Entry Point 1: Implementing a current plan with an equity mindset

You already have identified Priority Performance Challenges, identified root causes and planned action steps and implementation benchmarks. Even if your school or district did not have equity top of mind when creating the UIP or other plans, these existing plans can still be implemented with an equity lens. You and your leadership team can keep your current actions AND consider doing the following: 

• Be aware of and monitor the mindsets of yourself and your staff, especially about the abilities or inherent qualities of students. Ask, are those mindsets limiting or rooted in unintentional bias?
• Consider the major players in this challenge (likely: leadership, staff, students and families). Ask, does each group understand their responsibilities in helping achieve the collective goals? 
• Examine the students impacted by the action. Ask, are some student groups overrepresented in this intervention? For example, being identified for Tier 2 or 3 academic and behavioral supports. 
• Observe if attendance is impacting how effective interventions are for students. Ask if some students miss out due to chronic absenteeism? 
• Inform or engage families meaningfully at each stage implementing and assessing those actions. 
• If your plans include adding academic interventions, coach teachers to implement academic supports by using a variety of strategies that are identity-affirming strategies and support every child having access to content while offering that tutoring. 
• If your plans include hiring additional staff, use inclusive hiring practices that help match diversity of the staff to the diversity of the student body. 
• As you collect impact data, consider what data you may not be collecting, such as student and family voices.
• Disaggregate any impact data by student groups, if possible, and consider any differences that emerge.  

If any of the above library of actions sound like something you want to integrate into your current plans, there are resources available in the corresponding section or in the Resource Appendix. Leaders may not be able to embed all the shifts suggested above midyear. As you review them, identify which can be implemented now and which you can be aware of and consider for future planning.