Equity in Science Education workshops usually last four days and provide a variety of activities in which participants are given the opportunity to understand the impact of bias in schools and classrooms by engaging in interactive and reflective experiences.

Through a supportive environment with a network of educators taking leadership for equity, we engage in discussions on how race, class, gender, and other forms of individual and institutionalized bias affect the teaching and learning of science, and focus on the relevant research on equity by examining the content and pedagogy of science activities.

Specifically, ESE activities include:

• reading and discussing the research on equity in science education and in education in general.



• participating in hands-on science activities and analyzing both the content and pedagogy from an equity perspective.



• engaging in discussions on how race, class, gender, and other forms of bias affect the teaching and learning of science.



• examining and discussing equity-based case studies to increase understanding of individual and institutional biases and assess how these biases impact science instruction and students' learning.



• initiating action research projects to implement and assess equity strategies in classrooms, schools, or districts.



• building a support environment and network for educators taking leadership for equity.

The project uses support structures (dyads, support groups, and personal experience panels) found to be successful in supporting people as they learn about and discuss sensitive, and often emotional, equity issues. The structures are used to facilitate the sharing of personal experiences as they relate to assumptions and biases that negatively affect the learning opportunities for underrepresented students.

ESE's foundation comes from the professional development model used by the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project Equity In Mathematics Education Leadership Institute (EMELI).

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