The Leadership Academy’s equity audit process enables school systems to diagnose the current state of equity (including examining the impact of COVID-19) and identify focal points and recommended strategies for making improvements. Our equity audit process is unique and effective because: Our process is highly collaborative with district leaders and stakeholders. We work alongside a district equity committee and related work teams and facilitate the process that helps identify data sources, consider the most important areas of focus for the district, etc. Our process prioritizes stakeholder voice alongside other forms of data. We support the district in facilitating a series of focus groups or “town halls” to gather broad feedback; these can be in-person, virtual or a combination, and can be supplemented with online surveys. Our Research & Evaluation team synthesizes the data and feedback to support the district’s root cause analysis which identifies institutional causes of problems and ensures proposed strategies are aligned with the real challenges the district needs to solve. We support the district in using a cycle of inquiry process to shape strategies and action plans produced by the audit process, so that the district is positioned to monitor progress and revisit strategies to assess effectiveness over time. The Leadership Academy’s Equity at Work tool helps inform the post-audit planning process by offering research-based best practices aligned to 10 Equity Action Areas:
- Pedagogy
- Cultural Competency
- Collective Action
- Family Engagement
- Discipline
- School Enrollment
- Personnel
- Scheduling
- Students with Disabilities
- Transportation
The time required for the equity audit is driven by a variety of factors, including how many action areas the district chooses to examine, how many stakeholder groups and feedback sessions are offered, and how available the district’s equity audit committee members are for various planning meetings. A limited audit process could be accomplished in 6-8 weeks, while a more extensive one could take 3-4 months or longer.