JoEtta Gonzales, Director
The Equity Alliance at ASU
February 15, 2011
Rationales
for
Schooling
Linguistic
Differences
Inferior
Education
Cultural
Differences
Societal
Racism
Au, 1998
Early intervention in the
primary language can prevent
disabilities
Primary language and culture
are strengths to be build upon
All Children
Can Learn
Students not succeeding in
school need high quality
instruction
Students who are differently
labeled and/or culturally and
linguistically different should
be educated in an inclusive
environment.
Culture is not inherited;
rather we are socialized
to behave according to
traditions established
over generations
The cultures of schools
may or may not be in
harmony with the
culture each student
brings to school
Schools greatly
influence how young
people see themselves
and therefore need to
understand and validate
their backgrounds
Content Integration
Prejudice Reduction
Knowledge Construction
School Culture
Equity Pedagogy
ELL Placement Risk in Special
Education
(Artiles, et al., 2010)
1.5
Relative Risk Ratio
1
0.5
0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
ELL Placement Risk by Disability
(Artiles, et al., 2010)
1.5
1
0.5
0
1999
2000
2001
Learning Disabilities
2002
2003
Mild Mental Retardation
2004
Percent of Districts with ELL
Overrepresentation by Disability
(Artiles, et al., 2010)
Learning Disabilities
Mild Mental Retardation
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
The magnitude of the problem changes depending on
the level of analysis.
Increasing numbers of ELLs are being placed in special
education (e.g., LD in Arizona, MR in California).
A considerable proportion of school districts have ELL
overrepresentation.
School poverty level matters, since it had complex
associations with ELL placement risk.
The Equity
Alliance at
ASU’s
Framework for
Approaching
and Assessing
Systemic
Change
Educational Equity: District Level
 The ways new teachers get assigned
to schools, grade levels and/or
content areas
 How buildings and grounds are
renewed across the district
 How class sizes are distributed
 The ways in which schools get
equipped with furniture and
technology?
Educational Equity: District Level
Local school councils
Team and committee structures
Building Leadership Teams
Decision making
Shared Vision
Continuous Improvement Cycles
Educational Equity: District Level
Culture of Renewal &
Improvement
How reform initiatives are selected
Your district’s process for choosing
professional learning topics and
activities
The opportunities your district
provides for mentoring or coaching
How often and how the district
develops and reviews an
improvement plan
Educational Equity: District Level
District/Community Participation
and Partnerships
The ways your district connects
with families in your community
What community centers and
houses of worship your district
collaborates with around afterschool programs
How the district ensures that
family/community events are
distributed by day of week and
time of day
Educational Equity: District Level
Design and Use of Time
and Space
How schools’ appearances
differ
How school schedules and
calendars maximize learning
time
Where students’ classrooms
are located
The structures supported for
Professional Learning
Educational Equity: District Level
Inquiry for Equity in
Education
The forms of inquiry used to
think about student data
Other forms of data that
drive dialogue and decision
making
How educators are engaged
in researching their own and
others’ practice
The cycles for continuous
improvement
Tools for Learning
Ready to Use and Customize Professional Learning Modules