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6 Equity Principles for Schools


Principle #1: Attitudes and beliefs consciously and unconsciously drive our decisions.
  • Believe that all students can learn and achieve at a high level.
  • Believe that all teachers have an impact on student outcomes, not just those teaching state tested subjects.
  • Persistence and perseverance are necessary for both teachers and students to move through difficult tasks and situations.
  • Focus on fostering a love of learning, rather than a tolerance or endurance for schoolwork.
  • Understand students’ core beliefs about school and learning.
  • Recognize and combat student apathy.
  • Recognize and find a work-around to negative student perceptions of rule-following and academic achievement.
  • Seek to understand why disengaged students still come to school and why others don’t come to school.

Principle #2: Relationships are everything.
  • Build authentic trust and affirm students' value beyond pleasantries and kind words.
  • Create welcoming school and classroom environments that provide a sense of belonging, school pride, and camaraderie.
  • Seek to understand what needs negative behaviors may be communicating.
  • Avoid power struggles.
  • Address the behavior. Don’t take it personally and don’t make it personal. 
  • Recognize that social status is important to students.
  • Adopt classroom management approaches that allow students to “save face”.
We are in the service industry and, more specifically, in the “People” business. Teachers should be passionate about both their subject of mastery and about building relationships or the rest is all for naught. 
Principle #3: Inequities in processes and policies inhibit student success.
  • Conduct Equity Audits and Disparity Analyses of district and school policies to ensure that students are receiving the same quality of teachers, principals, services, choices, and opportunities as their white peers in more affluent school districts. 
  • Address ways to combat the “survival instinct” that is prevalent in low-performing schools so that teachers worry less about their school closing or keeping their jobs and can focus their energy on collaboration and professional growth in service of student outcomes. 
Principle #4: High expectancy is a sign of equity.
  • Recognize all students as thinkers and problem solvers. Language barriers, cultural barriers, and social barriers do not equal thinking barriers.
  • Keep the bar high and then strategize how to get students to reach and exceed it.
  • Have high expectations for all teachers, not just those who teach high-stakes tested subjects.
Principle #5: All students deserve relevant and engaging curriculum.
  • Give students a reason to want to do the work.
  • Create projects or authentic tasks that create a structure where students’ contributions are both valued and critical to the project’s success.
  • Design relevant classwork that students can see themselves in.
  • Capitalize on the joys, angst, and passions of your students. Seek themes or topics that get students “fired up”. For some students, one spark on a deeply important topic is enough to ignite the flame of a lifelong learner. 

Principle #6: Change requires space to experiment and take risks.
  • Consider flexibility in grading to allow for risk-taking (for both teachers and students).
  • Give teachers space, time, and creative license to write and revise curriculum as needs change.
  • Create classroom expectations that promote experimentation without fear of ridicule.

Sources:
Avelar La Salle, Robin and Johnson Ruth S.  Peeling Back the Wallpaper, Educational Leadership vol. 74 no. 3 (ASCD), November 2016
Bernard, Bonnie and Williams, Belinda (editor) Closing the Achievement Gap: A Vision for Changing Beliefs and Practices, 2nd edition
Dweck, Carol; Walton, Gregory; and Cohen, Geoffrey. Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills that Promote Long-Term Learninghttps://ed.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/manual/dweck-walton-cohen-2014.pdf
Fergus-Arcia, Edward Solving Disproportionality and Achieving Equity: A Leader’s Guide to Using Data to Change Hearts and Minds, Corwin 2016
Hammond, Zaretta Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Corwin 2015
Ward-Singer, Tonya. Opening Doors to Equity, Sage Publications 2015

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