Presentation to NEGA RESA team members.

1. Equity and Excellence
NEGA RESA TEAM MEETING – MAY 20, 2021

2. “The last several decades of
education policy have set
equity and excellence at war
with each other. If you are
wealthy, with the means to pay
tuition or move to a
community with great schools,
you have ready access to
excellence. If you are poor,
black, or brown, you get equity
and an important lecture: On
fairness, on democracy, or
infuriatingly, on the need for
patience and restraint.”
~Robert Pondiscio
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3. EQUITY IS…
Raising the achievement of all
students, while narrowing the
gaps between the highest and
the lowest performing
students, and eliminating the
racial predictability and
disproportionality of which
student groups occupy the
highest and the lowest
achievement categories.
~Glenn Singleton
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4. PREDICTABLY, SOME
EDUCATORS CONFUSE EQUITY
WITH EQUALITY…
We must recognize that if we
continue providing “equal” support
to students achieving at different
academic levels, we will continue to
experience and even perpetuate
performance disparities. In focusing
on equity, we must confront all gaps
in student performance—be they
racial, linguistic, economic, or
gender. Racial equity leaders thus
address the student achievement
challenges that are hardest to talk
about as well as those that are the
most difficult to solve.
~Glenn Singleton
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5. o Coffee Talk
(Equity Focus)
Protocol
Purpose is for
participants to enlarge
their thinking by:
∙ Reading related
articles.
∙ Writing reflectively
about their responses.
∙Talking with others.
Time: 30-45 minutes 3-4 short readings (1-5 pages),
organized loosely around a topic
or theme that is thought-
provoking and current
Individual written reflection Participants mingle, share their
thinking, and make sense of the
readings.
Followed by whole group debrief.
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6. Respond to any or all of the prompts below or
simply free-write about the readings.
1. What was comforting/comfortable?
2. What did you find challenging or
confusing?
3. What are you wondering about/what
questions do you have?
4. What do you most want to remember?

7. The Essential Question Remains…
What more can I/we do to help
reduce racial disparities in student
achievement?