Topic: Equity Audit

10-second review: A questionnaire that reveals a great deal about the makeup of a school district.

Title: “Seeing, Inquiring Witnessing: Using the Equity Audit in Practitioner Inquiry to Rethink Inequity in Public Schools.” SL Groenke. English Education (October 2010), 83-96.

Appendix A: Equity Audit

General Data

. Number of students in your district

. Number of students in your school

. Number of staff in your school (certified and noncertified)

. How many teachers in your school teach outside of their content/expertise area?

. How many teachers in your school hold (a) bachelor’s degrees; (b) master’s degrees; (c) doctoral degrees?

. How many teachers in your school have been teaching (a) 1-5 hears; (b) 6 – 15 years; (c)15-20 years; (d) more than 20 years?

. What is the teacher mobility/attrition rate at your school?

. Who teaches advanced classes at your school? Long-time teachers or beginning teachers? Who teaches lower-track classes? Who teaches seniors? Ninth graders?

. Number of students who transferred or moved into the school the last academic year

. Students who transferred out of the school in the last academic year

.Fraction and percentage of staff in your school who are associated with student services (e.g., special education, counselors, nurses, bilingual specialists, reading specialists, literacy coaches, etc.)

Status of Labeling at Your School

. Students labeled “gifted” in your school

. Student labeled “at-risk” in your school

. Students labeled with a disability in your school

. Students labeled ESL, ELL, or bilingual in your school

. Students with any other kind of label in your school (include the label)

. Graduation tracks at your school (e.g., “basic,’ “advanced,” “honors,” “college prep,” “AP”

Discipline Data

. Students who were suspended in the past year

. Students who were expelled in the past year

. Students who were placed in alternative school setting

.Low attendance and/or truancy

.Other relevant discipline data

General Achievement Data

. Eighth-grade achievement

.Tenth-grade achievement

. Graduation rate

. Graduated with an advanced/academic diploma

. Drop-out rate

. Participation in ACT, SAT, AP courses/exams

. Test results of ACT, SAT, AP exams

Social Class Data

. Students receiving free and reduced-price lunches in your school

. Students receiving free/reduced-price lunches in other schools in your district

. Students identified for special education in your school

. Of the number of students identified for special education, what fraction and what percentage receive free/reduced-price lunches?

. Students labeled as “gifted” in your seeing who receive free/reduced-price lunches

. Students  identified as “at-risk” who receive free/reduced price lunches

Race and Ethnicity Data and Analysis

. Students of color in your school? How does this compare with other schools in your district?

. Students of color in the total district

. Of the number of students labeled for special education, what fraction and percentage are students of color?

. How many students of color are labeled “at-risk”?

. How many students of color are labeled “gifted”?

. Total certified staff who are people of color in your school

.  People of color serving on the school board

. Report two pieces of academic achievement data (reading and math) as they relate to this area of diversity

English Language Learners (ELL) and Bilingual Data

. How many English language learners are in your school and what languages do they speak? Compare to other schools in your district.

. How many English language learners in the total district?

. How many ELL students are labeled for special education?

. How many ELL students are labeled “at-risk”?

. How many ELL students are labeled “gifted”?

. What is the total number of certified bilingual staff at your school?

. Bilingual people on school board

. Report two pieces of academic achievement data (reading and math) as they relate to this area of diversity

Disability Data

. Number of students labeled with disabilities in hyour school

. How does this number compare with district total

. Number of special education referrals a year

. Report two pieces of academic achievement data (reading and math) as they relate to disability

Gender Data

. Females on the teaching staff at your school

. Females teaching science/math classes

. Females teaching English

. Females teaching history

. Females teaching at the highest level of math

. Females teaching AP courses

. Out[of-school suspensions/expulsions by gender

. Females/males on administrative team

. Females on school board

. Report two pieces of academic achievement data (reading and math) as they relate to this area of diversity

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

. Does your district have any active policies that address sexual orientation and gender identity?

. How and to what extent does hour district’s curriculum provide instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity?

. Does your school have a Gay/Straight Alliance?

. Assess your school’s library/media holdings related to sexual orientation and gender identity

. To what extent has professional development addressed sexual orientation and gender identity?

. To what extent are students teased or called names because of their gender identity or sexual orientation at your school? How do you know?

Comment: Read the article to find out how to use this instrument. RayS.