And I think the teachers are doing amazing and like trying to figure it out and work on it in real time through real PLC work. But it is it is probably one of the most complex things that I've known coming through education in my years. I think also we've been trying to pilot some. So Robin and I coach all new to the district teachers. And so one of the pieces that we've been trying to work with is like that's a captive audience. So we're going to take you to an elementary classroom and we're going to spend like a couple hours in an elementary classroom seeing what that looks like. So like how do they pull the groups. What are they doing with groups. Because it is such a natural part of the elementary process. And so the we've done it with some literacy teachers and it's been really like they've come back with like, oh, now I have an idea of what this looks like. Cause we can talk about it in theory all day long. But when they see it in practice with children and they hear what the teacher is saying and how it sounds different with different groups and everything like that, then they seem to have a different kind of confidence to try it on and see what it looks like. And then we bring the coordinators in to do a coaching cycle to say, okay, now you've seen it. Now we're trying it.

And then we bring the coordinators in to do a coaching cycle to say, okay, now you've seen it. Now we're trying it. Now let's really make those, those like strong instructional decisions to decide what are the data and the information that we're using to inform what is the next step with a smaller group of students. And so we've seen some success with that also. And it's just sort of a small component of the bigger work that we're trying to do. I also want to jump in. One of the things that I'm learning around it too is that one of the goals that we need to work on at YDOWN is when I say growth for all students, it's growth for all students, right? Like so oftentimes we talk about the kids who just need tier two or tier three, but it really is growth for all students. So every minute in the classroom is valuable. So the more you're doing consistent reteaching of standards and things that the students already know that's wasting that time as well. So in a small group, you may be able to work on a targeted instruction with these kids and then extend when you meet with the next group or do something different with the next group. So every child's getting what they need. It's just, if you think about it, you're planning multiple lessons within one lesson. So you really have to come together as a PLC to help design that.

It's just, if you think about it, you're planning multiple lessons within one lesson. So you really have to come together as a PLC to help design that. And you just are gonna over time be able to do more and more of it. Because as you guys I think started, one priority standard at a time, and then you just build on it and build on it and build on it as you move forward. Thank you for all of that. That was, no, it's great. And I'll just reiterate, I really appreciate this kind of thinking and I think you're thinking in the right direction with this stuff. My next question was gonna be about English or literacy, but I think you gave a really good explanation of that. You mentioned focusing on the student group and particularly the black students within the student group. I just wanna ask, what does that focus look like for you guys over the next year? What's the focus? I think a big piece, sense of belonging, it's a focus. And then at Glen Ridge is reinstating our equity committee. We had an equity walkthrough and we had glowing grows from last year to this year for district officials who walked through our building last year in comparison to this year. But continuing on with equity walkthroughs, not just doing it once a year, but maybe doing it once a semester and building on that and using that data to make informed decisions.

We had an equity walkthrough and we had glowing grows from last year to this year for district officials who walked through our building last year in comparison to this year. But continuing on with equity walkthroughs, not just doing it once a year, but maybe doing it once a semester and building on that and using that data to make informed decisions. But then also reinstating our equity committee so we can be more intentional when we talk about culturally responsive teaching and then the sense of belonging. And then sitting in interviews for Robin's position. You always learn too from the candidates. And one thing that they talked about is taking the academic data and comparing it to our sense of belonging data. So that's exactly what we're going to do. I brought it back to Glen Ridge. So I'm gonna sit down with my instructional coach and we're going to look at our academic data from NWEA and STAR and compare it to our sense of belonging and see if there's a correlation. Thank you. And thank you guys. No, I just wanted to add, we're doing a lot of the same things, but one of the things that we've been working on for a couple of years at one of our school goals is this idea of removing barriers, particularly to honors and AP classes. For African-American students, because we know that we've actually made a significant amount of progress, but the demographics of our school building aren't necessarily reflected in our honors and AP classes.

No, I just wanted to add, we're doing a lot of the same things, but one of the things that we've been working on for a couple of years at one of our school goals is this idea of removing barriers, particularly to honors and AP classes. For African-American students, because we know that we've actually made a significant amount of progress, but the demographics of our school building aren't necessarily reflected in our honors and AP classes. So, and we've learned a lot actually in that work because one of the things that we, our theory of practice was, okay, we're gonna remove the barriers, we're gonna identify those barriers and then that'll solve our problem. And so what happened was we went to open enrollment in some places and the problem got worse actually. And part of the reason was because when we removed, when we removed the gatekeeping mechanisms, in some cases, non-African-American kids went into those courses that wouldn't have typically gone into those courses that the African-American students didn't just naturally decide to go to those courses. And so what we were doing and are doing now is just being very intentional when we look at data profiles of kids and actually doing personal invitations and having like adults say, hey, I think you can do this and talking to parents and saying, I think that you're a great candidate for this.