FROM THE DESK OF MARK JONES

from the desk of MARK JONES OAESA Associate Executive Director

APPLYING THE CONCEPT of EQUITY to the

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

One 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.

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.

resort. Indeed, if we want suspensions to continue to be viewed as an extremely serious measure of discipline among students and families, we would all be best served by applying it with as much discretion as possible. But, the data does beg the question as to whether the use of out-of-school suspension has been applied equally or equitably. And unfortunately, each instance of serious misbehavior gives our principals the opportunity to reflect on this issue all over again.

ACCESS A second area where equity should be at the forefront of a principal’s thinking occurs when assigning teachers and students into classrooms. Some interesting questions arise from this process: Do you build homeroom groups randomly or strategically? Are students divided in such a way as to afford each teacher in a grade level a similarly balanced roster with respect to academic ability, potential behavioral concerns, gender, etc.? If so, you’ve met the “equal” challenge. Taking it a step further, did you attempt to pair the individual student issues with exactly the right teacher for their individual concerns?

To be sure, balancing all these factors when creating class groups is a difficult challenge! Just because you have a teacher who is excellent at dealing with boys that are diagnosed with ADHD doesn’t mean you should assign them all to that room. If that is your approach, good luck at hanging on to that teacher for very long! But it is important to make an effort to both balance the groups and match the concerns to the teacher most equipped to deal with them effectively. These are hard decisions, and you’ll probably be juggling the ideas of equity and equality throughout the process. CULTURE Think about your school culture. Is your school a welcoming and affirming place for students and staff? Intentional efforts are typically made to ensure everyone feels included and valued, and evidence of this can usually be found from a plethora of sources. From bulletin-board displays to how staff greets students and visitors, it is generally very easy to get a “quick read” on the climate in a building.

But it is worth asking yourself if certain groups might be getting overlooked. For example, how many children do you have with a parent currently serving in the military? Is that parent deployed now, or is he or she preparing for an upcoming assignment? These children are likely to have a unique set of needs that may not be obvious to school personnel, so a mechanism should be put into place to identify and address them.

Or, consider the needs of your individual staff members. Are some experiencing significant changes in their personal lives that might impact their work with students? Divorce? Childbirth? Health concerns? When these inevitable circumstances arise, are you as the building leader, providing the level of support necessary to assist these staff members? And are you ensuring that the students assigned to them are still experiencing an “equitable educational experience” during the process?

The broad concept of “equity” can be applied in countless ways to our work leading staff and students. While we should always strive to treat everyone and every situation with equity and equality, we must also be cognizant of the difference between these similar concepts, and be ready to articulate them in the application of our decisions.

SOLVING THE PERFORMANCE GAP: Equitable through an Effective IAT

by Brittany Fleming and Craig Caroff

When we think of the commitment we make to our students’ learning and what we want them to become, four words/phrases embody our mission for our Intervention Assistance Team (IAT): communication, collaboration, creativity, and critically evaluate. Our IAT at Millridge Elementary shares these principles with our “Profile of a Mayfield Wildcat”—competencies we want students to leave our classrooms with as they transition to the next grade level, graduate from our high school, and enter the workforce or attend college.

At Millridge Elementary, we make every effort to meet the expansive needs of our students by committing to collaborate with our colleagues, being creative and thinking outside of the box, communicating with all necessary stakeholders (in the child’s education), and critically evaluating the effectiveness of the implemented intervention. In conjunction with this framework, we view the IAT process as a proactive approach to providing research-based interventions to address the academic or social-emotional needs of each of our students.

This is the process that has truly aided us in solving the performance gap. Why do we put so much effort into our process? Because each student in our school deserves our best. Our best effort, in turn, ensures that each one of our students becomes his or her very best self as he or she leaves Millridge and continues on his or her educational journey. productive? How can we ensure that all are accountable for the achievement of students?

We began by communicating to staff our vision and purpose of the IAT process, with great emphasis on what it entails and the positive approach the team can take to meet the needs of our growing student population.

It took a while for the process to sink in, as it was a shift in mindset. (And no, there were not any forms that teachers had to fill out—this is a great way to get buy-in right away!) We have followed and have found success in a relatively standard protocol:

Scheduling Logistics • We set two dates per month where we book a halfday substitute teacher for classroom teachers with 30-minute time slots available. We have learned to try our best to have a K–2 and 3–5 day, if possible, to allow team members the opportunity to make age-appropriate recommendations with each grade-level band. • Classroom teachers are made aware of all IAT meeting dates for the year at the opening staff meeting. This puts a deadline in place so the team is prepared for each meeting.

That is quite a bit to keep in mind and digest, but we are here to break it down for you. In this article, we will share our process from when we arrived at Millridge to where we currently stand and looking forward to the goals we have for the future of our IAT.

