SUN PRAIRIE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT EQUITY EVALUATION INTEGRATED COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEMS FOR EQUITY information must be taught and then applied at the Community, Board, District, School, and Classroom level. What we mean by deficit language is based on the work of Valencia who first described a deficit ideology (1997).10 Gorski (2011) defines deficit ideology as “… a worldview that explains and justifies outcome inequalities - standardized test scores or levels of educational attainment, for example - by pointing to supposed deficiencies within disenfranchised individuals and communities”. Deficit thinking focuses on what is “wrong” with the student/family/community, what is not working, what is lacking, what they cannot do, or what they do not have. A deficit ideology blames students and families for low student achievement rather than examining the systemic and structural inequalities that perpetuate low performance (Gorski, 2011 & 2013).11 In contrast, assets-based thinking focuses on what the student/family/community can do, what skills, gifts, and knowledge they do have. Instead of blaming students and families, we consider the structural and systemic inequities in schools that educators have control over, that can impact students and families in negative ways. Luis Moll and colleagues (1992, 2005) 12 developed the phrase “funds of knowledge” to describe the household and cultural knowledge and skills within families — all strengths that they bring to school, that may be in contrast to White, middle-class norms. Essential Next Steps 1.
All educators, board members, and community members participate in activities to reflect and better understand stereotypes, myths, and assumptions to interrupt deficitbased language, thinking and practices for adults and students within the District and the Sun Prairie community.
2.
All educators and board members must model a shift from deficit-based language and practices to asset-based language and practices and set consistent expectations of all students within the school and educational community venues, including on social media platforms.
Engage in Identity Development
10
Valencia, R. R. (1997) (Ed). The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice. London: Falmer. Gorski, P. C. (2011). Unlearning deficit ideology and the scornful gaze: Thoughts on authenticating the class discourse in education. Counterpoints, 402, 152-173 and Gorski, P. C. (2016) Poverty and the ideological imperative: A call to unhook from deficit and grit ideology and to strive for structural ideology in teacher education, Journal of Education for Teaching, 42:4, 378-386 12 Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31(2), 132-141. 11
© 2022 Elise M. Frattura and Colleen A. Capper. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce, modify, or distribute this work without written consent from the authors or the Sun Prairie Area School District. Please email info@icsequity.org to obtain such permission. .
89
