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We are honored to introduce Michelle Molitor, Executive Director of The Equity Lab. Their equity work began as a response to the urgent need for culturally responsive systemic change for our most vulnerable students. Ms. Molitor has partnered with and led work alongside several national and regional education agencies and works directly with organizations across the education ecosystem, including the Department of Education, philanthropic groups, district offices, schools, and education-facing nonprofits. Michelle wrote this piece in partnership with Nicole Young.
The Kids Are Not Alright… Michelle Molitor and Nicole Young
Even the kids are feeling it.
You can see it in the weary, glazed-over looks of your friends’ children on Instagram. Or in the hilarious quotes parents post about homeschooling on Twitter. Children, too, are tired of sitting in the house each day looking at their siblings, learning from their parents and their disembodied electronic teachers, and being unable to see their friends.
A friend recently posted about her four-year-old’s utter meltdown when she bombed their house for ants. He was devastated that she’d destroyed the only friends who had come to visit in weeks.
We’ve talked a lot about mental health during this pandemic, but we are often talking about adults. Kids, we assume, are resilient and much more adaptable than ourselves; we’ve decided they will be just fine. But children are feeling the same immeasurable strain adults are.
We are communal mammals, and our brains are not designed for social isolation. It’s difficult to parse the cascading grief we’re feeling at the loss of loved ones, time with friends, activities we enjoy, or income — even as adults. How much more onerous must it be for children, who face the same realities with less insight into what is causing them?
Some of the most accessible and cost effective mental health options for children in America are delivered through our schools. And when schools shut down, a lifeline for children in desperate need of counseling and support all but collapses.
In the COVID-19 world, we need to think differently about how we provide for the whole child. As traditional schooling changes, it is imperative that we consider how to support children with trauma, kids whose homes may not be safe, and queer and trans kids navigating their identities in hostile environments.
When we assume children are fine, that they are in less need of mental or spiritual support than ourselves, we are tacitly asking them to sublimate a portion of who they are. In doing so, we limit their complexity, ignore their needs, and most alarmingly, ask them to flatten themselves so that we can believe they are all right.
Grounding in History
There is a violent legacy of assimilation in American schooling. Throughout our nation’s history, the most vulnerable students have been rounded up, tracked, beaten, and punished for being who they are.
In 1824, then Secretary of War John C. Calhoun created the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an office in the U.S. Department of the Interior that was tasked with “civilizing” and controlling Indigenous and Native American tribes across the country.
In addition to forced displacement and brutal subjugation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs also oversaw the creation of “Indian boarding schools.” These schools, which operated for more than 100 years (from 1860 to 1978), were specifically designed to force the assimilation of Indian children to white culture and the English language.
Indigenous children were taken from their homes, often without their parents’ consent, and sent to live in these boarding schools. Their hair was cut and their clothes were burned, they were beaten for using their native languages, they were often abused by their caretakers, they were forced to practice Christianity, and their cultural and familial ties were severed.
In 1892, Richard H. Pratt, the man who established the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, famously delivered his “Kill the Indian, and Save the Man” speech. Indians were, in Pratt’s opinion, only worth saving if they could be Americanized. Every part of their Indian identity and culture was savagery that must be stripped away. His was the prevailing thought driving American policy and law through the turn of the 20th century and until the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed into federal law in 1978.
Even as John Dewey’s research was leading a national discussion about educating the whole child, Indigenous and Native American children were enduring an educational system that viewed their cultural identity as a scourge to be erased.
Listening to Those Most Impacted
By 1978, generations of Indigenous children had been forcibly assimilated through schools. In their own chilling accounts, survivors of this trauma recount the voicelessness that permeated their experience; they were unable to speak their own native tongues and unable to voice dissent in the language that was forced upon them.
Are we listening to our students when they tell us what they need today? As children fight to stay engaged on laptops all day or dissolve into tears over dead ants, do we hear them?
A global pandemic, we’re learning, affects everyone — in ways large and small. And instead of insisting children put on a bright face in the midst of such global uncertainty, it is incumbent upon us as educators, parents, and community members to ask them what they need to feel supported.
For children who are struggling in homes where their identities are under attack, this is even more important. How do we make room in our thinking, and eventually in our policy making, to prioritize the voices of LGTBQ students, students facing abuse, or those struggling with trauma and depression?
