0130P - Exhibit C - Key Terms for Implementation of the Equity Driven Decision Making Process

Culture: 

A person’s culture includes the patterns of beliefs, practices, traditions, language, and history associated with a group of people. Culture evolves over time and typically reflects people’s lived experiences, their myriad identities, and the sub-group memberships people maintain. Just as people assume a racial or gender identity, for example, they may also identify themselves as people with varying abilities or as people who occupy different roles within their immediate or extended family or community. Individuals both learn from and contribute to the culture of the groups to which they belong. Regardless of the cultures people identify with, those cultures inform who they are, how they see themselves within the broader community, and how they interact with people who are different from them. 

Race: 

We use a definition of race that is widely accepted in both social and natural sciences: race is a socially constructed concept used to classify people based on the color of their skin. In practice, race is used to identify people as members of particular groups based largely on their skin color or ethnicity. That process of identification has also been used politically and economically to advantage some groups over others. Because of the social and political implications of race in American society, we believe our students experience the world differently based in part on their race.  

Bias:

Bias refers to the beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes someone holds about a group. A bias is a prejudgment, originating outside experience. Many times, the biases we hold come from the way we’ve been socialized into society. This socialization comes from many sources such as the way we were raised, what we learned in school, and the media we have and continue to consume. Biases can be both conscious and unconscious and both explicit and implicit and can affect decisions and behaviors.

Discrimination: 

While bias is a prejudgment in thoughts, feelings, and attitudes, discrimination consists of actions against a group of people. Discrimination can be based on age, race, religion, health, and other indicators. Race-based laws against discrimination, such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, strive to address this set of problems. 

Racism:

The conscious or unconscious, intentional or unintentional enactment of racial power, grounded in racial prejudice, by an individual or group against another individual or group; perceived to have lower racial status.

 

Institutional Racism:

Racism occurs when a racial group’s prejudice is backed by legal authority and institutional control. This authority and control transforms individual prejudices into a far-reaching system that no longer depends on the good intentions of individual actors; it becomes the default of the society and is reproduced automatically. Racism is a system. It begins with ideology, which refers to the big ideas that are reinforced throughout society. Ideology is reinforced across society, for example, in schools and textbooks, political speeches, movies, advertising, holiday celebrations, and words and phrases. Ideologies are the frameworks (e.g. rugged individualism, meritocracy, etc.) through which we are taught to represent, interpret, understand, and make sense of the social existence. Because these ideas are constantly reinforced, they are very hard to avoid believing and internalizing. The racial ideology that circulates in the United States rationalizes racial hierarchies as the outcome of a natural order resulting from either genetics or individual effort or talent. Those who don’t succeed are just not as naturally capable, deserving, or hard working. Ideologies such as these, that obscure racism as a system of inequality are perhaps the most powerful and have led to the pathologizing and problematizing of people and cultures of color throughout American history. 

Diversity: 

A belief in diversity is an acknowledgement of the value of having a multitude of beliefs, perspectives, and ideologies present within social groups (e.g. neighborhoods, community and professional organizations, etc.) to deepen cross-cultural understanding and learning to benefit individuals and the community as a whole (Banks et al., 2007). In education, calls for greater diversity stem from the belief that a diversity of racial, ethnic, socio-economic, linguistic, and ideological representation in decision making bodies makes the resultant policies, procedures, and practices inclusive and equitable. 

Inclusion: 

Inclusion refers to the policies and procedures that organizations make to intentionally include a diversity of people in any social or organizational context. In many ways, inclusion is the enactment of a belief in the value of diversity (Banks, 1993). In education, calls for greater inclusion can refer to the kinds of people invited to meetings (e.g. a diversity of parents, students, various community stakeholders) and/or the access guaranteed to students into different kinds of coursework (e.g. students from historically marginalized communities or students with disabilities or ELL students encouraged to enroll in mainstream or advanced coursework). Research has repeatedly shown that thoughtful inclusion of a diversity of students within schools, programs, and classrooms, benefits students socially and academically (Au & Kawakami, 1994; Banks et al., 2007; Sahlberg, 2010). 

