HILL Pedagogies is an educational services consulting company that promotes and implements critical race theory-inspired concepts in school curriculums and school lesson plans ¹ to help students “become woke and socio-politically conscious beings.” ²

HILL Pedagogies does not prioritize skills ³ or “learning standards” in education because it expresses the view that “standard” is a word that is “rooted in whiteness” and does not come from minority communities. ⁴ The organization also conducts so-called “equity audits” and literacy reviews of school curriculums. ⁵

HILL Pedagogies was founded by Gholnecsar “Gholdy” Muhammad in 2018. Muhammad believes in “rewriting of learning standards for equity and excellence” to evaluate how teachers teach identity development and liberation within classrooms, instead of standards, ⁶ and promotes critical race theory-inspired concepts such as “anti-racism,” equity in education, and “culturally and responsive education.” ⁷

History and Leadership

HILL Pedagogies was founded in 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia, ⁸ as an educational services consulting company that promotes critical race theory-inspired concepts in the classroom, including helping students “become woke and socio-politically conscious beings.” ⁹

The “HILL” in HILL Pedagogies is an acronym which represents the organization’s four key pillars: history, identity, literacy, and liberation. ¹⁰

Gholnecsar “Gholdy” Muhammad is the director of HILL Pedagogies. ¹¹ She is known for promoting critical race theory-inspired concepts such as “anti-racism,” equity in education, and “culturally and responsive education” which are the foundational principles of her book, Cultivating Genius. ¹²

Activities and Funding

HILL Pedagogies uses Gholdy Muhammad’s book, Cultivating Genius, to inform and guide its activities. The book promotes an “equity-centered” education model ¹³ to transform education policy, theory, and practice within parents, teachers, and leaders. ¹⁴

To achieve these goals, HILL Pedagogies offers critical race theory-inspired “equity audits” for schools and school districts, provides literacy audits to evaluate curriculums, reviews and evaluates curriculums, and provides critical race theory-influenced education consulting and workshops to its clients. ¹⁵

HILL Pedagogies does not prioritize skills ¹⁶ or “learning standards” in education because the organization holds that “standard” is a word that is “rooted in whiteness” and does not come from minority communities. ¹⁷ Hill Pedagogies believes in “rewriting of learning standards for equity and excellence” to evaluate how development and liberation are taught within classrooms instead of standards. ¹⁸

HILL Pedagogies’ “equity-centered” model of education is grounded in the black experience and focuses on four key pillars to help students “become ‘woke’ and socio-politically conscious beings:” ¹⁹

1. Racial, cultural, gender, environmental, and community identity;
2. Skills are requisite proficiencies, not standards;
3. Intellectualism is the knowledge of people, places, things, and concepts;
4. Criticality is the capacity and ability to read, write, think, and speak to understand power and equity as a way to promote “anti-oppression.”

This curriculum defines oppression as “any wrongdoing, hurt, or harm, including racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, or any other oppression” ^{20 21} and has been adopted by some schools in Chicago and New York. ²²

HILL Pedagogies operates the “Educate Black” program to share books texts, programs, frameworks, and resources for schools that are owned, created and designed by black people. ²³ It also creates critical race theory-inspired lesson plans on various topics including Hair: It is Personal and Political, Food Security and Food Apartheid, Becoming a Change Agent, and Birthplace of Hip Hop ²⁴ and a lesson plan that supports Black Lives Matter activist Colin Kaepernick. ²⁵

Funding

HILL Pedagogies is funded by program service, consulting, and other fees. ²⁶ The organization has contracts of $56,000 from the Long Beach Unified School District ²⁷ and $4,000 from the Olentangy Local School District in Olentangy, Ohio, among others. ²⁸

