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Using Equity Audits to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools
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Using Equity Audits to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools

Edited by:

Foreword by Judith Richardson, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Urban Initiatives, NASSP


Courses:
Principalship

May 2009 | 152 pages | Corwin

Use the power of equity audits to help eliminate achievement gaps and educational bias!

If you've heard about equity audits but aren't really sure how to use them in your school, you are not alone. This resource, written by well-known authors and experts in the areas of equity and achievement, expands school leaders' understanding of how to interpret data in order to make equity audits work and provides practical, easy-to-implement strategies for using this school assessment approach to help ensure a high-quality education for all students, regardless of socio-economic class.

Grounded solidly in theory, this book demonstrates how audits can help not only in developing fair programs that provide all students with the opportunity to reach their potential but also for hiring, training, and retaining good teachers. Readers will discover how to remedy inequalities in student achievement by using:

  • A set of "inequity indicators" for evaluating schools, generating essential data, and identifying problem areas
  • The NCLB Act in a positive way to create equity
  • Nine skill sets for improved equity-oriented teaching
  • Charts, graphs, and support materials that can be customized for specific settings

Ideal for helping principals develop school-based equity audits with confidence, Using Equity Audits to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools can also be used by superintendents to increase equity awareness at the district level.


 
Foreword by Judith Richardson
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Part I. Background and Context for Equity Audits
 
1. Introduction
 
2. The Case for Systemic Equity
 
3. History and Overview of Equity Audits
 
Part II. The Equity Audit Process for Schools and Districts
 
4. Teacher Quality Equity
 
5. Programmatic Equity
 
6. Achievement Equity
 
7. Equity Audits at the School District Level
 
Part III. Equity Audit Follow-Up Actions and Strategies
 
8. Becoming an Equity-Oriented Change Agent
 
9. Increasing Equity Consciousness
 
10. Developing High-Quality Teaching Skills
 
11. Avoiding Equity Traps and Developing Equity Skills
 
12. Conclusion
 
References
 
Index

"A good first step for school leaders looking to address inequalities in their schools. I particularly like the authors’ recognition that to conduct an equity audit is not enough—one needs to become an equity-oriented change agent."

Tonya Gau Bartell, Assistant Professor
University of Delaware

"Achieving equity in our schools is not something we have to do for NCLB; it is something we must do for our kids! This book frames this task, tells us who can make it happen, and shows us how to do it."

Nic Cooper, Director of Secondary Student Services
Union School, Saline, MI

"A myriad of ideas and suggestions that can be used on a small scale in a small school or department, or on a large scale throughout a district. The book is unique in my experience and makes a definite contribution. The chapter on developing teacher skills is the best and most useful account I’ve encountered in recent memory, and the entire premise of the book has the potential to raise the level of discourse on issues of equity in our schools, as well as what we can do to make schools better."

Mary Johnstone, Principal
Rabbit Creek Elementary School, Anchorage, AK

"The book offers many wonderful strategies and suggestions. It allows leaders to institute analysis and change in a very effective manner."

Lawrence Kohn, Associate Professor
Sam Houston State University

"Concise, coherent, thought provoking, inspiring, and a true call to action. The authors have set before us rich food for thought, dialogue, and action in very few pages of text!"

Judith A. Rogers, Professional Learning Specialist
Tucson Unified School District, AZ

"An excellent book for training those seeking administrative certification. The material is well-documented, useful for improving teacher quality, and a good guidebook for providing insights to reducing bias and prejudice in all aspects of academia. Succinct, useful, adaptable, and practical."

Sara E. Spruce, Professor of Education
Olivet Nazarene University
Key features
  • Covers teacher quality equity, programmatic equity, and achievement equity
  • Illustrates how to scale up school-based equity audits to district-wide equity audits
  • Introduces nine areas of teaching skills for improved equity-oriented teaching
  • Provides supporting resources, tools, and strategies that readers can readily customize for their specific school settings

Sample Materials & Chapters

Introduction


For instructors

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Rent or Buy eBook
ISBN: 9781452272276

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ISBN: 9781412939324
$33.95

This title is also available on SAGE Knowledge, the ultimate social sciences online library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial.