Goals & Actions Steps: Equity & Advocacy

Equity and Advocacy: Districtwide practices, programs, policies, and procedures to provide all students with rigorous curriculum, safe learning environments, differentiated educational opportunities, and the resources necessary to achieve comparably high outcomes. Equity requires that educators develop skills, knowledge, and beliefs necessary to meet the needs of every student, with an emphasis on students of color, English learners, students in poverty, and students with disabilities.

2010-11 Goal #1: Increase student achievement and close the achievement gap through equity audits and data analysis.

Action Steps	Person(s) Responsible	Accountability Measure
Action Step 1.1: Conduct equity audits in the areas of CRT results, graduation rates, suspension rates, over or under representation in ELP or special education programs. The Educational Equity Department will analyze these reports, establish a baseline for the achievement gaps, and create plans for addressing inequities.	Assessment and Evaluation Department, Educational Equity Department	Disaggregated data by student groups with comparison to their white counterparts; written report on achievement gaps; written plans for addressing inequities.

2010-11 Goal #2: Increase student achievement and close achievement gaps through districtwide culturally relevant professional development.

Action Steps	Person(s) Responsible	Accountability Measure
Action Step 2.1: Provide districtwide professional development on cultural relevancy to create a culture of inclusion, equity, and excellence.	Educational Equity Department, Equity Leadership Team, Consultants	Written professional development plan; rosters of participants by school; logs of follow-up professional development at school sites by language and culture coaches.
Action Step 2.2: Integrate cultural relevancy as a component in all other professional development.	Educational Equity Department, Curriculum Specialists	Written plan for collaboration between the language and culture coaches and the curriculum coaches to design culturally relevant professional development; rosters of coaches participating in these collaborative meetings; responses to question about cultural relevancy on session evaluations is rated as positive by at least 75% of the participants.
Action Step 2.3: Four school equity teams begin to build capacity for addressing educational equity at their school sites. Teachers in a pilot group of equity schools make connections between their instruction and improved student achievement. School teams feel supported in meeting the needs of each student.	Educational Equity Department, School Principals	Personnel from all four schools attend monthly professional development; log of culture and language coaches doing follow-up coaching and mentoring on-site; the gap in the four equity schools will close at twice the rate as the district achievement gap.

2010-11 Goal #3: Increase student achievement and close the achievement gap through advocacy and support to students.

Action Steps	Person(s) Responsible	Accountability Measure
Action Step 3.1: Align student advocacy programs with specific outcomes and targets based on student achievement data. Identify gaps in services for students to determine possible development and interventions.	Educational Equity Department, Schools, Other Departments	Written documentation of current advocacy programs; written recommendation for new programs and interventions needed to close gaps in service.
Action Step 3.2: Establish an Equity Advisory Committee to focus on community outreach and parent involvement.	Educational Equity Department	Equity Advisory Committee established.
Action Step 3.3: Develop and administer a school culture and climate survey to assess advocacy in all schools.	Educational Equity Department	Survey administered; baseline established by initial administration.

2011-12 Goal #4: Increase student achievement and close the achievement gap through districtwide cultural responsiveness.

Action Steps	Person(s) Responsible	Accountability Measure
Action Step 4.1: Embed culturally responsive pedagogy in curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of all students and assure high achievement for underperforming student groups.	Educational Equity Department, Schools	In 2011-12 as compared to 2010-11, increased percent of students show progress in proficiency levels on end-of-level criterion referenced tests; reduced achievement gap by 10% for student groups in comparison to their white counterparts.
Action Step 4.2: Based on survey results in the prior year, schools receive professional development and coaching to address culture and climate needs.	Learning Services Department, School Support Team	Roster of participation in professional development; logs of follow-up professional development at school sites by language and culture coaches.
Action Step 4.3: Re-administer the school culture and climate survey to all schools.	Educational Equity Department	In comparison to the culture and climate survey results from the prior year, improved advocacy and welcoming environment in each school.