Jamie Almanzan
Jamie is a facilitator, teacher, curriculum developer and leadership coach currently working as an equity focused Leadership Coach and is the founder of The Equity Collaborative in Oakland, California. Prior to leading The Equity Collaborative he held the position of Senior Coach at the National Equity Project, in Oakland CA.
He has held the position of Director of Learning and Teaching at Pacific Educational Group in San Francisco and has been a public school teacher at every grade level of the system. He has focused his 20 year educational career, as a teacher and professional learning provider, on working with school and district teams to create more equitable learning environments incorporating observation, collaboration, and changing instruction to best meet the needs of underserved populations, particularly African American and Latino students.
Jamie is involved in systemic school reform initiatives and is responsible for the development and facilitation of leadership seminars for state, regional and district teams across the country. Jamie coaches in a wide range of schools and districts throughout the nation.
Workshops
- Executive Alignment Leadership Coaching: This series focuses on developing the district and school leaders’ skills, knowledge and capacity to support staff in becoming Culturally Competent. The job-embedded coaching offers frameworks and customizable tools to help district and school leaders listen to school communities and identify and assess the ways classroom structure, school climate, and teaching practices shape and codify policies and actions to reach the identified district and school wide goals.
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Equity Leadership Team Development: This series of workshops will employ a coaching based approach for district and school leaders to develop and lead effective instructional conversations focused on reaching equitable outcomes. District leaders, principals, and teachers have to be skillful in talking about, and coaching towards, equity in a way that allows others to embrace change to replace current reproductive practices with new relational and instructional practices that support the social, emotional, and intellectual development of students who have traditionally been underserved.
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Racial Equity Institute: This is a two-day workshop designed to introduce key concepts and practices to move a district and school system toward equitable outcomes for underseved students and families. Educators will deepen their understanding of how race and culture influence human behaviors and thus, teaching and learning. This workshop allows staff interactive opportunities to reflect on their own role in perpetuating institutional oppression. It also explores using an equity lens to examine school instructional practices and learning environments.
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Culturally Responsive Instruction Workshops: This series will support educators to deepen their understanding of how race and culture influence teaching and learning. Culturally responsive teaching requires that teachers be skillful in listening to and questioning students in a way that allows them to embrace their own learning. It is imperative that teachers learn to reflect on and replace current reproductive practices with new relational and instructional practices that support the social, emotional, and intellectual development of students who have traditionally been underserved.
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Equity Focused Instructional Coaching Development: During this series a coaching based approach is used to support educators to develop and lead effective instructional conversations focused on reaching equitable outcomes. District leaders, principals, and teachers have to be skillful in talking about, and coaching towards, equity in a way that allows others to embrace change to replace current reproductive practices with new relational and instructional practices that support the social, emotional, and intellectual development of students who have traditionally been underserved. Participants will examine their coaching and facilitation styles with a focus on educational equity by developing and practicing specific coaching skills
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Engaging Student Voice: The authentic voice of students can be used to inform everything from high-level policy changes to classroom practices. The key is to engage students in a meaningful way with facilitation that helps them analyze their schooling experience and explore possibilities for change. The Student Six model engages students in providing staff development on culturally responsive instruction. Arts-based student engagement workshops produce tools that can be used to promote reflection and change among school staff. Student focus groups offer an easy opportunity to gather feedback and guidance on a wide range of topics.
What People Are Saying
“In order to close the achievement gap, I believe we need to support, coach, and develop our ADULTS- most importantly, our teachers. Equity coaching is the only practice I have seen that addresses multiple domains that impact our work as educators. Jamie was instrumental in helping us develop a coaching model that assists teachers as they examine and further develop their moral and emotional commitment to all students, while improving their relationship with students and their knowledge and use of instructional best practices. As a result, our teachers trust their coaches and are adjusting their teaching methods in an attempt to meet their student’s needs. They feel empowered and know they can change to help their students become more successful.”
-Rob Metz, Superinendent, St. Louis Park Public Schools, MN