COVID-19 has cracked wide open the deficiencies in our education system. But as we reconfigure the system to support adult needs, are we listening to young people?
Advocate for Radical Change
We see echoes of the Indian boarding schools’ philosophies in our classrooms and schools today. Students are asked to leave their identities at the school door. Black, Latinx, poor, and immigrant parents are seen as nuisances rather than co-designers in their children’s education.
However, students do not come to school as empty vessels waiting to be filled. Instead, they come full of incredible strengths and their own individual stories. To make radical change in this area would be to create an education system that encourages children to lean into their identities and genius, rather than stifling them for adult comfort.
We will only see a radical shift in American education when we begin to devalue compliance and assimilation. As much as children need structure, they also deserve an education that is compassionate and treats them as the whole people they are.
If we reimagine an educational system that serves the whole child, parents, families, students, and educators must be equal partners in defining its purpose and leading its design. For vulnerable students, those facing abuse or those whose families would punish them for being LGBTQ, a holistic model must address the realities they face when they get home.
Ultimately, radical change means investing in the whole child being able to heal and thrive.
Build and Iterate
Assimilation is a tool, wielded by a racist, homophobic, sexist, and capitalist society to quell difference. Its dominance in our education system means that we are stifling children and actively ignoring their needs as physical, mental, and spiritual beings. But if such an oppressive system is designed, it can be redesigned.
This requires recreating an education system with the needs of the most marginalized children at the center. This necessitates adults mobilizing in support of children — not on their behalf. And it demands a different orientation to the many facets of childhood in a rapidly changing world.
Want to Learn More?
Watch Unseen Tears: The Native American Boarding School Experience in Western New York
OR
Read Moving Equity Work Toward Action in the Age of Covid-19
Insights, partner highlights, guest perspectives, and resources to support your work
Roanoke County Public Schools has been partnering with Envision Learning Partners for the past four years to develop and implement a comprehensive performance assessment system aligned with their Opportunity Ready Graduate Profile. This collaboration has fundamentally transformed how students demonstrate essential skills needed for future success in an increasingly complex world.
The journey began a decade ago when Roanoke County developed their C-Change Framework, which meticulously detailed the conditions needed for deeper learning to thrive within school communities. This framework addressed multiple dimensions, including school and classroom climate, professional growth, support services, and learning culture. It also emphasized finding balance between preparing students for standardized testing and developing the critical skills needed to navigate a rapidly changing world.
Working with diverse stakeholders, they articulated the Opportunity Ready Graduate Profile, which defines the skills and attributes necessary for students to successfully navigate evolving life and career pathways and seize opportunities that come their way. Despite this solid foundation, the district initially struggled to quantify these skills in ways that were both meaningful and conducive to growth.
This challenge led Roanoke County to form a strategic partnership with Envision Learning Partners. Over the past four years, they’ve evolved from conceptualizing what their assessment system could be to implementing a robust program across all 26 schools in the district. This systematic approach to performance assessment now forms a cornerstone of their educational philosophy.
At the heart of this work is the Opportunity Ready Portfolio Presentation, where students demonstrate mastery of three critical skills: Communication, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking. Using a structured process guided by clear rubrics and expectations, students select artifacts from their in-school and out-of-school learning experiences as evidence of their skill development.
Each student presentation is guided by the driving question: “How have I demonstrated and grown in my Opportunity Ready Skills as a Communicator, Collaborator, and Critical Thinker this school year, and how will I apply these Opportunity Ready skills to what’s next for me, including my future career?”
Trained panel members, including at least one member from the school’s design team, evaluate these presentations using standardized rubrics that assess specific performance outcomes for each skill area. The panels follow a structured protocol for scoring student work, ensuring consistency and fairness while providing constructive feedback.
“We learned that you don’t know what your students are capable of until you ask and give them a chance to respond,” shares one district leader. “We have been blown away by what our students are able to demonstrate through our performance assessment system.”
The impact of this work extends throughout the educational community:
For students, the process has revealed the power of reflection. Many students express surprise at how much they’ve grown until they take time to reflect on their learning journey. This metacognitive awareness strengthens their sense of personal growth and achievement.
Teachers, while initially cautious about the workload involved in preparing for conferences and defenses, become enthusiastic advocates after witnessing students’ presentations. As one administrator noted, “To a person, they are invigorated and excited to begin planning for the next year once they see it in action.”
