Listening for Equity: Examining Instructional Opportunities in a Rural Elementary School

• In Event: Inquiry as Leadership: A Cross-Boundary Dialogue on Teacher-Led Equity Audits in High-Poverty Schools

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
This study explores how access to rigorous instruction and student support may differ across demographic groups in a rural context. The teacher aims to uncover patterns of inclusion and exclusion that shape students' opportunities to thrive academically and socially.

Theoretical Framework
Framed by asset-based (Moll et al., 1992) and equity-centered leadership perspectives, this inquiry treats teacher leadership as a vehicle for equity. The teacher uses Scanlan and Theoharis ’s (2015) model to analyze opportunity gaps in instructional experiences.

Methods, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry
The equity audit draws on schoolwide records and classroom artifacts. Informal interviews with students complement the quantitative data. Special attention is paid to who gets access to enrichment and who is disproportionately disciplined or remediated.
Data Sources, Evidence, or Materials. The teacher examined behavior data, reading intervention placement, and student work samples. Data were analyzed by race, gender, and IEP status to identify disproportionalities.

Preliminary Results
Findings show overrepresentation of students of color and boys in behavioral incidents and underrepresentation in enrichment programs. The audit suggests that some decisions are driven more by implicit bias than by student needs.

Implications for Practice
The teacher is using the audit to inform leadership within professional learning communities. The work emphasizes how practitioner inquiry can drive shifts in school culture, teacher expectations, and instructional equity.

Author

• Lauren Brascho, University of Alabama - Birmingham