Building Just Education Standards

The Ethnic and Social Equity Standards Advisory Working Group was created by Act 1 of 2019 to review standards for student performance adopted by the State Board of Education and recommend to the State Board updates and additional standards to recognize the history, contributions and perspectives of ethnic and social groups.

Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices Course

Supporting educators to shift their teaching practice is a crucial step in implementing the updated EQS standards. In the 2023-2024 school year 60 amazing educators participated in the teaching practices course through which they learned how to apply the new EQS standards to their classroom practices. 

As of December 2024, the Vermont Educational Equity Collective (VEEC) is offering to administer and facilitate the teaching practices course as professional development to Vermont districts/schools. This course can be offered for 3 credits through VSU.  Fill out this brief form if your school/district is interested in this professional development opportunity or wants to learn more about this project.

Below you will find links to the syllabus, the facilitation guide and resources for the course.  Schools and districts are free to use the contents.  HOWEVER, IF you are profiting or receiving payment for the curriculum or any of its resources, we ask that you contact us for permission. 

Applying Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices Course Resources:

History of this work

Act 1 was in 2019 by a broad intersectional coalition of organizations and individuals. Its passing resulted in the formation of the Ethnic and Social Equity Standards Advisory Working Group. The Advisory Working Group was tasked with reviewing the current Student Performance Standards as well as with recommending updates and additional standards that recognize the history, contributions and perspectives of ethnic and social groups. 

The Education Justice Coalition was specifically formed to pass Act 1.  The coalition has continued to work on justice issues affecting students in public schools throughout Vermont.

Vermont’s IRIS Ethnic Studies Framework

The Act 1 working group create the IRIS Ethnic Studies Framework as a framework to implement ethnic studies across the subject areas and grade levels. While this work has not yet passed at the state board teachers and schools across the state are already using the IRIS Framework to assess and transform their curriculum. You can check out a slide deck about the work here.

Education Quality Standards

The Vermont Education Quality Standards act as a broad guide, highlighting important values for our schools and giving direction to school districts. The newly updated standards embed equity and inclusion across teaching practices, support services, accessibility, community participation, and professional development. You can see the newly revised EQS standards here and an older plain language version here

The updated Education Quality Standards passed the State Board and the legislative rules committee in August of 2024 and they will go into effect in July of 2025.

We are doing work to support the implementation of these newly updated through our EQS Teaching Practices Toolkit and our Teaching Practices Course.

Advisory Working Group

The Advisory Working Group was composed community members that represent various social and ethnic groups and state stakeholders that med on a monthly basis. Thank you to all that participated!

Addie Lentzner – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Amanda Garces (Chair) – Vermont Human Rights Commission

Amanda Rohdenburg – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Barbra Marden – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Celilo Bauman-Swain – EdJ Coalition Appointee (Student Representative)

Chelsea Myers – Vermont Superintendents Association Appointee

Cynthia Reyes – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Heather Bouchey – The Secretary of Education Appointee

Heather Lynn – Vermont School Boards Association Appointee

Hiba Ali – EdJ Coalition Appointee (Student Representative)

Infinite Culcleasure – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Julie Hansen – Vermont Independent Schools Association Appointee

Joyce Lee – EdJ Coalition Appointee (Student Representative)

Lynn Murphy – EdJ Coalition (Abenaki Representative)

Mark Hage (co-chair) – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Maxwell Barrows – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Miakoda Schultz – EdJ Coalition Appointee

Michael Martin – Vermont Curriculum Leaders Association Appointee

Mike McGraith – Vermont Principals Association Appointee

Natasha Eckart Baning – The Vermont-National Education Association Appointee

Vera Sheehan – EdJ Coalition (Abenaki Representative)

Xusana Davis – Executive Director of Racial Equity