Puzzle of Practice
Alpac Elementary faced persistent opportunity and outcome gaps, especially for Hispanic boys with disabilities, despite having a School Improvement Plan and instructional frameworks in place.
The key puzzle was:
How do we ensure that daily classroom instruction reflects Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices and reduces Level 1 outcomes in ELA and Math for Hispanic boys with disabilities?
This question moved the work from intention to evidence. Through a Human-Centered MTSS lens, the team needed a way to see whether culturally responsive practices were actually showing up for students in classrooms.
Collective Goal
Alpac developed a theory of action to guide their work; If we conduct regular Equity Walks focused on CRTP Principle 5, then teachers will strengthen differentiation, student ownership, and engagement in ways that directly support Hispanic boys with disabilities.
The team focused on CRTP Principle 5: “Instructional changes are made to accommodate differences in learners.”
By aligning the walks to SIP goals and using the 7 CRTP principles and CEL 5D+ indicators, the school created a way to translate abstract equity commitments into observable, improvable classroom practices.
Collective Action
The school implemented Equity Walks in January and March, collecting classroom observation and student feedback data about scaffolds, access to learning, student talk, grouping, and engagement.
The walks showed strong, consistent scaffolds and aligned materials across classrooms, suggesting robust systems for access to grade-level learning.
At the same time, the data surfaced areas that needed more attention. Student ownership was emerging but inconsistent. Student talk declined from 59% to 47%, and flexible grouping declined from 47% to 24%.
Those findings sharpened the school’s focus on discourse and differentiation as the next improvement lever.
Collective Impact
At Alpac, impact is visible in the school’s clearer improvement system. Equity Walks helped the team see where culturally responsive practices were reaching students and where instruction needed to shift.
Classroom Access and Scaffolds
- Equity Walk snapshots showed strong, consistent scaffolds and aligned materials across classrooms.
- These findings suggested that Alpac had strong systems in place to support access to grade-level learning.
Clearer Improvement Levers
- The data revealed that student ownership was emerging but inconsistent.
- Student talk declined from 59% to 47%.
- Flexible grouping declined from 47% to 24%.
- The team used these findings to sharpen its next focus: discourse, differentiation, and student ownership.
Student Feedback and Responsive Practice
- Students reported feeling acknowledged by teachers, offering qualitative evidence that relationships were strengthening.
- Students also named accommodations they wanted more of, including stress-relief tools and math visuals.
- Their feedback gave the team concrete next steps for making instruction more responsive.
Adult Practice and System Change
- Staff used Equity Walk data in PLCs and paired the findings with targeted professional development on differentiation and engagement.
- The team became better able to see whether culturally responsive practices were reaching students in daily instruction.
- The work was supported by a strong Equity Team, a principal willing to share power, a vice principal who championed students of color, and a leadership team willing to shift policy and practice based on what they learned from students.
Alpac’s work gave the team a sharper way to see classroom practice, hear what students needed, and turn equity commitments into targeted instructional action.
Why YES Works
Youth Empowered Stewardship helps schools move from equity as a stated value to equity as an observable practice.
At Alpac, that meant using Equity Walks to examine culturally responsive teaching practices, grounding improvement in student feedback, and aligning classroom evidence to SIP goals.
The work was supported by a passionate and well-organized Equity Team, a principal willing to share power and empower the team, a vice principal who championed and advocated for people of color and empowered students to see themselves as brilliant scholars, and a leadership team willing to make shifts in policy and practice based on what they learned from students.
The case shows what becomes possible when a school is willing to ask not only whether it values equity, but where students can see it, hear it, and experience it during instruction.
Schools and districts across the country are seeking ways to make equity more visible, actionable, and student-centered. Youth Empowered Stewardship offers a clear pathway for doing exactly that by redesigning systems with students, families, and educators, not around them.
It’s time to say YES to shared stewardship of your school or system.