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Teaching the Holocaust and other Genocides
 
Created in collaboration with the Holocaust & Human Rights Center, the NYS Education Department, and the NYS Archives Partnership Trust.

Alignment with the CR-S Education Framework

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The Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework  is intended to help education stakeholders create student-centered learning environments that affirm cultural identities; foster positive academic outcomes; develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; empower students as agents of social change; and contribute to individual student engagement, learning, growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking. The framework was designed to support education stakeholders in developing and implementing policies that educate all students effectively and equitably, as well as provide appropriate supports and services to promote positive student outcomes. 

In January 2018, the New York State Board of Regents directed the Office of P-12 Education and Higher Education to convene a panel of experts, engage with stakeholders, and develop from the ground up this framework for culturally responsive-sustaining education. This was based on the understanding that the results we seek for all our children can never be fully achieved without incorporating an equity and inclusion lens in every facet of our work. This understanding has created an urgency around promoting equitable opportunities that help all children thrive. New York State understands that the responsibility of education is not only to prevent the exclusion of historically silenced, erased, and disenfranchised groups, but also to assist in the promotion and perpetuation of cultures, languages, and ways of knowing that have been devalued, suppressed, and imperiled by years of educational, social, political, and economic neglect, in addition to other forms of oppression.

The CR-S Education Framework is grounded in four principles:

  • Creating a Welcoming and Affirming Environment
  • Fostering High Expectations and Rigorous Instruction
  • Identifying Inclusive Curriculum and Assessment
  • Engaging in Ongoing Professional Learning

These principles are evident throughout the learning activities, readings, case studies, and additional materials provided throughout this resource guide and are an integral part of providing a comprehensive lens when educating students about the Holocaust and other genocides.