In our final blog post regarding recently completed and upcoming audits, let’s talk equity. This is one that has been on our radar for quite awhile. Recently the members of the School Board’s Equity committee chose the proposal from the Equity Leadership Group (ELG) out of the five proposals submitted. What impressed us most about this group is the diverse and committed experts committed to the work they submitted. The CEO/Founder, Dr. Karla Manning, hosts the very informative The Equity Experience podcast. I’m confident that we will learn tons from them!
WHAT IS AN EQUITY AUDIT?
Using Dr. Manning’s definition, an equity audit is a leadership tool used to collect data for the purpose of identifying the presence and absence of equity within school operations. Equity inquiry assessments identify and analyze barriers that impede full participation, access, and opportunity for all students to receive an equitable and excellent education.
HOW WILL THE AUDIT BE CONDUCTED?
Dr. Manning’s team will be looking at MRPS from both a quantitative (data that includes student proficiencies, achievement, absenteeism, rates of graduations, etc…) and qualitative (information gathered from people’s stories and opinion through surveys, focus groups, and interviews) lens. From August 2023-January 2024, the team from Equity Leadership Group will be collecting data and information on the opportunity gap, the use of curricular resources within our district, people’s perceptions and experiences, barriers to equitable education, etc… The final report is tentatively planned to be presented to the school board in January of 2024.
HOW CAN I PARTICIPATE?
The team is designing the audit now for MRPS. The administration will be meeting with the team from ELG for a kickoff meeting. From there, specifics regarding how information will be gathered will be decided. Quantitative analysis will occur beginning this summer and potential interviews, focus groups, and surveys will be offered during the fall of 2023-2024 school year. We’ll make sure to advertise opportunities far and wide to ensure the collection from a wealth of perspectives.
HOW WILL WE USE THE RESULTS?
As with any audit, we will find out a lot about the opportunities and barriers within our system. The team from ELG will help us move forward with targeted and intentional work that will help us get better at ensuring an equitable education for all of our students. It will be hard work and so worth it in the end!
