Year 1

Our Efforts

Year 1 (2024–25)

In the first year of the initiative, UMD researchers and the Equity Director from each of our partner districts came together to identify a problem of practice. Our aim was to begin to plan out how we could use a research-practice partnership to address a problem around racial and social justice across the three districts.  

Over the course of the year, the Collaborative engaged in multiple deep and meaningful conversations about the equity challenges each district faces. A partner consultant, Opportunity Consulting, conducted an equity audit for the three partner districts by analyzing publicly available equity data. Over the course of the year, the collaborative determined that it would focus the research on Black boys in PK–12 spaces, seeking to locate and understand the spaces in which Black boys thrive.

Key Documents:

• Common Themes & Challenges

• Opportunity Consulting’s Equity Audit

• RSJC Kick-off FindingsCommon Themes and Challenges

Equity Audit

What Does It Mean to Collaborate Around Racial and Social Justice?

At RSJC, collaboration around racial and social justice means moving beyond conversation toward sustained, collective action. As a Research-Practice Partnership, RSJC brings together district leaders, educators, researchers, and community partners to learn with and from one another, connect across roles and systems, and take action to advance equity in education.

Our collaboration is grounded in shared core values: racial justice, social justice, equitable education, partnership, and equity. These values guide how we engage, the questions we ask, and the work we prioritize across districts and the university. We believe that meaningful change happens through relationships built on trust, mutual accountability, and a commitment to disrupting inequitable structures and practices.

RSJC creates multiple entry points for collaboration, including networking events, learning events, and facilitated spaces for dialogue and reflection. Central to this work is the Partnership Advisory, whose primary role is connection, an essential component of RSJC’s mission to learn, connect, and do racial and social justice work together.

The Partnership Advisory brings district and university personnel into ongoing conversation about the racial and social justice issues facing schools and communities. Continuing into Spring 2025, this space supports shared learning, relationship-building, and collective sense-making as partners work toward more just and equitable educational systems.

RSJC’s equity audit process is a collaborative, inquiry-driven approach designed to help districts examine policies, practices, and outcomes through a racial and social justice lens. 

Grounded in partnership, the audit supports districts in identifying inequities in areas such as access, opportunity, and student experience. 

District and university partners work together to analyze quantitative data alongside qualitative insights from educators, students, families, and community members, centering lived experience as a critical form of knowledge. 

The process emphasizes reflection, transparency, and shared accountability, with findings used to inform actionable strategies rather than static reports. 

By positioning equity audits as tools for learning and transformation, RSJC supports districts in moving from diagnosis to meaningful change that advances more just and equitable educational systems.