from the desk of MARK JONES
OAESA Associate Executive Director
APPLYING THE CONCEPT
EQUITY to the
of
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
O
ne of my favorite tasks as a school principal involved interviewing candidates to fill openings in our faculty. For me, it felt as if I were on a grand quest, scouring the countryside to find just the right new teacher, someone who could be seamlessly integrated into our existing team and provide our students with superb instruction. The interview process allowed me to probe the personality of each candidate, looking for revealing insights into what kind of person I would be granting the awesome opportunity—indeed responsibility—to shape the hearts and minds of our young learners. In every interview, I tried to assess how the candidate viewed the concepts of equity (fairness) and equality (sameness), particularly as to how these ideas would play out in his or her interactions with students. Often, I would find my entrance into this discussion by asking about his or her intended classroom management style or how he or she wanted to be viewed by students or even what his or her homework policies might involve. All I really wanted to know, however, was if the candidate could articulate the fundamental difference between treating others fairly and treating them equally. And, when placed into a situation where these two approaches were in conflict, which one would he or she choose? My purpose in pursuing this line of questioning with candidates was simple. Based upon how they explained their notion of these two ideas (often viewed as interchangeable synonyms but are actually very different), I could quickly gain insight into each person’s general flexibility in dealing with complex issues. I could tell if he or she were the type who viewed things from a “black-and-white, right-orwrong” perspective or if he or she were likely to see the subtle shades of gray around the inevitable conflicts that we all face. Indeed, as educators, we’re in the people business, and that means we are dealing with complicated human interactions all day, every day. In short, I wanted to hire individuals who understood that while there are times it’s appropriate to treat everyone equally, there are also times when it is not. (The classic example here is that if I were
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asked to provide shoes for entire class of sixth graders, and I wanted to treat them equally, I would buy them each a pair of size eight loafers, regardless of the size of their feet.) In contrast, it is always appropriate to treat others with fairness, like matching their new shoes to the size of their feet! So, beyond this trite illustration, how might the concept of equity play a role in our work in schools? The examples are absolutely endless, but let’s consider a few ways in which the notion of equity might relate to the work of a school principal. Some are obvious, but others may have escaped your recognition as issues of equity. DISCIPLINE First, let’s consider school discipline. Currently, there is a piece of proposed legislation that, if enacted, will change the options principals now have when it comes to assigning consequences for student misbehavior. Specifically, it will remove the option of suspending or expelling students in grades K–3 for violations of the school code of conduct, with exceptions for only the most dangerous of infractions. This initiative is being promoted because of the perception that our schools have been far too quick to suspend our youngest learners, without utilizing other methods of correcting misbehaviors. Statistics released by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) revealed that across the state, there were 34,000 separate incidences of outof-school suspensions in grades K–3 during the 2016–17 school year in Ohio. More troubling than the number of suspensions, the data also shows a significant disproportionality between suspension rates for students based upon race, with Black males suspended much more frequently than any other subgroup. Additionally, our special needs students are suspended at disproportionally higher rates than their typical counterparts. We often hear principals say they use suspensions purely as a last
