“Embark on Your Equity Journey with ACSES!”
What is Equity?
Equity is often confused with equality. For example, while EQUALITY means everyone receives the same shirt, EQUITY ensures everyone gets a shirt that fits them. Equity prioritizes individual needs, fairness, and justice.
What is ACSES?
ACSES is a classroom quality measurement and improvement system. This tool assists Federal, State, and local leaders in creating equity-centered and high-quality early learning environments that promote positive outcomes for racially marginalized learners.
ACSES: Purpose and Process
The ACSES tool was developed to ensure that racially marginalized learners receive equitable learning opportunities and fair discipline. The purpose of the tool is not to evaluate or judge teachers, but to support and promote culturally responsive practices in the classroom.
Ready to take the next step in your Equity journey? Explore our services below!
Virtual ACSES Rater Training
Raters participate in a virtual 3-day training (6 hour each day) in order to become a certified reliable rater on the ACSES tool. Raters will be certified on how to use the ACSES tool and collect video data of classroom observations. Raters will also be trained on how to interpret scores and provide a written report that interprets the scores.
Certification is valid for 1-year, and then need to be recertified using a 4-hour asynchronous course
3-day virtual rater training, $750 per person
4-hour asynchronous course recertification, $350 per person
Next Training Session: August 3-5, 2026
ACSES 6 Part Webinar Series
Educators, leaders, program directors, and policymakers can engage in facilitated webinars about how to create an equitable early education classroom, program, and/or early learning system. Engagement includes viewing 6 recorded webinars and then participating in 6 virtual sessions offered biweekly by a trained facilitator using a specialized guide developed by ELA.
ELA led facilitator plus CoP with 15 (max) seats, $1200 per group Local facilitator trained to facilitate the CoP plus 15 (max) seats max, $800 per group
ACSES Practitioner Online Course
Social inequity has serious consequences for how education is delivered in the real world today. ACSES was designed to shed light on the experiences of marginalized learners in their learning environments.
The ACSES course provides administrators, program directors, and educators with a framework to create equitable environments that support all children.
The course identifies:
-The importance of using data as a catalyst for creating and changing learning environments
-The transformative effects of leadership focused liberation and justice in education
-How the ACSES framework accounts for the unique experiences of marginalized learners
-Research-based strategies to create more equitable learning environments
ACSES Manual
This manual provides the research foundation for the ACSES tool. It outlines how to administer and interpret the three rating sub scales of the Assessing Classroom Sociocultural Equity Scale (ACSES).The ACSES manual is required for ACSES training.
Visit our ELA website
To learn more about us and get in touch!
OUR MISSION
is to actualize excellence in equitable learning environments for diverse learners. We create education resources and measurement tools, implement professional development, and design evaluations of culturally responsive practices and racial equity in learning environments.