“None of the 42 large U.S. school districts interviewed . . . measure the impact of their training against metrics or evidence generated in an objective research study,” Lewis reports. “As a result, it’s hard to distinguish effective from useless diversity, equity and inclusion training.”
Tampa, where about half the students are Hispanic or black, “puts a heavy emphasis on equity and racial justice when allocating the $36 million it spends each year on professional development for educators,” she writes. Training includes “implicit bias, culturally relevant pedagogy and connecting with English-language learners.”
The district doesn’t know whether the training changes teachers’ beliefs, their teaching or student outcomes.
Lewis also visited a mostly black high school in Milwaukee, James Madison Academic Campus (JMAC), then led by Jineen McLemore Torres.