Racial inequity in education outcomes is well-established. Differences in white and minority student education outcomes and the presence of teachers’ prejudices reveal continued bias and systemic racism in U.S. education opportunities and practices. As such, districts may attempt to address racial bias and resulting student outcome inequity through teacher professional development (PD), such as diversity awareness training, cultural competency workshops, social justice PD, and/or anti-racism programming.
A critique of cultural competency training notes that cultural awareness has many “overlapping derivatives,” such as anti-racism, diversity, and micro-aggression training. This overlapping yet nuanced nature of race-related training reveals how training types exist on a spectrum from informational and individualistic to practical and systemic. Additionally, certain training types can exist individually but become more relevant, realistic, effective, and equitable when implemented within other training (e.g., discussing diversity within an anti-racism training). Despite race-related training types comprising similar and overlapping topics and conversations, each topic has its own specific definition.
To support districts in understanding the differences between race-related training types and determining the most relevant and effective training for reducing racial inequity in education and education outcomes, Hanover Research presents this brief. The following sections examine five training types and their effectiveness.
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For a more detailed document, please see the Hanover report “From Culturally Aware to Anti-Racist—Types and Impacts of Race-Related Trainings,” available here.