As we arrived at Millridge Elementary School in the fall of 2016 and began to understand the previous intervention process in place, we immediately realized the collective team would benefit by bringing coherence to the intervention team through an equitable process. Here is the feedback we received right away:

• The intervention process could use consistency and needs to be a collaborative approach. • The approach needs to have predetermined periods attached to it—discussing one student for an hour and half (what would occur previously) was not acceptable to grade-level teams and an ineffective use of time to benefit ALL students. • The process needs opportunities for reading intervention specialists to attend meetings to share student progress and discuss next steps, as it is best practice in a true collaborative approach. • Main objective: To enable all to grow as professionals but most importantly to assist our students to achieve at higher levels and reach their academic and social-emotional potential.

So the magic questions we began to talk about prior to communicating to staff: Where do we start? Where do we want to end up? How do we begin to empower staff so that the meetings are Identifying Students in Need • Classroom teachers email the IAT with the name of the student and the specific area(s) of concern—academic and/or social-emotional. • IAT leaders send Outlook calendar invitations to all relevant team members. We strive to know the specific area of academic and/or social-emotional concern prior to meeting so that we can invite relevant related service personnel and ultimately utilize everyone’s time effectively.

IAT Meeting Agenda • IAT meets and starts with discussing the positive attributes and strengths of a student. The team strives to build upon the student’s strengths when developing an intervention action plan. • Within Google Drive, individual folders for specific academic and social-emotional skill set were created and shared with the entire staff. The folders contain various research-based interventions that can be implemented with the general education classroom.

Follow Through To ensure there is consistency in the process, follow-up IAT meetings are scheduled approximately 7–8 weeks after the initial meeting. This is best practice to evaluate student progress in response to the intervention plan put in place.

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dent progress and the effectiveness of the intervention plan. We further develop our collaborative plan and consistently make decisions that are data-driven and are in the best interest of the individual student.

From the initial meeting to where we stand now, we continue to recognize that this group is a problem-solving and creative team. Part of being equitable to our students involves meeting their specific needs, no matter how simple or complex they may be. Our main objective is always to take them from point A to an identified point B in a way that enables each to self-advocate and reach new heights in their learning or social-emotional development. With teamwork (see graphic), we believe that anything is possible.

To ensure that teamwork plays a consistent role in our approach, we take advantage of a number of opportunities in our building that really make students feel better about themselves, gain confidence in their skills and ultimately achieve at a higher level. Perhaps these ideas will inspire you to think outside of the box as well:

• Utilize high school students from our EXCEL Tech Teach program to work with students throughout the school day on particular skill deficits. • Plan for students to receive LLI or Reading Recovery services with one of our reading intervention teachers. • Align the schedule so that our older students can reinforce math skills/concepts they are working to master by teaching them to younger peers who need assistance. • Setting up home-school behavior contracts where all parties involved in the child’s education sign the agreement that involves incentives and consequences (both immediate and long-term) at school and home.

• Write social stories collaboratively with students to address a wide range of topics so that they can begin to take ownership of their behavior with the ultimate goal that they will be a role model for others. • Work with high school staff to allow a student to act as a mentor to our younger students to foster enhanced level of self-confidence surrounding particular skills (academic or social/emotional). • Utilize online resources as a tool for additional intervention by providing login information to parents and asking them to communicate progress to us. • Encourage students to communicate their progress to their families through SeeSaw, an app used to share progress on any content area. Within reading instruction (as well as other attributes of language) students work towards collaboratively developed goals. Focus areas can be highlighted (main idea, supporting details, story analysis, etc.).

As we move forward into the remainder of this year and next, we know that we will need to continue to reinforce the success of many and will continue to look for methods to refine our process. Here are some next steps for us as a building-based team that we look forward to achieving:

• Enhanced communication with families using a standard letter that communicates exactly what we are working to achieve with their child. This will foster a true team/collaborative approach with all necessary stakeholders. • Continue to refine our list of research-based interventions and empower teachers to become experts in different skill areas, eventually having a critical mass be responsible for recommending updates to the Google Drive folder.

Streamlining the process of collaborating with related service personnel within our IAT process. We continue to work on integrating speech-language, articulation, and fine-motor interventions into the general education classroom. An equitable and efficient approach is a central part of an effective IAT process—one that provides students with the tools to truly excel and reach new heights in learning. By continuously reinforcing through this process—that as a team—we can provide for any student in our building, we are truly engaging in meaningful work that, in the end, will directly cause true progress.

About the Authors

Brittany Fleming and Craig Caroff work at Millridge Elementary in the Mayfield City School District. Brittany is the school psychologist and Craig is the principal of the school. Brittany completed her undergraduate work at John Carroll University and graduate schoolwork at Kent State University. Craig received his undergraduate degree in early childhood education from Baldwin-Wallace University and his master’s degree at Ursuline College in educational administration.

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