For administrators and district leaders, the presentations have rekindled passion for educational transformation. “The impact the presentations have on the panel, parents, and staff has reignited our drive for this work,” reports a district representative.
The most compelling evidence comes from individual student experiences. One particularly moving example involved a student who had struggled significantly during middle school. During their senior defense, the student articulated their growth journey with such clarity and reflection that “there was not a dry eye in the room.” This transformative moment exemplifies how the process helps students recognize and celebrate their own development while preparing them for future challenges.
Through this ongoing partnership with Envision Learning Partners, Roanoke County Public Schools continues to refine and expand their performance assessment system. The district’s commitment to developing the whole student—not just academic knowledge but essential life skills—positions their graduates to thrive in whatever paths they choose after high school, whether in higher education, careers, or military service.
By creating authentic opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery of critical skills, reflect on their growth, and connect their learning to future aspirations, Roanoke County Public Schools is preparing students not just for tests, but for life beyond graduation in a rapidly changing world.
Roanoke County Public Schools has been partnering with Envision Learning Partners for the past four years to develop and implement a comprehensive performance assessment system aligned with their Opportunity Ready Graduate Profile. This collaboration has fundamentally transformed how students demonstrate essential skills needed for future success in an increasingly complex world.
In this special Guest Blog Video Interview, hear from Alcine Mumby and Laureen Adams, interviewed by Niloy Gangopadhyay and Courtney Katen.
This interview was sparked by Alcine’s recent travel to the Ghana ASCD Educators’ Summit 2024 earlier this year.
Learn about Alcine and Laureen’s history- all starting in Oakland at Envision Academy, what Laureen took away and still carries with her as leader of the Tutu Institute in Ghana, why she believes so deeply in performance assessment, and what’s up next for her work continuing to support educators and systems.
In this special Guest Blog Video Interview, hear from Alcine Mumby and Laureen Adams, interviewed by Niloy Gangopadhyay and Courtney Katen.
Bullitt County Public Schools is a public school district in Shepherdsville, KY that serves students from pre-K through 12th grade. The district is committed to providing a world-class education that prepares students for success beyond high school.
Envision Learning Partners has worked with Bullitt County Public Schools since 2018, partnering on their Graduate Profile development and performance assessment system. Bullitt County’s Superintendent, Dr. Jesse Bacon, and Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Adrienne Usher, are also both alumni of ELP’s Deeper Learning Leadership Forum.
In this Partner Profile, we hear from Assistant Superintendent, Adrienne Usher.
How are you advancing your Performance Assessment System? Is there one story you can share that illustrates how this work is benefitting your school, students or teachers?
Advancing the Performance Assessment System in Bullitt County Public Schools involves the creation of Graduate Profile Performance outcomes for students in Grades K-2, 3-5, and 9-12. A notable story comes from a graduate of the district who, after completing postsecondary education, entered the workforce. This individual reflected on a high school assessment experience involving a presentation to a city council to solve a community problem, which proved invaluable when preparing for an engineering position interview. College courses, according to this graduate, did not fully address aspects of the interview process, including content, dispositions, and competencies. This example highlights the effectiveness of the performance assessment system in preparing students not only for specific occupations but also for broader workforce preparation.
What have you learnt during this process?
The process of transforming assessment has revealed the need to rethink its purpose and identify who truly owns it—students. While teachers play a critical role in this process, it is students who take ownership of their learning. Empowering students to demonstrate their learning fosters motivation and a deeper understanding of its larger purpose.
What is the impact you are seeing on students and their work?
The implementation of performance assessments and student ownership of learning is having a significant positive impact on students and their work. Students are more motivated as they recognize the relevance of their learning beyond the classroom. This approach is also fostering necessary dispositions and competencies, aligned to our Graduate Profile, preparing students for future challenges in higher education, the workforce, and beyond. By developing the skills to articulate their knowledge and connect it to meaningful purposes, students are not only achieving academic success but also growing into lifelong learners equipped for a dynamic and evolving world.
What is the impact you are seeing on teachers and their practice?