Equality:

Equality refers to the belief that all students should be afforded the same treatment and access to educational resources and opportunities regardless of racial, ethnic, linguistic, socio-economic status or learning ability. Underpinning the argument for more equality in the educational system is a belief that a central purpose of public schools is to ensure greater democratic participation and social mobility for all its citizens (Labaree, 1997). The relevant research strongly suggests that unequal access to resources, whether it be high quality teachers, after school programs, or highly rigorous coursework, to name a few, negatively impacts students’ academic performance and achievement as well as their social and emotional well-being (Darling-Hammond, 2010).  

Equity: 

In educational research, equity is defined as providing students with differentiated levels of support and resources in order to provide them with an equal opportunity to succeed in school. Muhammad (2023) defines an equitable education as one that “embraces fairness and inclusion, and it responds to students’ individual needs, providing structures, systems, and practices that enable all students reach their highest potential for personal and academic success” (p. 33). A focus on equity is warranted by a preponderance of educational (Darling-Hammond, 2010) and sociological (Lareau, 2011) research that demonstrates that because the public education system was largely developed by White, middle class men, schools have come to reflect the tacit and explicit norms and rules of White, middle class culture (Watkins, 2001). Students who don’t come from a normative White, middle class cultural background can struggle to learn and adapt to the tacit norms and rules of schools and thus, may struggle academically. While the educational research provides thorough guidance on the need for equity in general terms, what is defined and described as “equitable” for specific policies and programs should be arrived at through sustained partnership and collaboration with the very stakeholders who will be most impacted by equity-focused improvements.  

Racial equity: 

In educational research, racial equity is a concept borne out of a body of research (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Hammond, 2015) that reflects the field’s understanding that students of color can experience compounded stress and anxiety when the implicit or explicit racism they experience outside of school is unknowingly or knowingly replicated by teachers and administrators in schools (Pollock, 2017). Educators’ mistreatment of students of color is well documented (see attached reference list) and can stem from individual’s explicit or implicit bias and racism, such as racial microaggressions (Pollock, 2017), and the largely invisible structural and systemic factors that impede and limit how successful children of color can be. Policies aimed at addressing racial inequity require districts and schools to address both the practices of individuals within the system, such as teachers, staff, and administrators, and the institutional practices that empower and protect the biased actions of individuals against students and families of color. Racial equity is achieved when social, economic, and political opportunities are not predicted by a person’s race. 

Justice: 

Justice refers to the extent to which people feel that fairness has been established and sustained in an organization or community. Justice can refer to the extent to which an individual or community feels like wrongs committed against them have been resolved to their satisfaction (e.g. someone is arrested for stealing your car and they receive jail time as punishment). Justice can also refer to the extent to which conditions or circumstances are deemed to be fair, allowing each member of a group or a community an equal opportunity to achieve whatever success they want in life. Without predictably clear systems and structures in place to ensure there’s a shared sense of justice felt by every member of the community, those students and families who have felt farthest from justice will opt out of the vision and mission of the school district community.  

To achieve justice in an educational context, district and school leaders should work to address injustice by 1) coming to a working definitional consensus of educational justice with members of the community, especially those who feel farthest from it and by 2) stopping ongoing harm suffered by students and families by developing equitable systems and structures to help students and families recover from the specific injustices they suffered and to help avoid those same injustices in the future. Because justice, and the extent to which students and families feel like they are experiencing a just system is fluid and may shift over time, school and district leaders should establish and sustain strong engagement with their immediate community to ensure common definitional understandings of justice and agreements around how justice should be administered. 

Belonging: 

Belonging refers to the extent that individuals and communities feel their specific identities are welcomed, valued, affirmed, and respected in specific spaces. Belonging is a continuous, ongoing process. Bettina Love (2020) describes the ability to establish and sustain a sense of belonging between students and between teachers and students, in particular those students who identify with groups who historically have been marginalized by the school system, as a crucial practice of anti-racist teaching and central to racial equity work. Establishing a sense of belonging demands district and school leaders and teachers work through strong, trusting relationships with students and families to develop and sustain inclusive and thriving communities in classrooms and schools. Belonging is not apart from academic engagement and learning. Rather, it is a precondition for it (Cobb and Krownapple, 2020). The same holds true for families and communities. In order for them to engage in district discussions and decision making, they have to feel a sense of belonging in district and school spaces and trust that their engagement and feedback will contribute to positive change. 

