assess outcomes for students with disabilities and create an action plan for equitable outcomes.
- Use equity constructs to guide the development of new and existing professional learning opportunities with a focus on including the voices of all students, families/ caregivers, and staff. Create a communication and dissemination plan to share information about equitable systems, policies, and practices within an MTSS framework.