Achieving Equitable Education

As educators, we must be as specific as possible when using certain terms, especially when those terms and our knowledge of them hold the keys to so many students' success. Considered by many to be one of the most important concepts in education to understand and apply, educational equity is a term that we are all familiar with, but may also have a plethora of meanings, depending upon the context in which it is used. Educational equity can be a lot of things, but it is certainly not the popular and overutilized image that depicts kids watching a baseball game while standing on boxes. To frame it in this manner oversimplifies the complexities associated with educational equity. Educational equity must be more intentional than that and thus, should be defined as creating and/or eliminating policies, systems, and practices in schools that impact the experiences, outcomes, and access to resources for students from previously excluded groups. On April 9th, How to Achieve Educational Equity will provide educational experiences and actionable steps to help all those who have decided to embark on the educational equity journey. The author, Dr. Howard E. Fields III, possesses the reputability, knowledge, credentials, and writing prowess to adequately convey such an important topic that will certainly challenge our thinking and enhance learning outcomes for all students. As an Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Adjunct Professor, Co-founder of both Black Males in Education St. Louis (BMESTL) and EduOpenings.com, his perspective and focus on remaining student-centered, yet equity-focused, has made him an emerging sought out speaker. Dr. Fields' unapologetic leadership and authenticity played a role in being recognized as the 2020 National Elementary Distinguished Principal from Missouri and the 2017 International Networked Digital Library of Thesis and Dissertation innovative research award recipient. Given all of this, How to Achieve Educational Equity will certainly be a successful resource in the education and educational policy area for years to come. Early feedback from educational practitioners includes the following review: "How to Achieve Educational Equity is truly a thought provoking and practical call to action that will benefit many educators for years to come, regardless of where they are in their understanding of equity. Dr. Fields has created a concrete framework equipped with multiple entry points into taking action towards achieving equity in schools. This book makes inequities - arguably the most insurmountable issue in education to date - feel possible to tackle through courage, collaboration, and accountability. Thank you, Dr. Fields, for your contribution to the field of education!" - Dr. Shenita Mayes, Middle School Principal

This book examines what equity means in a nation where the schools are becoming more diverse. The authors consider how well our educational reform policies, often framed in the language of equity and opportunity, measure up to the challenges of achieving equity in a diverse nation. While there is growing awareness of the increasing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the nation, there is little recognition of how these trends affect the schools, particularly in formerly homogeneous communities. At the same time, inequalities in student achievement between different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups persist, even as educational policy has intensified the focus on the achievement gap. These two challenges make definitions of equity and opportunity as urban problems obsolete and call for a critical examination of educational policy and reform from an equity perspective. Central themes include the critical examination of how equity is conceived under the law and in policy, the experiences of minority students in suburban schools, and the impact of current reform policies and strategies for achieving greater educational opportunities for all students. This book is designed for graduate and undergraduate courses in educational policy and policy analysis, for policymakers interested in a critical examination of current reform policies and options, and educational leaders and administrators struggling with the implementation of reform mandates. From a policy perspective, it includes a survey of the evolution of educational policies and reforms since the 1960s and traces the mix of legal and legislative legacies that have informed educational policy and equity. It describes how trends in suburban diversification affect the schools, something that has largely escaped the attention of educational reformers. It provides school-based and non-school-based remedies for achieving equity in diversifying suburban communities and articulates alternatives to the current accountability for performance approach. It offers new and innovative analyses of current approaches to school reform, including an analysis of how accountability tests can create the illusion of reducing the achievement gap and an examination of the paradoxes of federally funded compensatory policies that incorporate market-based strategies. Novel approaches-such as social emotional learning and placed-based college access strategies-are examined through an equity lens.

When the numbers don’t lie, this is your guide to doing what’s right If your school is faced with a disproportionate rate of suspensions, gifted program enrollment, or special education referrals for students of color, this book shows how you can uncover the root causes and rally your staff to face the challenge head on. You will: Understand how bias creates barriers to the success of students of color Know what questions to ask and what data to analyze Create your own road map for becoming an equity-driven school, with staff activities, data collection forms, checklists, and progress monitoring tools

This publication identifies some of the steps policy makers can take to build school systems that are both equitable and excellent. The analysis is complemented with examples that illustrate proven or promising practices in specific countries.

First published in 1985, the Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity Through Education quickly established itself as the essential reference work concerning gender equity in education. This new, expanded edition provides a 20-year retrospective of the field, one that has the great advantage of documenting U.S. national data on the gains and losses in the efforts to advance gender equality through policies such as Title IX, the landmark federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, equity programs and research. Key features include: Expertise – Like its predecessor, over 200 expert authors and reviewers provide accurate, consensus, research-based information on the nature of gender equity challenges and what is needed to meet them at all levels of education. Content Area Focus – The analysis of gender equity within specific curriculum areas has been expanded from 6 to 10 chapters including mathematics, science, and engineering. Global/Diversity Focus – Global gender equity is addressed in a separate chapter as well as in numerous other chapters. The expanded section on gender equity strategies for diverse populations contains seven chapters on African Americans, Latina/os, Asian and Pacific Island Americans, American Indians, gifted students, students with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. Action Oriented – All chapters contain practical recommendations for making education activities and outcomes more gender equitable. A final chapter consolidates individual chapter recommendations for educators, policymakers, and researchers to achieve gender equity in and through education. New Material – Expanded from 25 to 31 chapters, this new edition includes: *more emphasis on male gender equity and on sexuality issues; *special within population gender equity challenges (race, ability and disability, etc); *coeducation and single sex education; *increased use of rigorous research strategies such as meta-analysis showing more sex similarities and fewer sex differences and of evaluations of implementation programs; *technology and gender equity is now treated in three chapters; *women’s and gender studies; *communication skills relating to English, bilingual, and foreign language learning; and *history and implementation of Title IX and other federal and state policies. Since there is so much misleading information about gender equity and education, this Handbook will be essential for anyone who wants accurate, research-based information on controversial gender equity issues—journalists, policy makers, teachers, Title IX coordinators, equity trainers, women’s and gender study faculty, students, and parents.

Across OECD countries, almost one in every five students does not reach a basic minimum level of skills. This book presents a series of policy recommendations for education systems to help all children succeed.

"In Achieving Equity and Excellence: Immediate Results From the Lessons of High-Poverty, High-Success Schools, author Douglas Reeves provides a methodology for change based upon identifying, recording, and replicating positive results in the readers' schools and communities. Dr. Reeves notes the need for immediate results and programs that are proven to work within readers' communities, as well as the urgent desire that educators have to create a more just and equitable system for their students. As such, this book serves as a research-backed guide for readers who wish to see their students make dramatic improvements in school in a single semester. Readers will study the mindset of high-poverty, high-success schools and the research that this mindset is founded on. Then, they will see how this mindset translates into a methodology of action for change that is based primarily in daily decisions that the readers will make for the benefit of their students. Through this book, readers will not only realize that a more equitable and just system is possible in their school, but also learn the mindset and practices necessary to make these changes a reality"--