The BELE Resource Library: Find the best resource for your needs
This new, collaborative space is an evolving repository of resources and recommendations from across the BELE Network, curated to help educators, parents, and policymakers create classrooms where every student feels valued and has what they need to thrive.
Dive in here:
About
The BELE Network
The Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) Network works with educators, policymakers, grantmakers, schools and school support organizations to innovate and implement learning environments grounded in research and in the science of learning and development. We’re educators and leaders who believe that we can create an education system focused on students, one that prioritizes their learning experience and ensures that they feel valued in the classroom.
THE BELE FRAMEWORK
The BELE Framework is a guide for transforming student experiences and outcomes. It’s designed to integrate across every part of the learning experience, from teaching and learning, schoolwide systems and structures, family, caregiver, and community partnerships, and district and state policies while anchoring students at the center.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Research demonstrates that how young people experience their learning – including what and where they are taught – substantially impacts their ability to learn and grow. This domain focuses on creating meaningful relationships and engaging and meaningful learning experiences as the core work of an equitable school.
SCHOOLWIDE SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES
High-quality schools are organized to ensure that people, resources, and opportunities are prioritized and aligned to support the core work of Teaching & Learning.
FAMILY, CAREGIVER, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Schools should belong to families and communities in service of nurturing their children’s learning and development. Research tells us that schools that prioritize trusting relationships, a shared vision, and authentic collaboration with the community are the most effective at setting students up for success. This is a vision supported by parents across the country – polling shows bipartisan support for meaningful partnerships between parents and schools that put students first.
DISTRICT AND STATE POLICIES
Districts and states must set the conditions and expectations, and provide the resources to ensure that school communities can fulfill the core commitments in the first three domains.
Research and Practices
Members of the BELE Network are working towards equity at all levels of the education system — including through research, policy, and federal, state, and district partnerships. Learn more about the work being by BELE Network members:
Transcend Education
works with schools across the country to create custom and replicable equitable learning environments that meet the specific needs of their students.
The Kingmakers of Oakland
take a multifaceted approach to creating healthy, affirming learning environments that help Black boys thrive. With an approach of “healing the fish and treating the toxic ecosystem,” the Kingmakers are…
Latest News
Dr. Gisele C. Shorter speaks with The 16:1 Podcast about the BELE Network and prioritizing student experience.Dr. Gisele C. Shorter, Director of National Education Strategy at the Raikes Foundation, was…
District-Level Learnings from the FieldBy the BELE NetworkIn order to create learning environments where all students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, school districts must design schoolwide systems and structures that center…
Insights From the Caregiver CommunityBy the BELE NetworkTo holistically educate young people, school leaders must engage caregivers as co-designers of their students’ learning environments. This is at the core of the…
An overview of the BSCA education fundsBy the BELE NetworkWith the school year well underway, educators have an opportunity to redefine what they mean by student safety. Parents are justifiably concerned…
Back-to-School Nights — A Missed OpportunityBy Karen VanAusdal, Senior Director of Practice at CASELImagine walking into your child’s high school, where members of the marching band are performing outside the building. Student greeters…
By Education Resource StrategiesCreating equitable outcomes for all students requires identifying and exposing existing inequities within school systems. One shining example is Columbus City Schools, which appointed Dr. Dionne Blue…
By Dr. Irvin ScottIn my work with system and school leaders around the country, creating more equitable experiences and outcomes for students has taken center stage — and even more so as we…
By Education Resource StrategiesWe’re halfway through the ESSER timeline, which means that it’s time to get serious about resource equity. As district leaders embark upon their ESSER Halftime Reviews to…
Policies that create space for schools to better support their studentsBy David Nitkin, Partner at TranscendStudents, teachers, and schools have faced unprecedented trauma over the last two years. But across the…
Helping school boards stay focused on their priority: our childrenBy Carrie Douglass & Ethan AshleyImage courtesy of Ethan Ashley, School Board PartnersIf there’s one thing the majority of parents in the United States…
By Gisele C. ShorterGreetings BELE Community,As we kick off 2022, I continue to be deeply grateful for everyone who remains devoted to creating an education system that ensures all children thrive…
By Claire SchuSupporting the healthy social, emotional, and academic development of students has long been a priority, yet the past two years have created an even greater focus on social and…
Simple tips for navigating the backlash against antiracist policies and practicesBy The BELE NetworkThe COVID-19 pandemic both exposed and exacerbated inequities in our schools, and along with 2020’s racial reckoning, it…
On April 22nd, the BELE Network hosted a webinar led by Bethany Little of EducationCounsel and LaShawn Chatmon of the National Equity Project to discuss how the strategic investment of…
The Student Experience Research Network (SERN) and EduColor co-sponsored an installment of Just Equation’s “Mathematics of Opportunity” series in February. Moderated by Nicole Beechum of the University of Chicago Consortium…
The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) continued its virtual convening, Examining Education Research through the 2020 Lens, with a conversation on “Confronting New and Persistent Equity Challenges: What…
In February, Transcend Education and AASA hosted an installment of their Roads to Reinvention webinar series on equitably responding, recovering, and reinventing school systems.The webinar featured Superintendent Scott Muri from Ector…
The Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) kicked off its #ReclaimSEL webinar series on February 3, 2021 with an installment titled “The Intersections Between Social-Emotional Learning and Education Justice.” The…
In the past few months, Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) has been recognized for its work to center racial and economic equity in education and received investments from a cross sector…
“Imagine a world where every child’s life is a succession of opportunities — opportunities where children come to know who they are and discover who they could become. Imagine learning settings of…
