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an article from
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equity

what is equity?

In the classroom, equity is giving students what they need in order to succeed. 

In an equitable classroom, everyone’s schooling experience will look different – from the concepts individual students learn to the materials they are provided. 

For example, in an equitable classroom, if a student needs left handed scissors then they should be given left handed scissors rather than making them use right handed scissors like their peers. 

Equity requires identifying student’s individual strengths, challenges, and needs.  It encourages differentiation in all areas including instruction.  It is applicable to any subject area & age group.

equity & the whole child

In order to best provide equity, educators must take into consideration a student’s background, strengths, challenges, and needs. Thus, providing equity promotes the whole child approach by requiring teachers to look at each student holistically.

Consider the 2 following situations:

– A student is struggling with fine motor skills. Upon observations, the teacher learns that the student is left handed. So, the teacher gives the child left handed scissors and now the student is demonstrating successful fine motor skills. 

– A teacher teaches in a high preforming, high socioeconomic status school where majority of students have traveled to many different places in the world and have been in a school environment since they were 2-3 years old. The teacher has a student in the class who is not preforming as academically high achieving as their peers. Based on past experiences of working with other similarly achieving students, the teacher wonders if this student has a learning disability. After speaking to the child’s parents, the teacher learns that this year is the student’s first year in a formal school setting due to the fact that he/she was adopted from another country and didn’t have access to schooling. Now, the teacher knows more about the child as a whole. As a result of this new information, the teacher decides to provide small group and/or one-on-one intervention that focuses on the academic skills the student is working on rather than the whole group instruction the teacher provides for majority of the other students. After a few months of this type of intervention, the student is now much closer to performing at a similar academic level as peers.

benefits of equity in the classroom

When students come into the classroom, they each arrive with a different background. These backgrounds have shaped different experiences for them. Thus, they each have different amounts of knowledge, strengths, and challenges. Fostering equity in the classroom allows educators to value students and the experiences they have. It acknowledges where each student stands in terms of their abilities and acknowledges what they need in order to achieve their goals for the year.  

Equity enables all students to successfully grow and develop. 

Equity fosters student academic and social-emotional achievement by challenging advanced learners and providing assistance to struggling learners. 

When provided well, equity fosters acceptance within a community. Thus improving the quality of education provided to students. This directly impacts students long-term success as the “quality of education students receive directly correlates to their quality of life years down the road.”

how can equity look?

Academic content and support

This can look like providing…

    – all students access to high-quality content that meets their academic needs. This can look like providing all students differentiated instruction using high-quality instructional resources.  

    – students with extra aid to achieve academic goals. Examples include…giving students with ADHD additional time on assignments & tests or allowing students with dyslexia to have instructions on math assessments read to them.

    – all students with highly qualified teachers who are well prepared to meet student needs. Examples include: having students with speech challenges receive instruction from a speech pathologist; having students receiving small group instruction in social emotional learning from a counselor; providing dyslexic students reading instruction from a certified academic language therapist (CALT); etc. 

Academic standards

This can look like…

    – Modifying standards to accommodate students with special needs

    – Extending standards to accommodate gifted and talented students

Monetary resources

This can look like…

    – Providing additional funding to schools where students come to school not being fed so that meals can be provided for these students. The goal of this is so that they can focus on the lessons rather than focusing on being hungry.

    – All communities being taxed a similar rate no matter how much your house is worth. This is equity because 5% of a $100 house is $5 while 5% of a $500 house is $25. 

    – Recapture laws. Some states require wealthy districts to send part of their funds to other districts that do not have as much money so that the less-wealthy districts can also effectively serve their students.

how to foster equity

In a school/district/state

    – Provide early childhood resources and basic schooling opportunities to all students.

   – Provide students with educators who are knowledgeable and well-equipped to meet the diverse needs of their students. Critically consider the professional learning opportunities your educators engage in. Listen to your educators about the instruction they need and provide them access to opportunities to learn.  

    – Provide opportunities for students to receive specialized reading instruction, math instruction, speech instruction, counseling services. Invest in expanding the certifications of your teachers. Provide opportunities for and compensation for the time teachers spend furthering their skills.  

    – Strengthen the connection between school and home so all caregivers have the knowledge and resources to help their students learn. Host school/district wide professional learning events. Send home educational resources to caregivers. Provide caregivers with newsletters of on going happenings. Provide dyslexia information for caregivers of dyslexic students. 

    – Include culturally responsive practices. This looks like the way you respond to students and treat their differences. Provide libraries with books that focus on diversity. Highlight the fact that EVERYONE is different and our differences make us each SPECIAL!

    -Provide alternative courses and routes to prevent school dropout. Encourage college but provide other programs to prepare students who may not want to go to college – provide technical training programs, internships, etc. 

    – Establish policies/protocols to ensure there is a fair and objective way to determine student needs, monitor their academic progress, and implement support systems.

    – Providing programs for students such as special education, english language learners, gifted and talented programs. 

in classrooms

    – Provide inquiry instruction, blended learning opportunities, instruction via the workshop model, and personalized learning opportunities.

    – Provide students with the tools they need to be successful – pencil grippers, certain types of papers, preferential seating, etc.  

   – Engage in professional learning opportunities wholeheartedly and critically consider the professional learning opportunities you engage in. 

    – Learn about your students needs. If they need it, seek out opportunities for students to receive specialized reading instruction, math instruction, speech instruction, counseling services. 

    – Strengthen the connection between school and home so all caregivers have the knowledge and resources to help their students learn. Host caregiver information meetings at the beginning of the year, send home educational resources to caregivers, provide caregivers with newsletters of on going academic happenings and include ways to practice skills at home, send home information on dyslexia to caregivers with a dyslexic child.

    – Include culturally responsive practices. This looks like the way you respond to students and treat their differences. Read books that focus on diversity. Highlight the fact that EVERYONE is different and our differences make us SPECIAL!

    – Differentiate the work you give to the students.

    – Provide small group and one-on-one instruction for students.

    – Have different expectations for assignments – shortening assignments for some students, allowing some students to submit verbal responses, allowing extended time.

    – Students having resource teachers and/or aids to provide them with additional support in the classroom. 

    – Provide students with resources in their native language and/or their current reading level. 

    – Provide students access & the ability to choose equitable materials: books on different subjects, different types of papers, flexible seating options, etc. 

Engage in open conversations about equity to foster students to self-advocate for their needs in the future!!

Want to Earn
professional development credits
for reading this articlE?

You've already done the first step!

Next up, spend some time reflecting on your current classroom practices. Where do you see equity in your instruction and classroom practices?  How are your students impacted as a result of the ways you ensure equity is provided to them? Let us know your thoughts. 

Just be sure to officially sign up for our Equity, Equality, and Fairness professional development course so that we can keep track of the communication and send you a certificate for your hard work! 

We know for a teacher like you, someone who seeks out the best instructional strategies to use in their classroom – 

you’re already planning on doing these steps anyways, so you might as well earn some professional development credits for it!

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