The Future of Equitable Schools Design Challenge - Spring 2021

“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets,” writes scholar and author Dr. W. Edwards Deming. When we apply that logic to our schools, we see an education system that was successfully designed to produce inequitable outcomes. This is not a surprise to most educators or students, but it is a challenge that must be tackled.

Construct’s Future of Equitable Schools Design Challenge asks K-12 student design teams across Oregon, How Might We Improve School Experiences For Black, Brown, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and Immigrant Students?Participating teachers were coached through the equity innovation process in January, then supported throughout the 10-week school term while they facilitated their students in designing new and innovative ways to improve the high school experience for BIPOC and LQBTQIA+ students in their schools.

This Spring, 2021, with funding from Meyer Memorial Trust, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, and NIKE, students and educators from four Oregon public schools participated in Construct’s Equity-Centered Design Challenge, including: Faubion Middle School’s Black Student Union, a Parkrose High School AVID class, Sunset High School’s Black Student Union, and Gladstone High School’s SAFE club.

Participating teachers were coached through the equity innovation process in January, then supported throughout the 10-week school term while they facilitated their students in designing new and innovative ways to improve the high school experience for BIPOC and LQBTQIA+ students in their schools.

Finalist Concept Pitches