Educational equity:

“Educational equity means that each child receives what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential…” requiring “...disrupting the connection between a student’s racial, economic, (dis)ability, cultural, or other marginalized identity, and student outcomes.” (Woulfin, Stevenson, Lord, 2023, Pg. 43)

Equity-centered educators: 

(DePaoli, et. al., Lee, 2002)

1. Work to increase their own awareness.

2. Take an assets oriented view of students

3. Identify patterns of inequality in their setting

4. Take action to interrupt patterns of inequity

5. Recognize that given achievement debts, different and unequal treatment may be needed

The Equity Principle in Practice

The equity principle in practice can be summed up as (Skrla, McKenzie, Scheurich, 2009): 

1. Respect for all students and their experiences: Understanding that all children come to school with assets, rich cultural lives and experiences, and funds of knowledge.

2. Confidence in each student's ability to learn: Genuine belief that all children are capable of high levels of academic and social engagement & success. 

3. Locating the problem on practice/policy/systems: If #1 and #2 apply equally to all social groups. Therefore, patterns of outcome inequality by race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, learning differences, culture, language, religion, and son on can not be understood as a problem with the group (which would be the very definition of racism or other isms). They must always be a problem of practice/policy/systems.

4. Taking individual responsibility and action for student success: That educators in schools are the ones primarily responsible for student learning,  if we are going to address patterns of inequality, it is our obligation to change the practices/policies/systems that we can. This requires a commitment to identifying one’s own “actionable space” and a willingness to question and change one’s own practices if they are not successful in a given case. In addition, equity-conscious educators seek to expand their sphere of influence to affect their own and their colleagues' practices, as well as the policies and systemic factors that produce inequity (New Teacher Center, 2010).
   
   Taking action may sometimes be a matter of universal access (adjusting what is happening for all students in ways that allow subsets of students to better access the experiences and learning opportunities schools and classrooms afford), but may also require personalization and differentiation (meaning not all students necessarily need or get the same things) (Tompkins & Ward, 2016). This last point creates the key distinction between equity and equality (which suggests everyone gets the same thing regardless of patterns).

For more, see: Tompkins, P. (2024). Defining Educational Equity [Program Resource]. Upper Valley Educators Institute.

References

DePaoli, J., Hernández, L., Furger, R., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2021). A restorative approach for equitable education. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.

New Teacher Center. (2010). Mentoring for Equity. Paper presented at the Mentor Professional Development, Santa Cruz, CA.

Skrla, L., McKenzie, K. B., & Scheurich, J. J. (2009). Using equity audits to create equitable and excellent schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: National Staff Development Council, Corwin Press, & National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Tompkins, R.P. & Ward, C (2016) Teaching to learning differences knowledge brief. Lebanon, NH: Upper Valley Educators Institute

Woulfin, S. L., Stevenson, I., & Lord, K. (2023). Making coaching matter: Leading continuous improvement in schools. New York: Teachers College Press.