What grade levels do these standards cover?

HIGHEREDUCATION, PROFESSIONALEDUCATION-DEVELOPMENT, UNDERGRADUATE-UPPERDIVISION, and UNDERGRADUATE-LOWERDIVISION

K–12 Standards

Illinois Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading standards
Other Illinois Teacher Preparation sets
Illinois Professional Educator Standards
ISTE: For Educators

Self-Awareness and Relationships to Others: Culturally responsive teachers and leaders are reflective and gain a deeper understanding of tehmselves and how they impact others, leading to more cohesive and productive student development as it relates to academic and social-emotional development for all students.ICRTLS.A

1
Understand and value the notion that multiple lived experiences exist, that there is often no one "correct" way of doing or understanding something, and that what is seen as "correct" is most often based on our lived experiencesICRTLS.A.1
2
Approach their work and students with an asset-based mindset, affirming the validity of the students' backgrounds and identitiesICRTLS.A.2
3
Know about their students and their lives outside of school, using this knowledge to build instructiont hat leverages prior knowledge and skillsICRTLS.A.3
4
Include representative, familiar content in the curriculum to legitimize students' backgrounds, while also exposing them to new ideas and worldviews different from their ownICRTLS.A.4
5
Engage in self-reflection about their own actions and interactiosn and what ideas and biases motivated those actionsICRTLS.A.5
6
Explore their own intersecting identities, how they were developed, and how they impact daily experience of the worldICRTLS.A.6
7
Recognize how their identity (race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developental/emotional ability, socioeconomic class religion, etc.) affects their perspectives and beliefs about pedagogy and studentsICRTLS.A.7
8
Educate themselves about students' communities, cultures, and historiesICRTLS.A.8
9
Critically think about insttutions in which they find themselves working to reform these institutions whenever and wherever necessaryICRTLS.A.9
10
Assess how their biases and perceptions affect their teaching practice and how they access tools to mitigate their own behavior (racism, sexism, homophobia, unearned privilege, Eurocentrism, etc.)ICRTLS.A.10

Systems of Oppression: Culturally responsive teachers and leaders understand that there are systems in our society especially, but not limited to, our school system, that creat eand reinforce inequities, thereby creating oppressive conditions. Educators work actively against these systems in their everyday roles in educational institutions.ICRTLS.B

1
Understand the difference between prejudice, discrimination, racism, and how to operate at the interpersonal, intergroup, and institutional levelsICRTLS.B.1
2
Collaborate with colleagues to determine how students from different backgrounds experience the classroom, school, and districtICRTLS.B.2
3
Know and understand how the system of inequity has impacted them as an educatorICRTLS.B.3
4
Understand how current curriculum and approaches to teaching impact students who are not a part of the dominant cultureICRTLS.B.4
5
Be aware of the effects of power and privilege and the need for social advocacy and social action to better empower diverse students and communitiesICRTLS.B.5
6
Understand how a system of inequity creates rules regarding student punishment that negatively impacts students of colorICRTLS.B.6
7
Understand how a system of inequity reinforces certain suppositions as the normICRTLS.B.7

Students as Individuals: Culturally responsive teachers and leaders view and value their students as individuals within the context of their familes and communities.ICRTLS.C

1
Learn from and about their students' culture, language, and learning styles to make instruction more meaningful and relevant to their students' lives.ICRTLS.C.1
2
Engage with students' families and community members outside of the classroomt o develop a more holistic understanding fo the students' lived experiencesICRTLS.C.2
3
Develoop positive, strength-based partnerships with students and their famiilies by learning about them, soliciting their opinions, and valuing their expectations, especially with those marginalized by schools int he pastICRTLS.C.3
4
Provide parents with informationa bout what their child is expected to learn, know, and do at his or her grade level and ways to reinforce concepts at homeICRTLS.C.4
5
Share the classroom systems and policies (expectations, agreements, recognition and incentive practices, etc.) used in the classroom with students' families and align them to the values and cultural norms of those familiesICRTLS.C.5
6
Provide multiple opportunities for parents to communicate in their language and method of preference, to the greatest extent possibleICRTLS.C.6
7
Set holistic goals for students that accommodate multiple ways of demonstrating strengths and success (e.g., alternate academic achievement metrics, growth indicators, leadership, character development, social-emotional learning competencies, and school values)ICRTLS.C.7

Students as Co-Creators: Culturally responsive teachers and leaders who fundamentally believe all students are capable center learning around students' experiences and position them as co-creators, with emphasis on prioritizing historically marginalized students.ICRTLS.D

1
Encourage and affirm the personal experiences (family, community, culture, etc.) students share in the classroomICRTLS.D.1
2
Make authentic connections between academic learning and students' prior knowledge, native language, culture, and valuesICRTLS.D.2
3
Consistently solicit students' input on the curriculum (e.g., interests, people or concepts)ICRTLS.D.3
4
Co-create, with students, the collective expectations and agreements regarding the physical space and social-emotional culture of the classroom and schoolICRTLS.D.4
5
Create and embed student leadership opportunities into the student experience (e.g., peer-led discussion, student-led workshops, and student-run schoolwide initiatives)ICRTLS.D.5
6
Persistently solicit student feedback, value that feedback (resist defensiveness), and adjust based on that feedbackICRTLS.D.6

