The Vision
Each student—including students with higher needs and students of color—has access to strong teaching, which includes having strong, well-supported teachers, who are able to meet their students’ distinct needs and provide engaging, culturally relevant, and standards-aligned instruction, so all students can reach high standards and thrive. The teaching workforce reflects students’ racial and linguistic diversity.
Sample Questions to Ask
- How does the assignment of novice teachers, ineffective teachers, or long-term substitutes to students differ across student groups and/or across schools in our district?
- Does each student in our district have access to teaching practices that are engaging, culturally relevant, and standards-aligned?
- Do retention rates differ for teachers of color and linguistically diverse teachers, compared to other teachers?
See our DIY District Diagnostic for more examples and recommendations about the types of data to look at.
Take Action With Our Diagnostic Tools
- Use our Resource Equity Diagnostic: Self-Assessment tool to start conversations and build shared understanding across teams.
- Then, analyze your data to better understand the state of resource equity in your district. First, use our Diagnostic Blueprints to learn about what types of analyses to conduct. Then, input your district data into our DIY Analysis Tools to complete these analyses and make meaning of the results.
- Prioritize areas for further inquiry and identify potential root causes and actions using our District Guidebook.
Common Causes of Inequity
- Non-Strategic Assignment Practices: Because of a lack of incentives, recognition, and opportunities for growth, the strongest teachers may not find roles in the highest need schools to be attractive or sustainable.
- Poor Working Conditions: Challenging workloads or school climates can reduce teachers’ morale and retention and interfere with the quality of teaching practices.
- Flawed Hiring Practices: When teacher pipelines and hiring practices are flawed and/or biased, districts can struggle to recruit a sufficiently high-potential and diverse applicant pool.
Related Dimensions
No single dimension of education resource equity can unlock every student’s potential—but when dimensions are combined to meet students’ distinct needs, they are a strong foundation for unlocking better, more equitable experiences in school.
Explore the School Leadership Quality & Diversity dimension, as school leaders make many of the decisions that shape teacher performance, hiring and retention.
Toolkit
Use our Resource Equity Toolkit to learn more, start a conversation, and take action in your community.
The Education Combination
Learn about education resource equity by discovering 10 dimensions that unlock better, more equitable experiences in school for all students.
Diagnostic Tools And Supports
Identify strengths and gaps in your school system across all 10 dimensions.
Guidebooks
Explore underlying causes of your school system’s challenges and possible actions to improve students’ experiences in school.
Advocating Across Government
Identify who has the power to address equity gaps in your school system and the school district, state and federal levels.
Casemaking Decks
Develop compelling and coherent messaging to “make the case” for addressing resource inequities in your community.
