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Building Equitable Learning Environments

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About

THE BELE NETWORK
Dismantle…Reimagine…Co-Design:
Centering Student Experience

THE BELE NETWORK
Dismantle…Reimagine…Co-Design:
Centering Student Experience

The Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) Network collaborates with people at every level of the education system to build equitable learning environments and transform education to center the student experience.

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Resources

THE BELE NETWORK
Dismantle…Reimagine…Co-Design:
Centering Student Experience

THE BELE NETWORK
Dismantle…Reimagine…Co-Design:
Centering Student Experience

Browse our resources page for a roundup of research, evidence-based practices, and thinking from our members and partners.

Browse our resources page for a roundup of research, evidence-based practices, and thinking from our members and partners.

Learn More

Events

THE BELE NETWORK
Dismantle…Reimagine…Co-Design:
Centering Student Experience

THE BELE NETWORK
Dismantle…Reimagine…Co-Design:
Centering Student Experience

Learn more about BELE-aligned events where you can get the most up-to-date learnings from our learning partners and friends on building equitable learning environments in communities, districts, schools, and classrooms across the country.

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Stay up to date on the latest news, resources and tools from the BELE Network.

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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:

BELE Resource Library

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.

Learn More about BELE

Learn More about BELE

When we begin listening to each other, and when we talk about the things that matter to us, the world begins to change.

Margaret Wheatley

Revolution always unfolds within an atmosphere of rising expectations.

June Jordan

In every age, no matter how cruel the oppression by those in power, there have been those who struggle for a different world.

Anne Braden

In the field of education, anti-racism often looks like school districts managing inequality and racism instead of eliminating them.

Bettina Love

What if we measured intelligence by how knowledgeable individuals are about their own environments? What if we measured intellect by an individual’s desire to know?

Ibram X. Kendi

Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.

Rep. John Lewis

This may only be a dream of mine, but I think it can be made real.

Ella Baker

One of our main tasks now is to understand this moment, what it might require of us, and what it might make possible.

Rebecca Solnit

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

Jane Goodall

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Chief Seattle, 1854

When you let go of who you are, you become who you might be.

Rumi

All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To truly listen is to risk being changed forever.

Native American Elder Sa'k'ej Henderson

...education is something done to you, learning is something you do for yourself.

Joi Ito and Jeff Howe, from the book Whiplash

Systems do not maintain themselves; even our lack of intervention is an act of maintenance. Every structure in every society is upheld by the active and passive assistance of other human beings.

Sonya Renee Taylor

Systems change begins when a few people step forward to act on behalf of what matters to them, when they start with a problem that’s right in front of them.

Paulo Freire

At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done, then it is done, and the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.

Frances Hodgson Burnette

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

Margaret Wheatley

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.

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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…

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Latest News

bele-network

Redesigning School District Systems and ...

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…

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authentic

Building Authentic School and Family Par...

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…

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bele-network

Making Kids Safer at School With Newly A...

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…

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back-to-school

Back-to-School Nights — A Missed O...

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…

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Medium Post

Meet Dr. Dionne Blue: Chief Equity Offic...

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…

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Medium Post

10 Steps to Become an Equity Detective

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…

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Medium Post

Mobilizing Resources to Advance Excellen...

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…

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Medium Post

Unlocking Innovation in Schools

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…

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Medium Post

Healthy Schools Need Active Communities

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…

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Medium Post

A Commitment to Put Students First in 20...

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…

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Medium Post

The Power of Social and Emotional Learni...

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…

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Medium Post

Do’s and Don’ts for Engaging on Educ...

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…

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Medium Post

An Overview of the American Rescue Plan ...

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…

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Medium Post

Who Gets To Be A Math Person?

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…

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Medium Post

Confronting New and Persistent Equity Ch...

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…

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Medium Post

ICYMI: Leading a Culture of Effective In...

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…

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Medium Post

#ReclaimSEL​: The Intersections Betwee...

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…

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Medium Post

How EOS Partnerships Are Making the Grea...

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…

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Medium Post

Turnaround for Children Imagines What’...

“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…

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Medium Post

Reinventing Your School District? Start ...

In December, Transcend Education and the American Association of School Superintendents (AASA) led their second webinar in the “Road to Reinvention” series. Edgecombe County Superintendent Dr. Valerie Bridges shared how…

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BELE
  • About
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BELE
BELE
  • About
  • Where We Work
  • Resources
  • News & Events
  • Library