1. “Resources.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/resources/.
2. Ivelisse Ramos-Brannon and Gholdy Muhammad. “Teaching Toward Genius: An Equity Model for Pedagogy in Action.” American Consortium for Equity in Education. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://ace-ed.org/teaching-toward-genius-an-equity-model-for-pedagogy-in-action/.
3. Ivelisse Ramos-Brannon and Gholdy Muhammad. “Teaching Toward Genius: An Equity Model for Pedagogy in Action.” American Consortium for Equity in Education. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://ace-ed.org/teaching-toward-genius-an-equity-model-for-pedagogy-in-action/.
4. Twitter Video. Twitter. Posted September 4, 2020. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://twitter.com/GholdyM/status/1302024348316782593.
5. “Professional Learning.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/professional-learning/.
6. Hancock, Peter. “Black lawmakers seek to revamp social studies education in Illinois.” Capitol News Illinois. Posted October 7, 2020. Updated November 12, 2020. Accessed via Web Archive October 31, 2021. https://archive.md/8FyKm.
7. “HILL Pedagogies.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/.
8. “About HILL Pedagogies LLC.” Georgia Corporations Division. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://ecorp.sos.ga.gov/BusinessSearch/BusinessInformation?businessId=2458167&businessType=Domestic%20Limited%20Liability%20Company&fromSearch=True.
9. Ivelisse Ramos-Brannon and Gholdy Muhammad. “Teaching Toward Genius: An Equity Model for Pedagogy in Action.” American Consortium for Equity in Education. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://ace-ed.org/teaching-toward-genius-an-equity-model-for-pedagogy-in-action/.
10. Hill Pedagogies. Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/.
11. “About Hill Pedagogies.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 28, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/about/.
12. “HILL Pedagogies.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/.
13. “About Hill Pedagogies.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 28, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/about/.
14. “HILL Pedagogies.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/.
15. “Professional Learning.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/professional-learning/.
16. ^[1] Ivelisse Ramos-Brannon and Gholdy Muhammad. “Teaching Toward Genius: An Equity Model for Pedagogy in Action.” American Consortium for Equity in Education. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://ace-ed.org/teaching-toward-genius-an-equity-model-for-pedagogy-in-action/.
17. ^[1] Twitter Video. Twitter. Posted September 4, 2020. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://twitter.com/GholdyM/status/1302024348316782593.
18.  Hancock, Peter. “Black lawmakers seek to revamp social studies education in Illinois.” Capitol News Illinois. Posted October 7, 2020. Updated November 12, 2020. Accessed via Web Archive October 31, 2021. https://archive.md/8FyKm.
19. Ivelisse Ramos-Brannon and Gholdy Muhammad. “Teaching Toward Genius: An Equity Model for Pedagogy in Action.” American Consortium for Equity in Education. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://ace-ed.org/teaching-toward-genius-an-equity-model-for-pedagogy-in-action/.
20. Ivelisse Ramos-Brannon and Gholdy Muhammad. “Teaching Toward Genius: An Equity Model for Pedagogy in Action.” American Consortium for Equity in Education. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://ace-ed.org/teaching-toward-genius-an-equity-model-for-pedagogy-in-action/.
21. “About Hill Pedagogies.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 28, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/about/.
22. “Program Faculty.” University of Illinois Chicago. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://education.uic.edu/academics/programs/literacy-language-culture/program-faculty/.
23. “Educate Black.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/educate-black/.
24. “Resources.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/resources/.
25. “HILL Plan Framework.” Lesson Plan. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gsu.edu/dist/6/6004/files/2017/05/Lesson-Reflection-15a6qto.pdf.
26. “Professional Learning.” Hill Pedagogies. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://hillpedagogies.com/professional-learning/.
27. “Meeting of the Board of Education.” Long Beach Unified School District. February 3, 2021. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://www.lbschools.net/Asset/Files/BOE/Agenda/2021-02-03-Agenda.pdf.
28. “Culturally & Historically Responsive Education Professional Development Plan for Virtual Learning.” Hill Pedagogies Contract. Accessed October 30, 2021. https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Hill-Pedagogies-Gholnescar-Muhammad-Olentangy-Schools-OH-2021-4000-for-One-hour-Presentation.pdf.