The gradual shift embedding performance assessments is creating meaningful changes in teachers and their practice. Teachers are rethinking the purpose of assessment on a continuum of traditional, transitional, and transformational methods that emphasize student ownership of learning combining academics and our Graduate Profile competencies. Teachers are becoming facilitators of learning, guiding students to take responsibility for their growth and encouraging reflection and self-assessment. This approach is also enhancing teachers’ instructional practices, as they integrate more student-centered strategies and focus on developing dispositions and competencies alongside content knowledge. The process is reinvigorating teachers’ sense of purpose and enthusiasm for a new school experience.
What is the impact of this work ON YOU as a practitioner?
The impact of this work I have experienced, as a practitioner, is related to understanding a larger purpose for school and its connection to the community and society. School can be viewed as a place to gain knowledge and get a high school diploma and it ends there. However, connecting school and assessment that impacts students in more comprehensive ways is about life preparation. In reality, the school experience, which includes teaching, learning, and assessment, is a reflection of what the greater community (students, parents, community members, industry partners, etc.) values. If communities want graduates to be more prepared and successful in the workforce and as citizens, collaboration that provides opportunities for learning and assessment which connects academics to real world problem solving is a future-focused necessity.
Learn more about the great work being done in Bullitt County in this EdWeek article.
Bullitt County Public Schools is a public school district in Shepherdsville, KY that serves students from pre-K through 12th grade. The district is committed to providing a world-class education that prepares students for success beyond high school.
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Roanoke County Public Schools has been partnering with Envision Learning Partners for the past four years to develop and implement a comprehensive performance assessment system aligned with their Opportunity Ready Graduate Profile. This collaboration has fundamentally transformed how students demonstrate essential skills needed for future success in an increasingly complex world.
The journey began a decade ago when Roanoke County developed their C-Change Framework, which meticulously detailed the conditions needed for deeper learning to thrive within school communities. This framework addressed multiple dimensions, including school and classroom climate, professional growth, support services, and learning culture. It also emphasized finding balance between preparing students for standardized testing and developing the critical skills needed to navigate a rapidly changing world.
Working with diverse stakeholders, they articulated the Opportunity Ready Graduate Profile, which defines the skills and attributes necessary for students to successfully navigate evolving life and career pathways and seize opportunities that come their way. Despite this solid foundation, the district initially struggled to quantify these skills in ways that were both meaningful and conducive to growth.
This challenge led Roanoke County to form a strategic partnership with Envision Learning Partners. Over the past four years, they’ve evolved from conceptualizing what their assessment system could be to implementing a robust program across all 26 schools in the district. This systematic approach to performance assessment now forms a cornerstone of their educational philosophy.
At the heart of this work is the Opportunity Ready Portfolio Presentation, where students demonstrate mastery of three critical skills: Communication, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking. Using a structured process guided by clear rubrics and expectations, students select artifacts from their in-school and out-of-school learning experiences as evidence of their skill development.
Each student presentation is guided by the driving question: “How have I demonstrated and grown in my Opportunity Ready Skills as a Communicator, Collaborator, and Critical Thinker this school year, and how will I apply these Opportunity Ready skills to what’s next for me, including my future career?”
Trained panel members, including at least one member from the school’s design team, evaluate these presentations using standardized rubrics that assess specific performance outcomes for each skill area. The panels follow a structured protocol for scoring student work, ensuring consistency and fairness while providing constructive feedback.
“We learned that you don’t know what your students are capable of until you ask and give them a chance to respond,” shares one district leader. “We have been blown away by what our students are able to demonstrate through our performance assessment system.”
The impact of this work extends throughout the educational community:
For students, the process has revealed the power of reflection. Many students express surprise at how much they’ve grown until they take time to reflect on their learning journey. This metacognitive awareness strengthens their sense of personal growth and achievement.
Teachers, while initially cautious about the workload involved in preparing for conferences and defenses, become enthusiastic advocates after witnessing students’ presentations. As one administrator noted, “To a person, they are invigorated and excited to begin planning for the next year once they see it in action.”
For administrators and district leaders, the presentations have rekindled passion for educational transformation. “The impact the presentations have on the panel, parents, and staff has reignited our drive for this work,” reports a district representative.
The most compelling evidence comes from individual student experiences. One particularly moving example involved a student who had struggled significantly during middle school. During their senior defense, the student articulated their growth journey with such clarity and reflection that “there was not a dry eye in the room.” This transformative moment exemplifies how the process helps students recognize and celebrate their own development while preparing them for future challenges.
