Each tool on this site is what Mica calls an onramp — a structured invitation to enter collective efforts to improve schools and society. If the collective effort is a highway full of travelers going in a shared direction–here, improving schools to support every young person and all groups of young people — an “onramp” proactively offers language, concepts, or action steps that prompt people to enter work where they are.
A *text* can be an onramp to collective effort (eg., Schooltalk is designed to be one onramp, Everyday Antiracism another; each chapter is an onramp of its own). A *frame* or term can be an onramp inspiring collective effort (Mica has used “everyday antiracism,” “equity,” and “anti-hate” to invite people into the work). Each “onramp” has pros/cons, in given situations. Onramps need to be designed for use in specific places.
And then, talk tools help us sustain efforts with each other once on the highway.
No single text does it all: we need a toolkit. Every text and every idea can be discussed, debated, grappled with, turned toward improvement. We need to apply any text as an onramp to ongoing work to improve our schools and student supports. One effort is the #Schooltalking Action Planner — check it out.