Intersectionality:

The concept of intersectionality describes the ways in which systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class and other forms of discrimination “intersect” to create unique dynamics and effects. For example, when a Muslim-identifying woman wearing a Hijab is being discriminated against, it would be impossible to dissociate her identity as a woman from her Muslim identity and to isolate the dimension(s) causing her discrimination. All forms of inequality are mutually reinforcing and must therefore be analyzed and addressed simultaneously to prevent one form of inequality from reinforcing another. For example, addressing the gender pay gap alone – without including other dimensions such as race, socio-economic status and immigration status – will likely reinforce inequalities among women.

Accountability: 

Accountability refers to the process by which members of a community are held responsible for upholding the agreed-to norms, rules, and collective expectations of the collective. Organizations that establish ethical systems to hold themselves accountable will develop structures that are responsive to the needs and concerns of those most impacted by the issues the organization is working on, particularly to communities of color and those historically underrepresented in the civic process.  

Community engagement: 

Community engagement refers to the process of working collaboratively with and through a diversity of community stakeholders to address issues affecting the overall wellness and success of the community. For a process of community engagement to have integrity, it 1) must be made in good faith, 2) must be anchored in a “critical and liberating dialogue which presupposes action” (Freire, 1970) with those who are most impacted by the proposed policy, procedures, and practices under consideration, 3) must come from a stance of curiosity and open-mindedness, and 4) must be sustained without preconceived or predefined outcomes in mind.   

While the practical goal of community engagement is to arrive at more equitable and ethical decisions, strong processes of engagement are restorative and redemptive for all members of the community. Strong communities are self-healing entities. When done consistently well, strong community engagement taps into that self-healing ethos and brings with it myriad positive outcomes for the community. It can deepen a sense of empathy and understanding amongst and between community members and community groups, it can help address and repair chronic injustices suffered by specific individuals and groups, and it can coalesce the community around core values and principles to provide a clear mission and vision for those trying to better serve the community.  

and Relevant Scholarship 

Au, K., H., & Kawakami, A., J. (1994). Cultural congruence in instruction. In E. R. Hollins, J. E. King, & W. C. Hayman (Eds.), Teaching diverse populations: Formulating a knowledge base (pp. 5-23). State University of New York Press.

Banks, J., A., Au, K., H., Ball, A., F., Bell, P., Gordon, E., W., Gutierrez, K., D., Heath, S., B., Lee, C., D., Lee, Y., Mahiri, J., Nasir, N., S., Valdes, G., & Zhou, M. (2007). Learning in and out of school in diverse environments: Life-long, life-wide, life-deep. The LIFE Center (The Learning in Informal and Formal Environments Center) and The Center for Multicultural Education. Seattle, WA: The University of Washington.

Banks, J., A. (1993). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practice. Review of Educational Research, 19, 3-49.

Belfield, C., R., & Levin, H., M. (2007). The price we pay: Economic and social consequences of inadequate education. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Jones, M., R., & Porter, S., R. (2018). Race and economic opportunity in the United States: An intergenerational perspective. The Equality of Opportunity Project.

Cobb, F., Krownapple, J. (2020). Belonging through a culture of dignity: The keys to successful equity implementation. San Diego, CA: Mimi and Todd Press.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America’s commitment to equity will determine our future. Teachers College Press.

DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon Press.

Freire, P. (1975). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury Academic.

Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116.

Hammond, Z., L. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin Press.

Labaree, D., F. (1997). Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals. American Educational Research Journal, 34(1), 39-81.

Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. (2nd Ed). University of California Press.

Love, B. L. (2020). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.

Muhammad, G. (2023). Unearthing joy: A guide to culturally and historically responsive teaching and learning. Scholastic.

Parker, W., C. (2003). Teaching democracy: Unity and diversity in public life. Teachers College Press.

Sahlberg, P. (2010). Finnish lessons: What we can learn from educational change in Finland. Teachers College Press.

Watkins, W., H. (2001). The white architects of black education: Ideology and power in America, 1865-1954. Teachers College Press.