"Spotlighting Progress: The Equity Lab's Journey Towards Integrating Equity in STEM Education"

At STEMteachersNYC we are grateful to have five working groups filled with dedicated educators. Each month, we will spotlight a different group and the work they’re doing. We’re very excited to start these spotlights with the Equity Lab.

The Equity Lab grew out of the Dimensions of Critical Responsiveness in STEM workshop series. Educators in those workshops believed that the work should not end with the series and wanted to continue meeting in an effort to bring an equity lens to their practice. Believing that we can grow more collaboratively than on our own, the group meets every month to share resources, discuss problems of practice, and hold each other accountable to improve. Currently, members are also discussing Punished for Dreaming by Bettina Love and the impact that school reform has had on their students.

One area where the Equity Lab believes educators at all grade bands can bring an equity lens to their classrooms is around climate change and climate justice. They suggest the DOE Office of Sustainability Climate Institute website, which is full of resources, including all slide decks from all sessions of their mid-winter Climate Institute, these teacher-created resources for the 4/17/24 Climate Day of Action, and Subject to Climate, which has free interdisciplinary climate lessons for all grade levels.

The Equity Lab meets at 7 pm on the first Tuesday of every month and is always open to new attendees. There are no requirements for attending; the group only asks that you come with an open mind and be interested in learning together. If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form to be added to the listserv. Once on the listserv, you will receive invites for upcoming meetings. If you cannot attend the meetings but are interested in bringing an equity frame to your instruction, we suggest you check out the Multilingual Learners & STEM roundtable on May 7 (register here).