• EDUCATIONAL EQUITY PROCEDURES

    File: ACIB.AP

    The following administrative procedures have been developed to implement board policy ACIB, Educational Equity.

    1. Relationships and Community Building 

    For all students to honor and be inclusive of others and their cultures and interact with others in ways that create equity, schools must create a safe, welcoming, supportive, and affirming environment. As such, district and building administrators, teachers and staff will:

        1. build environments that intentionally focus on fostering empathy, developing relationships and upholding dignity for everyone in our schools, offices, and community,
        2. create and maintain a culture in which students, employees, and families are encouraged to self-reflect on assumptions, biases, and beliefs to promote understanding, respect, dignity, acceptance, and positive interactions amongst all individuals and groups,
        3. maintain a safe and supportive school climate that uplifts positive relationships and a culture of belonging, and supports the social-emotional and mental health needs of students and staff,
        4. identify and eliminate disproportionality in discipline practices, create a just and equitable learning environment, repair harm, and respond effectively to conflict,
        5. incorporate student voice in school and district-level decision-making,
        6. develop and implement programs and activities to promote and encourage students and staff to acquire, practice, and continually improve problem-solving and conflict-management skills,
        7. design and facilitate effective and efficient school-community relations and parent involvement opportunities,
        8. oppose or prohibit unfair discrimination against people based on protected classes.

    2. Curriculum

    Teaching students to listen to and learn from the perspectives of others and develop the necessary skills to participate in an increasingly ever-changing world, the topics of diversity, equity and inclusion must be embedded in the curriculum. As such, district and building administrators, teachers and staff will:

        1. provide culturally responsive instruction and relevant curriculum inclusive of but not limited to perspectives from marginalized people excluded or underrepresented in the current curriculum,
        2. utilize instructional materials which reflect aspirations, history, issues, and achievements of persons from diverse social identifiers and incorporate a global perspective,
        3. evaluate and continuously improve course, program, activity and enrollment placement and scheduling processes to ensure the implementation of equitable educational opportunities for all students,
        4. provide access and support to rigorous coursework and comparable academic and enrichment programs for all students to maximize student learning,

    3. Professional Development 

    For staff to understand each student’s culture, ethnicity and other identity markers, which promotes lasting relationships and enhances students’ ability to learn, continuous professional learning on topics of diversity, equity and inclusion is essential for all staff. As such, district and building administrators will engage in and provide:

        1. ongoing professional learning focused on factors influencing educational equity, including but not limited to cultural proficiency instruction, cultural responsiveness, multiple abilities levels, implicit and explicit bias, and racial equity for all staff,
        2. development on instructional practices and support for educators and staff to utilize in building positive cultures where students and staff feel valued, welcomed, and supported to fulfill their academic and professional potential,
        3. learning experiences that enhance staff, administrators and community members’ understanding of how to engage students and one another in courageous conversations around race, equity and inclusion.

    4. Recruit, Hire, Retain and Develop/Promote

    In recruiting, employing, supporting, retaining and continuously developing a racially conscious and culturally competent administrative, instructional and support personnel workforce, district and school administrators will develop a system of strategies necessary to consistently hire, retain and develop a staff reflective of the student demographics.

     

    5. Accountability

    To achieve educational equity for all students, the Superintendent or designee will:

        1. monitor the development and implementation of a system-wide plan to promote educational equity,
        2. oversee the development of system-wide objectives and activities, and track progress towards measurable targets to achieve educational equity,
        3. track, document and report progress toward measurable targets to achieve educational equity,
        4. annually obtain student, staff and community feedback on progress toward measurable objectives for achieving educational equity,
        5. provide data on educational equity through information items, memorandums, and reports that include disaggregated data to the Board of Education,
        6. oversee reporting progress toward equity-related goals, including data for all protected classes to the public.

     

    Note: The reader is encouraged to review policies and/or forms for related information in this administrative area. 

    Implemented: November 16, 2022

    Revised:

    Parkway C-2 School District, Chesterfield, Missouri