Equity
What is Ruth Acty’s equity goal?
To build an actively welcoming and culturally competent community that is empowered to cultivate success for all students by confronting personal and institutionalized racism, and eliminating inequity within our school.
But our school is so diverse! Is equity really a problem here?
Yes, our school is diverse, but we see starkly different outcomes across racial groups. Take a look at this Berkeleyside article which outlines the persistent racial opportunity gap in Berkeley schools. Among the nation’s 5,000 largest districts, BUSD had the second-largest gap in test scores. While Ruth Acty fairs better than the district as a whole, we are still experiencing enormous achievement gaps of 35-61% between racial groups on English and Math proficiency.
Ruth Acty: Standard Met or Achieved
White: 96% English, 90% Math
Asian: 94% English, 100% Math
Two or more races: 90% English, 90% Math
Hispanic or Latino: 66% English, 62% Math
Black or African American: 61% English, 39% Math
What kinds of things change outcomes?
Staying committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and intentionally changing our practices to build a community that helps everyone succeed. Dig into these great resources from the national PTA for a primer:
How can we tackle this head on as school leaders at Ruth Acty?
All of us:
Equity isn’t an add-on, equity is the job: Making sure every kid is successful is our #1 job, so consider equity in every interaction and at the start of every new project
Model equity in our own lives: Think about who you are inviting into your inner circles and how representative they are of the community around us; encourage your kids to do the same; normalize conversations about difference and the value-add from getting to know people from different backgrounds; empower kids with identifiers other than race to talk about the people around us
Deliver the message without the weight: Help kids grow with curiosity and give yourself grace with challenging questions -- it’s ok to say I don’t know and make a date to follow-up with an answer; take the positive or negative tone out of your answer and just state the facts, for example:
Q: Is that a boy or a girl? A: Let’s ask which pronouns they want us to use.
Q: Why does her hair look like that? A: Because it’s a cool hairstyle and she likes wearing it that way.
PTA Leaders:
Be visible: Show up at coffee mingles; have a table at Back to School Night; consider fun branded shirts or hats; post your photos on a bulletin board or in the newsletter
Make PTA meetings fun: Do things that are purely about building community; focus on a topic of interest to caregivers (technology, 5th grade transition); consider calling them huddles instead of PTA meetings to make them more inviting
Go where people are: Post the PTA newsletter on a bulletin board near RAZ pick-up; for important announcements or events hand out flyers at drop off or pick up; say hi to people whenever you’re at a school event and ask caregivers what the PTA can be doing to better support their kids
Show people that they are seen and heard: Ms. Pam described equity this way: “Equity is having my song included in the playlist and my dance moves in the choreography.” In other words, show that you expect people to come and actively prepare to make them feel included; ask for feedback from families and show you’re listening by responding with action; share fun facts about targeted groups in the newsletter
Room Partners:
Call to introduce yourself at the beginning of the year: Keep the conversation light, focus on building trust and relationships:
I’m happy our kids are in class together this year.
Because you’re an important part of this classroom and community, we simply wanted to ask: Are there ways the PTA can support your family?
What’s the best way to share information about school events, fundraisers and opportunities?
Explore multiple modes of communication: Since not everyone receives info in the same way, consider shaking things up with in-person chats, phone calls, emails, texts, bulletin board messages or fliers in the homework folder
Create in-person connection points for caregivers: Host a welcome park date or potluck at the beginning of the year so caregivers can meet; at school-wide events consider giving every classroom a station so caregivers can volunteer together and build community
Spot an only, support an only: If you notice an “only” in your class (the only Black kid, the only Trans kid, the only Muslim kid) find intentional targeted ways to support them -- ask their caregivers at the beginning of the year for tips
Invite people in to lead: Why do people serve on the PTA? Because somebody asked them! Be that somebody and work with your teacher to scout future school leaders that represent our diverse community, and encourage them to get involved; start small with a classroom project and see if there’s appetite for more