Great Lakes Equity Center |

Equitable, Responsive Education for All

The Great Lakes Equity Center was established by Dr. Kathleen King Thorius and colleagues in 2011 at the Indiana University School of Education, as an Equity Assistance Center (formerly Desegregation Assistance) funded by the United States Department of Education. As of 2016, the Great Lakes Equity Center re-structured as an organizational hub for an array of research, technical assistance, and educational resource development projects, including the Midwest and Plains (MAP) Equity Assistance Center. Collectively, we are committed to school and system transformation toward racial, disability, and other forms of educational justice: the MAP Center provides three-tiers of technical assistance related to race, sex, national origin, and religion desegregation to K-12 public education agencies in a 13-state region free-of-charge; the Great Lakes Equity Center continues to partner with community, non-profit, and private organizations across the U.S. on equity-driven systemic transformation, professional learning, and collaborative inquiry projects.

Midwest and Plains (MAP) Equity Assistance Center

The purpose of this Equity by Design brief is to provide educators and parents with information about universal supports, describe how these supports... read more

In this issue of the Equity Dispatch we focus on the collective power of minoritized communities to positively impact the quality of... read more

In this Equity Spotlight podcast, Dr. Federico Waitoller interviews two special education teachers about their experiences and perspectives... read more

The purpose of this A History of In/Equity in US Public Education Policy and Law: Implications for School Boards Timeline activity is to provide a... read more

This Equity Tool is for teachers that need quick access to research on the intersection of language and disability. This multi-... read more

This special edition of Equity Dispatch highlights the critical call-to-action presented by keynote speaker Dr. James “Jim” Scheurich at the MAP... read more

To help families navigate disability rights processes that can intersect in complicated ways with other federal laws, this Equity Tool is intended to... read more

In this Equity by Design brief, the authors summarize a study published by Waitoller and Maggin (2018) in the special education journal... read more

In this edition of Equity Digest, we explore what state education agencies can do to ensure the pursuit of educational equity at the local level, the... read more

Learning Network Cohort

The Learning Network Cohort is an intentional learning community that provides shared learning and networking opportunities for partners related to a common topic of interest or shared goals. The Center offers opportunities for cohort members to participate in shared online professional learning and networking experiences, including an orientation, a virtual roundtable discussion with a subject matter expert, an equity tool showcase, and a webinar.

Currently, the Center offers a series of virtual learning events focused on two topic areas:

Culturally Responsive/Asset-based and Sustaining Practices: This customized series provides tools and supports to assist with advancing educators’ awareness, knowledge, and understanding of evidence-based culturally responsive and sustaining leadership practices.
Safe and Inclusive Schools: This customized series provides educators targeted supports to redress incidents of harassment based on race, sex, national origin, and/or religion, as well as guidance on how to create safe and inclusive learning cultures and climates.

Please make a request for membership HERE if you would like to join the Learning Network Cohort and receive the event registration password.