This equity story describes the ways that Union County Vocational-Technical School District has increased equity in student enrollment in AP/IB courses.

Stakeholder Voice for Equity

The counselor to student ratio for the high schools associated with the our Career and Technical Education (CTE) District is approximately 1:150. This allows for meaningful and, sometimes, uncomfortable conversations between students, parents and our counselors about AP courses and course selections. These conversations typically center on proactive measures to ensure student success, as well as a sobering revelation about the workload involved in taking an AP course. Through these conversations, our students are best equipped to register for these courses and eventually sit for AP exams.

Distributed Teacher Leadership for Equity

A process exists in our district where teachers can submit proposals for new course options for students based upon interest, areas of expertise, certificate attainment, and educational background. Any interested faculty member can submit a sample course description as a proposal. Course proposals are reviewed annually by a committee including administrators, counselors, and curriculum specialists. Approved coursework is then presented to students through the scheduling selection process. Courses are then run based upon student interest and the district's ability to provide staffing. Some examples of courses which have been created as a result of this process are; Holocaust and Genocide Studies, LGBTQ Literature, Health Outcomes and Social Justice, Race and Media, AP African American Studies, and a variety of other courses aligned to CTE programs and core graduation requirements.

Our district is the first district in New Jersey running the AP African American Studies course. This has been an important opportunity for the teacher of the class to be at the ground floor of starting a brand-new AP course and participating in its pilot year implementation. The teacher could attend a week-long summer professional development program and a celebratory conference held in February 2023.

A significant vehicle for the promotion of equity for students has been the No Place for Hate initiative, call to action program organized through the Anti-Defamation League. This program has provided a voice for students in our district to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity for all students through team-building programs. Under the supervision of district staff and school administrators, the activities planned—which are a part of No Place for Hate—are created and organized by students, for students.

Professional Learning/Mentoring for Equity

Professional learning is managed in district from the collaborative input of the following job positions; Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Instructional Specialist, Professional Development Committee Chairpersons (three for the district, all of whom are teachers who receive a stipend for taking on the additional responsibilities.) Professional learning consists of a combination of opportunities provided by outside vendors and educators within our district in a variety of formats. In addition to 3 professional learning days for staff built into the district calendar, instructional staff have required monthly faculty meetings and monthly disciplinary/interdisciplinary meetings where conversation and work happens. Also, the Board of Education supports teachers in attending outside professional learning workshops and participating in professional organizations. Here are some examples of training opportunities which have been provided and offered to staff in-district. Many of these workshops were provided by teachers, for teachers. The district supports staff in sharing their expertise and learning and compensates them for planning time.

Workshops:

• AP Language and Composition
• Breathing for Relaxation and Meditation
• Case Method: Designing a Case that Deals with American Democracy-History Teachers
• Chat GPT
• Club Procedures
• Conflict Resolution
• Creating Student-Led Classrooms
• Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
• Design Process Model
• Facilitating Difficulty and Controversial Discussions in the Classroom
• FBLA and the Classroom
• Fostering Resiliency in the Classroom
• GoGuardian Scenes
• Grading for Understanding Student Needs
• Implementing Learning Supports
• Implementing the IEP in the General Education Classroom
• Improvisational Games for the classroom
• Intelligent Lives and Special Education
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the History / English Classroom
• LGBTQ+ Inclusion: Strategies to Implement During and After Pandemic
• LGBTQ+ Inclusive Classrooms
• Project Adventure-Climbing
• Project-Based Learning
• Socratic Seminars
• Technology-Using apps in the classroom
• Tips for Creating Better Assessments
• True Colors: Activities for Getting to Know Your Students and Have them Understand Each Other
• Vernier Interfaces: Technology for Science
• Yoga/Pilates for Stress Relief

Policy/Procedures for Equity

The decision made to eliminate prerequisite grades for AP class registration for the 2020-2021 school year has resulted in a gradual uptick in the number of students taking AP courses and registering for the exam in our district. Access to these courses has been expanded due to the prerequisites being eliminated for two of our schools.

In recent years, one of our schools has made deliberate and effective efforts to increase the number of female and minority students entering the computer science field, requiring all students to complete the AP Computer Science Principles course as part of their required sophomore classes. The results have been significant. In 2023, this school was one of only 64 schools who earned AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for expanding young women’s access to both AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles. Last year, we were recognized for the advances we have made in expanding access to AP Computer Science Principles. The additional recognition for AP Computer Science A is significant, as this reflects the number of female students who choose Information Technology as their CTE program.

Working with the awareness that individuals of color are underrepresented in the technology industry, we have made conscious and deliberate efforts to ensure students of color see themselves represented in the technology leaders and innovators. In the month of February, this school opens each morning with an announcement celebrating the contributions of an African American to the field of information technology. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in a similar fashion. Taking that commitment one step further, the school finalizing a visual display that will showcase these contributions as part of our IT Museum, located at the building’s main entrance.

We continue to promote All Star Code within our CTE classes and in communications sent to the homes of our students. This year, we proudly welcomed our district's Technology Coordinator into our AP Computer Science principles to talk with students about his experience in a Computer Science Career, in field traditionally under-represented by people of color. We did so at a time when sophomores were deciding between our Business Management and Information Technology career and technical programs.

Utilization of Quantitative Data

Our county vocational technical school district has annually looked to Advance Placement data in decision making, including the number of students taking assessments and the number of total assessments taken.

Our country vocational technical school district actively uses PSAT/Pre-ACT and other standardized testing data in our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support system, as broken down by demographic, to analyze, develop, and provide Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 supports to students.