Through this ongoing partnership with Envision Learning Partners, Roanoke County Public Schools continues to refine and expand their performance assessment system. The district’s commitment to developing the whole student—not just academic knowledge but essential life skills—positions their graduates to thrive in whatever paths they choose after high school, whether in higher education, careers, or military service.
By creating authentic opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery of critical skills, reflect on their growth, and connect their learning to future aspirations, Roanoke County Public Schools is preparing students not just for tests, but for life beyond graduation in a rapidly changing world.
In this special Guest Blog Video Interview, hear from Alcine Mumby and Laureen Adams, interviewed by Niloy Gangopadhyay and Courtney Katen.
This interview was sparked by Alcine’s recent travel to the Ghana ASCD Educators’ Summit 2024 earlier this year.
Learn about Alcine and Laureen’s history- all starting in Oakland at Envision Academy, what Laureen took away and still carries with her as leader of the Tutu Institute in Ghana, why she believes so deeply in performance assessment, and what’s up next for her work continuing to support educators and systems.
Bullitt County Public Schools is a public school district in Shepherdsville, KY that serves students from pre-K through 12th grade. The district is committed to providing a world-class education that prepares students for success beyond high school.
Envision Learning Partners has worked with Bullitt County Public Schools since 2018, partnering on their Graduate Profile development and performance assessment system. Bullitt County’s Superintendent, Dr. Jesse Bacon, and Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Adrienne Usher, are also both alumni of ELP’s Deeper Learning Leadership Forum.
In this Partner Profile, we hear from Assistant Superintendent, Adrienne Usher.
How are you advancing your Performance Assessment System? Is there one story you can share that illustrates how this work is benefitting your school, students or teachers?
Advancing the Performance Assessment System in Bullitt County Public Schools involves the creation of Graduate Profile Performance outcomes for students in Grades K-2, 3-5, and 9-12. A notable story comes from a graduate of the district who, after completing postsecondary education, entered the workforce. This individual reflected on a high school assessment experience involving a presentation to a city council to solve a community problem, which proved invaluable when preparing for an engineering position interview. College courses, according to this graduate, did not fully address aspects of the interview process, including content, dispositions, and competencies. This example highlights the effectiveness of the performance assessment system in preparing students not only for specific occupations but also for broader workforce preparation.
What have you learnt during this process?
The process of transforming assessment has revealed the need to rethink its purpose and identify who truly owns it—students. While teachers play a critical role in this process, it is students who take ownership of their learning. Empowering students to demonstrate their learning fosters motivation and a deeper understanding of its larger purpose.
What is the impact you are seeing on students and their work?
The implementation of performance assessments and student ownership of learning is having a significant positive impact on students and their work. Students are more motivated as they recognize the relevance of their learning beyond the classroom. This approach is also fostering necessary dispositions and competencies, aligned to our Graduate Profile, preparing students for future challenges in higher education, the workforce, and beyond. By developing the skills to articulate their knowledge and connect it to meaningful purposes, students are not only achieving academic success but also growing into lifelong learners equipped for a dynamic and evolving world.
What is the impact you are seeing on teachers and their practice?
The gradual shift embedding performance assessments is creating meaningful changes in teachers and their practice. Teachers are rethinking the purpose of assessment on a continuum of traditional, transitional, and transformational methods that emphasize student ownership of learning combining academics and our Graduate Profile competencies. Teachers are becoming facilitators of learning, guiding students to take responsibility for their growth and encouraging reflection and self-assessment. This approach is also enhancing teachers’ instructional practices, as they integrate more student-centered strategies and focus on developing dispositions and competencies alongside content knowledge. The process is reinvigorating teachers’ sense of purpose and enthusiasm for a new school experience.
What is the impact of this work ON YOU as a practitioner?
The impact of this work I have experienced, as a practitioner, is related to understanding a larger purpose for school and its connection to the community and society. School can be viewed as a place to gain knowledge and get a high school diploma and it ends there. However, connecting school and assessment that impacts students in more comprehensive ways is about life preparation. In reality, the school experience, which includes teaching, learning, and assessment, is a reflection of what the greater community (students, parents, community members, industry partners, etc.) values. If communities want graduates to be more prepared and successful in the workforce and as citizens, collaboration that provides opportunities for learning and assessment which connects academics to real world problem solving is a future-focused necessity.
Learn more about the great work being done in Bullitt County in this EdWeek article.
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