Educational Equity
Introduction
The Thompson School District (TSD) Board of Education annually reviews student outcome data that shows ongoing disparities in reading, math, behavior, and graduation. They felt a sense of urgency to address these identified concerns.
In September 2019, TSD's Superintendent asked the Director of Language, Culture, and Equity (now titled, Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) to create an Educational Equity Policy for the district. The Director and colleagues worked closely with the TSD Community and the Board of Education to build a common language and understanding of equity, and to uncover their desires and commitments as stakeholders to address equity across the TSD system.
The Educational Equity Policy was developed from community stakeholder input. The policy included guidance for TSD's Educational Equity Framework. For more information, please review the following: History of the Educational Equity Policy.
The Equity Framework defines the infrastructure for active implementation in the Thompson School District. The historical document: History of the Educational Equity Policy consists of a description of the History and Background of this innovative plan, District Commitments, and Equity Beliefs. Below you can view the progress of the multi-year TSD Educational Equity Implementation Plans.
What is Educational Equity in TSD?
“Educational equity” means a commitment to ensure that each student receives what they need to succeed (Blankstein & Noguera, 2015) by:
-
raising the learning outcomes of all students while improving the performance of historically marginalized students;
-
eliminating the disproportionality of which student groups occupy the highest and lowest achievement categories, including rates of graduation, by eliminating barriers to access and opportunity.
Inequities in TSD Student Outcomes
Data shared here demonstrates some of the equity data stories in TSD. Achieving educational equity would mean that EACH child would be reading, writing, and engaging in accurate numeracy by third grade and throughout their time as a student, so they graduate in four years time.
Graduation rates by school, by race, and by student group show the disparate outcomes between students.
i-Ready scores show the disparities among students based on their race, ethnicity, English learner status, and special education designation who are at mid- or above grade level, early on grade level, or one to three grade levels below their peers in literacy.
On-Time Graduation Rates
Implementation Timeline
July 2019 – March 2020
TSD Community Stakeholder Input on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
May – June 2021
TSD Community Stakeholder input at Board of Education
Spring 2022
TSD Equity Implementation Planning Committees
March 2022
TSD Equity Implementation Open House
2022-23 School Year
Educational Equity Board Update: June 21, 2023
2023-24 School Year
Educational Equity Board Update: June 5, 2024
2024-25 School Year
Educational Equity Board Update: June 4, 2025
Literacy Achievement and Growth
Educational Equity Dashboard
The following information lists the Superintendent's Cabinet's work on implementing equity across their divisions in three separate years: 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025. The progress for their strategies is noted under each focus area as a completed deliverable. This information was shared with the TSD School Board of Education in the Educational Equity Board update in June of each respective year.
