Equity Logics in Networked Improvement Communities: Comparative Case Studies Across Two School Districts

• In Event: Advancing Educational Equity Through Collaborative Improvement: Insights From Research and Practice

Abstract

Improvement science (IS) has become a common approach to continuous improvement in schools, leading to questions of whether IS can dismantle inequitable systems and construct educational possibilities given the core principles do not have an explicit equity focus. This study uses comparative case study methodology with pooled data from two cases on the use of IS towards equitable goals in nine networked improvement communities (NICs). Using institutional logics as a framework to understand equity logics within/across NICs, we find each NIC had a different set of equity logics, ranging from dominant to transformative logics. Findings show that equity does not automatically stem from IS-driven work, necessitating a reconsideration of how IS can integrate transformative equity logics into the core principles.

Authors

• Samantha L. Viano, George Mason University

• Elizabeth Leisy Stosich, Fordham University