District Domains for Advancing Racial Equity

• In Event: Accelerating Learning: Equity-Centered District Strategies to Support Students During COVID Recovery

Abstract

This paper presents a tool that captures research-informed, high leverage aspects of schooling that leaders can address in order to create systems that build on the strengths and respond to the needs of students of color. The tool offers a theoretical framework for district and school leaders and staff to understand the ecosystem of policies and practices they design and enact. It also includes a set of measurable indicators to track progress toward greater racial equity and enable data-informed decision-making.

The tool presents a new, research-based theoretical framework. It is based on the supposition that achieving racial equity means student success is not predetermined by student race. ‘Student success’ occurs when students demonstrate developmentally-appropriate mastery of academic knowledge and skills; preparation for work, life, and civic participation; and the social-emotional skills that undergird healthy self-image and relationships with others and the broader world. It also posits that districts set direction and take action in influencing a set of domains in an ongoing cycle of improvement in partnership with school community members.

The tool presented in this paper is based on a systematic review of extant literature and instruments on educational equity (e.g. Annenberg, 2002; Del Razo et al., 2014; Nagaoka et al., 2015; National Commission on Teaching an America’s Future, 2016; Scheerens, 2011). We used findings from these studies and instruments to develop a draft framework to understand and measure systems-level racial equity. In a second phase, researchers consulted with cabinet-level district leaders in a workshop session on using the tool to understand racial equity in their systems. Feedback from this session informed utilization-focused adaptations to enhance the practicality and accessibility of the tool.

The research resulted in a user-friendly tool, featuring six domains that district leadership can influence to advance racial equity:
• a clear vision for racial equity;
• data systems that drive progress toward racial equity;
• resources that are equitably distributed;
• deeper learning instructional practices;
• meaningful partnerships with families and the community;
• and safe, healthy and inclusive school environments.

The tool includes a brief literature review for each domain that demonstrates its relationship with racial equity. Additionally, we frame essential questions that break down each domain into its component parts, and list qualitative and quantitative measures that facilitate targeted exploration of district data for each question. Finally, we describe how this tool can be used as a collaborative organizing framework for continuous improvement, rather than as an exhaustive audit tool used to punitively shame and blame district actors.

This paper is a significant contribution to scholarship because it brings together what is known about district racial equity in a uniquely comprehensive and practical tool. The tool helps conceptualize systems-level equity work for practitioners and researchers alike, and provides a resource for districts to self-evaluate, set goals, and track progress. Additionally, it provides a way for external users to systematically collect data to inform further research on racial equity outcomes. Ready for dissemination and use, this tool will help to inform research, practice, and policy in research-based, equity-oriented ways.

Authors

• Desiree Carver-Thomas, Learning Policy Institute

• Larkin Willis, Learning Policy Institute

• Marjorie E. Wechsler, Learning Policy Institute

• Maria E. Hyler, Learning Policy Institute