Inclusive Environment
Inclusion is not measured by who is present alone, but by whose identities, ideas, and ways of participating can genuinely shape the learning.
The official Element
Element 2D: Teachers build on students’ assets—students’ abilities and talents, prior learning and peer and social group interactions, languages and cultures, and family and community experiences— to ensure that students’ identities are included in classroom interactions and future learning experiences.
What this Element asks of an educator
Inclusion is not measured by who is present alone, but by whose identities, ideas, and ways of participating can genuinely shape the learning.
Read together, these indicators ask educators to make inclusive environment visible in planning, teaching, student experience, and follow-through. The aim is not to display every indicator in every lesson, but to understand the full range of the Element and select a focused practice to develop with evidence.
Official Example Indicators—and an SDLA reading
The Commission presents Example Indicators as illustrations rather than a comprehensive or required checklist. Their sequence shows the breadth of this Element and gives teachers, mentors, and coaches a shared language for focused development.
Recognize and understand students’ commonalities and differences in order…
Official indicator: Recognize and understand students’ commonalities and differences in order to facilitate experiences that enable each student to fully participate and grow.
Anticipate student variability and provide appropriate guidance
Official indicator: Anticipate student variability and provide appropriate guidance, instruction, resources, and supports to enhance each student’s access to challenging learning experiences.
Develop and sustain opportunities for students to reflect on
Official indicator: Develop and sustain opportunities for students to reflect on, cultivate, and practice social–emotional skills in ways that are developmentally appropriate and culturally and linguistically responsive and sustaining, to optimize equitable academic learning experiences.
Support students in learning and practicing ways to express…
Official indicator: Support students in learning and practicing ways to express thoughtful and respectful feedback and opinions about others’ learning and well-being as well as their own.
Developing the practice
Teach the environment
Model, practice, and revisit relationships, routines, expectations, and ways of resolving difficulty.
Design for access and dignity
Arrange time, space, materials, supports, and responses so students can participate without unnecessary friction.
Listen to the climate
Use observation and student perspective to examine safety, belonging, challenge, voice, and the effects of adult decisions.
Evidence worth noticing
- student descriptions of safety, belonging, intellectual challenge, and voice
- interaction, behavior, participation, and transition patterns across settings
- a routine or environmental feature revised in response to evidence
- documentation of restorative follow-through or coordinated support
Evidence caution: No single artifact proves accomplished practice. Interpret evidence in context, center student experience and learning, use multiple sources, and avoid collecting identifiable information that is not necessary.
A pinch of data integration and digital learning
Digital systems can organize information, improve access, coordinate work, or shorten a feedback loop. They are valuable only when the educator can explain the human decision they support, the information they require, and how privacy, accessibility, equity, and professional responsibility are protected.
Accessibility resources for CAASPP and ELPAC
Connect inclusive daily practice with California accessibility resources.
Questions for reflection and coaching
- Where is inclusive environment already visible in my practice, and what evidence supports that judgment?
- Which students experience the current approach differently from the way I intend?
- Which official indicator names the most important next area for growth?
- What is one affordable, manageable adjustment I can test, and what will I look for afterward?
- Whose perspective—student, family, colleague, specialist, or community partner—would improve the next decision?
Continuum of Teaching Practice: Element 2D
This Element-specific continuum describes how practice develops from Emerging through Innovating. Compare the teacher-practice descriptions with the related evidence in students’ experience, then identify a current strength and a purposeful next step.
How to understand and use this continuum for professional growth
- Begin at Emerging and read across. Practices described at earlier levels carry forward even when they are not repeated.
- Use evidence gathered over time to identify the description that most closely reflects current practice.
- A teacher may be at different levels in different Elements, regardless of years in the profession.
- Changes in students, content, grade level, school, or responsibilities may appropriately shift practice in either direction.
- Use the continuum for reflection and goal setting, not as a stand-alone observation or evaluation instrument.
Select a level to expand it. Select it again to return to the full comparison.
Teacher practice
The teacher begins to understand the value of identifying and incorporating students' assets, prior learning, and cultural backgrounds into classroom activities.
Evidence in student experience
Students share their personal and cultural backgrounds.
Teacher practice
The teacher enhances their use of students' diverse cultural backgrounds, abilities, and assets by integrating these elements into learning activities.
The teacher develops opportunities for students to practice social-emotional skills in developmentally appropriate ways.
Evidence in student experience
Students actively engage in learning activities that are informed and enriched by their diverse cultural backgrounds and personal abilities, Students occasionally practice social-emotional skills during peer activities.
Teacher practice
The teacher consistently implements learning experiences that leverage students’ diverse cultures, abilities, and assets.
The teacher fosters an environment where students can reflect on, cultivate, and practice social-emotional skills.
Evidence in student experience
Students utilize their diverse assets and experiences to enrich their learning, consistently engaging in learning activities and interactions, promoting social-emotional growth.
Teacher practice
The teacher anticipates variability and tailors learning opportunities to each student’s unique assets, ensuring those experiences are accessible and challenging.
The teacher supports students in expressing thoughtful and respectful feedback.
Evidence in student experience
Students actively participate in accessible and challenging learning activities.
Students actively provide and receive thoughtful and respectful feedback, fostering a collaborative and inclusive learning environment
Teacher practice
The teacher leads innovative practices that integrate student diversity, facilitating experiences that are culturally and linguistically sustaining.
The teacher co-creates, develops, and sustains opportunities that showcase and utilize student assets.
Evidence in student experience
Students regularly contribute to learning experiences honoring their and classmates’ cultural and linguistic diversity.
Students co-create and engage in opportunities that showcase their unique assets, enhancing the learning environment for themselves and their peers.
Source and attribution: Continuum language reproduced from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Continuum of Teaching Practice (2025), aligned with the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (2024). This publication by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing is not copyright. It may be reproduced in the public interest, but proper attribution is requested.