Are you an educator committed to equitable outcomes for all students, yet are finding that equity gaps are not closing for your students or institution?
Do you need fresh ideas and research-based strategies to support you and your colleagues in making changes in your professional practice that lead to equitable instructional practices and outcomes for your students?
Working toward equity requires courage and commitment. Are you looking for a group of peers and other education leaders who will support one another in taking action?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, we invite you to participate in FOCI Series 5.
This FOCI series is not restricted to mathematics instructors. Faculty members from all departments are encouraged to participate!
Driving Equitable Student Outcomes:
Implementing equity-minded teaching and learning
This FOCI series consists of six sessions that examine the most compelling research-based ideas and strategies that address equity gaps while meeting the needs of college students from diverse backgrounds and preparation. Experience collaborative activities, relevant readings, videos, and research summaries. Personalize your learning by planning for and enacting modest changes in your classrooms (including remote learning settings) and professional learning communities that have the potential for transformative change in learning environments and student outcomes.
FOCI sessions are highly interactive and take place online via Zoom in a secure virtual meeting room. There is no travel required to participate!
You’ll work with a cohort of peers in large and small groups to learn together. Facilitators from the Charles A. Dana Center will guide each session and ensure that you have all the tools and support you need to apply your knowledge effectively in the classroom.
To allow ample time to complete the deep work required for this series, there will always be a few weeks between sessions. Participants should commit to attending all six sessions and completing the between-session work over the course of the series.

Explore our complete FOCI offerings.
Session-by-Session Outcomes
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Session 1: Introduction to Equity Topics in Postsecondary Education
- Establish a safe, participant-centered learning environment for the cohort.
- Set goals for participation and growth during this professional learning series.
- Engage in collective inquiry around the meanings of key equity-related terms.
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Session 2: Equity-mindedness
- Explore a framework for taking needed actions toward equitable outcomes.
- Understand some of the primary obstacles blocking the path toward racial equity.
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Session 3: Neuroscience and Implicit Bias
- Explore the neuroscience of bias.
- Discuss how an understanding of bias can support faculty in closing equity gaps.
- Investigate ways to understand, address, and overcome our own biases and work toward equity-mindedness.
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Session 4: Psychosocial Factors Related to Equity
- Explore introductory information about psychosocial factors in learning.
- Connect psychosocial factors to equity-mindedness and equitable teaching practices.
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Session 5: Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Practices
- Investigate cultural frameworks in teaching and learning.
- Explore and discuss how cultural practices impact teaching and learning.
- Take steps toward incorporating culturally responsive and sustaining teaching and learning practices that align with equity-mindedness.
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Session 6: Applying Equitable Teaching Practices in Syllabi and Course Design
- Discuss and determine how to implement the key ideas and strategies introduced in this series into your course structure, syllabus, assessment routines, etc.
- Identify next steps for planning and enacting the equity-minded strategies learned in the series.