Leveraging Student Advocacy: Cultyurally responsive teacherrs and leaders will support and create opportunities for student advocacy and representation in the content and classroomICRTLS.E

1
Emphasize and connect with students about their identities, advocacies, and self-interestICRTLS.E.1
2
Offer guidance to students on how to develop a self-advocacy plan to inform decisions and choicesICRTLS.E.2
3
Include students in the creation of an inclusive learning community with more opportunities for student expressionICRTLS.E.3
4
Help students identify actions that can be taken to apply learning to develop opportunities and relationships for alliancesICRTLS.E.4
5
Create a risk-taking space that promotes student advocacyICRTLS.E.5
6
Research and offer student advocacy content with real world implicationsICRTLS.E.6
7
Communicate high expectations to which all students can be held and urge students to lead as student advocates appropriate to the students' age and developmentICRTLS.E.7
8
Give students space to solve their own problems, negotiate their advocacy needs, and present their perspectivesICRTLS.E.8

Family and Community Collaboration: Culturally responsive teachers and leaders will partner with families and communities to build rapport, form collaborative and mutual relationships, and engage in effective cross-cultural communicationICRTLS.F

1
Regularly interact with students, families, and communities in both English and home language through methods of their preferenceICRTLS.F.1
2
Actively seek multiple perspectives and contribution from families and the community and invite them to actively share their opinions, feedback, and concerns that impact the school communityICRTLS.F.2
3
Forge ongoing participation with families and community members to meet the diverse needs and interests of studentsICRTLS.F.3
4
Continuously learn and build cultural knowledge that families and the community bring to the school community to nurture and foster relationships and inform student learning experiencesICRTLS.F.4
5
Use best practices that are culturally responsive to value students and their families' cultural traditions when recognizing, motivating, encouraging, and supporting student success and growthICRTLS.F.5
6
Develop relationships with families and the community outside of the classroom settingICRTLS.F.6
7
Foster students' cultural understanding and connection to the surrounding communityICRTLS.F.7
8
Invite family and community members to teach about topics that are culturally specific and aligned to the classroom curriculum or content areaICRTLS.F.8
9
Welcome communication from parents and reply in a timely mannerICRTLS.F.9
10
Communicat eand provide appropriate techniques and materials to support and enrich student learning at homeICRTLS.F.10
11
Collaborate effectively over time with the local community and community agencies, when adn where appropriate, to promote a positive environment for student learningICRTLS.F.11

Content Selections in all Curricula: Culturally responsive teachers and leaders intentionally embrace student identities and prioritize representation in the curriculum. In turn, students are not only given a chance to identify with the curriculum, they become exposed to other cultures within their schoosl and both their local and global communities.ICRTLS.G

1
Curaete the curriculumICRTLS.G.1
2
Identify and articulate the purposeful ways in which marginalized communities are representated in curriculum, including print, digital media, and other classroom resourcesICRTLS.G.2
3
Employ authentic and modern technology usage inspiring digital literacy through an equity lensICRTLS.G.3
4
Ensure assessments reflect the enriched curriculum that has embedded student identitiesICRTLS.G.4
5
Embrace and encourage a balance of viewpoints and perspectives that leverage asset thinking toward traditionally marginalized populationsICRTLS.G.5
6
Assess one's story through multiple vantage points to gain a whole anrrative that includes all sides of parties involvedICRTLS.G.6
7
Implement and integrate the wide spectrum and fluidity of identities in the curriculumICRTLS.G.7
8
Ensure text selections reflect students' classroom, community, and family cultureICRTLS.G.8
9
Ensure teacher and students co-create content that encourages critical thinking about culture and includes counternarratives to dominant cultureICRTLS.G.9
10
Use a resource tool to assess the curriculum and assessments for biasesICRTLS.G.10
11
Promote robust discussion with the intent of raising consciousness that reflects modern society and the wyas in which cultures and communities intersectICRTLS.G.11
12
Consider a broader modality of student assessments, such as performance portfolios, essays, multiple choice, State exams, oral examination, community asessments, work experiences, social justice work, action research projects, and recognition beyond academiaICRTLS.G.12

Student Representation in the Learning Environment: Culturally responsive teachers and leaders ensure the diversity of their student population is equally represented within the learning environment. In turn, all members of the student population feel seen, heard, and affirmed. Exceptionally well-versed culturally responsive teachers and leaders provide exposure to underrepresented or misrepresented minority groups, even when they are not present within the population of their school and community at large.ICRTLS.H

1
Uphold systems of support that create, promote, and sustain a welcoming and inclusive communityICRTLS.H.1
2
Ensure linguistic diversity is represented throughout the building and seek ways to reflect represntation fo world languagesICRTLS.H.2
3
Verify that course materials are representative of all students, including materials for centers, stations, labs, classroom libraries, etc.ICRTLS.H.3
4
Ensure classroom and building decorations are inclusive of all students throughout the building or within the community or city at largeICRTLS.H.4

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?: HIGHEREDUCATION, PROFESSIONALEDUCATION-DEVELOPMENT, UNDERGRADUATE-UPPERDIVISION, and UNDERGRADUATE-LOWERDIVISION
Where can I read the official document?: Illinois Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading standards

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