Research for the Real World

Exploring Equity in the State-Driven Accountability System

By Taeyeon Kim

In pursuit of excellence, equity conversation has been at the center of the Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA) of 2015, the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA). As ESSA shifted the authority of school accountability from the federal government to the states, states must develop policies to reduce equity gaps. Accordingly, policymakers in Nebraska redesigned its school accountability system to address how they will use federal funds to reduce equity gaps and monitor the progress of all students and subgroups. This led policymakers and educational leaders to deliberate on constructing equity principles and policy priorities. More recently, with COVID-19, which exacerbated the existing inequities, policymakers diligently adopted largescale initiatives to enhance student access, mental health, and distance learning, as well as offer resources to make up for learning loss and gaps.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Department of Educational Administration (EDAD) faculty conduct leading research and outreach related to the most pressing and complex challenges and opportunities in the education field and support students in connecting theory to practice. Below is a summary of recent hands-on research published by a UNL EDAD faculty member and his doctoral student. Please contact them directly for questions and comments. in more need. In other words, Berne and Stiefel (1984) used horizontal and vertical equity to describe multiple dimensions of equity. Horizontal equity, concerned more about the equality logic, does not necessarily recognize an unequal supply of resources and support (like equality). Vertical equity, on the other hand, acknowledges differences in needs at the starting point, such as access to resources and capacities to mobilize social and cultural capital. While earlier discussions of equity relied on horizontal equity, more recent policies and educational practices focus more on vertical equity to ensure that every individual and school can access the necessary resources and support to be successful.

Given this policy environment, I would like to share the summary of my ongoing research project, Exploring Equity as Rationale for the State-driven Accountability in Nebraska, funded by the University of Nebraska Collaboration Initiative. (In collaboration with Dr. Aprille Phillips at the University of Nebraska Kearney and Dr. Edmund T. Hamann at the University of Nebraska Lincoln). We analyzed the documents and videos generated by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) and the research literature to examine how equity has been understood in the state-driven accountability policy.

Conceptualization of Equity – From Horizontal to Vertical Equity

To begin with, understanding definitions of equity is essential. One way to understand equity is by distinguishing its meaning from equality. While equality posits equal opportunity and equal distribution of resources for everyone, equity assumes the necessity of greater resources and support for those

Equity in Accountability Policy – From Access to Outcome

In the early days, policymakers often framed equity as equal access to the same school. However, Brown decision shifted this logic with the federal efforts to enhance equity in the allocation of educational opportunities and resources and to ensure every student, regardless of their background, attains an adequate education with a threshold level of knowledge and skills. Relatedly, such a framing drew policymakers’ attention to performance—student outcomes—to hold schools accountable by centralizing authority in the intergovernmental system to achieve this performance-threshold definition of equity. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the federal government has pressured states to adopt educational performance accountability systems that include tests, performance standards, and interventions targeting lowperforming schools and districts. Approaches to equity thus have often been considered to eliminate gaps in outcomes among subgroups. The review of the 52 approved ESSA plans from all states, including D.C. and PR, by Chu (2019) showed that most state plans adopted a vertical approach to equity, ensuring disadvantaged groups and students with more significant needs receive more resources. These state plans implied the importance of achieving outcome equity—although it was relatively subtle—by emphasizing the elimination of educational disparities among different student groups as the primary objective of equity policies and interventions (Chu, 2019).

Framing Equity in Nebraska —Discourses from State Department of Education

The State of Nebraska focuses on access and outcome equity in its ESSA plan. It emphasizes closing achievement and opportunity gaps to achieve equitable outcomes for every student. Specifically, the state plans addressed equitable funding, access to effective educators, and quality learning environments. In addition, NDE promoted equity as a statewide initiative, explicitly branding themselves as “Champions for Equity” and “Agents of Change for Equity” through Admin Days keynote speeches in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Here, NDE highlighted multiple-dimensional understandings of equity, including access, process, and outcome wise, beyond simplistic notions, such as fairness and access to equal resources. The NDE’s framing of equity between 20182019 was more about vertical equity, guaranteeing outcomes for each individual and subgroup through “appropriate” resources and processes.

In more recent policy enactment during and post-COVID, however, NDE’s framing of equity has become behind the scenes and simplistic attached to the federal policy requirement. For instance, in responding to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSR), NDE released a website entitled Launch Nebraska focused on supporting school districts in 2021 and allocated resources from ESSR funds. The 2021 Admin Days keynote speech was centered on the challenges and opportunities presented in the Nebraska context. And the 2022 Admin Days keynote speech addressed “Restoring Normal” post-COVID-19, which called for state-wide collaboration to address chronic absenteeism, English Learner performance in math as measured by statewide assessment, teacher shortage, and career and technical education courses. Equity conversations were more driven by the student panel, who shared their experiences with the impacts of COVID-19 and racial injustice, not necessarily by the state department leaders.

One might argue that national politics, divisive political agenda, and the global pandemic could have influenced how the state department and educational leaders engage in equity work. Several school and district leaders I met in Nebraska said equity had suddenly become a scary term, even though their commitment to it had been sustaining. Most leaders would admit that every student and school have their own needs, and schools must support every individual to succeed. Then, why shouldn’t equity be a glorious goal and guiding post for educational policies and practices? ■