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History of the Educational Equity Policy

2018-2019

In February 2019, TSD leadership created and hired a new position of Director of Language, Culture, and Equity (LCE) to guide educational equity to become a focus for the district. The TSD Board of Education (BoE) had been reviewing data demonstrating disparities in educational and behavioral outcomes over time, and they felt compelled to address these important issues. 

2019-2020

September 2019, the Director of LCE was asked to create a board approved Educational Equity Policy for the district. The Director worked closely with the TSD Community and the BoE in ongoing conversations to build common language to uncover their desires and commitments in increasing access and opportunity across the TSD system. Vast community stakeholder input was gathered in the creation of the Educational Equity Policy:

  • Five hundred staff in the district completed a survey related to equity awareness, skill, and action.
  • Over 1,400 responses to various types of surveys related to student, family, and staff needs helped determine the themes chosen to be written into the Educational Equity Policy.
  • Community listening sessions with diverse community members and diverse student focus groups helped guide the writing of the policy.
  • District leadership, including Principals, Assistant Principals, Directors, Superintendent's Cabinet members, and Board of Education (BoE) members participated in listening sessions to describe their commitments and responsibilities to increase access and opportunity for EACH and EVERY student.
  • Designed with the TSD community's voice and perspectives gathered from July 2019 to March 2020, the policy was first presented to the BoE on March 11, 2020.
  • Due to COVID-19 closures and meeting postponement, the final reading of the policy was delayed until June 2020.

The ADB Educational Equity Policy was presented to the TSD School Board and passed unanimously on June 17, 2020, and it highlights two overarching themes:

The district commits to ensuring that it will not limit student opportunity, access, and success on the basis of a person's actual or perceived characteristics, such as, but not limited to

race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, immigration/citizenship status, age, marital status, conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, genetic information, mental or physical disability, need for special education services, or any other protected class in conformance with federal, state, & local law.

The Educational Equity policy addresses persistent gaps (disparities) in academic achievement and growth in reading and math, course, athletic, and activity participation, student disciplinary outcomes, and graduation rates.
The Equity Framework defines the infrastructure for active implementation in the Thompson School District. It consists of a description of the History and Background of this innovative plan, District Commitment, Equity Beliefs, and the five-year TSD Educational Equity Implementation Plan.

2020-2021

During the approval of the Educational Equity Policy, Board members requested that The Policy be active and implemented. The Director of LCE led the creation of a framework to align with the Educational Equity Policy and a 5-year implementation plan. To ensure a research-based focus, the District requested an Equity Compass Review by the Western Educational Equity Assistance Center (WEEAC) housed at Metropolitan State University of Denver to identify educational equity needs across multiple levels of the organization.

  • The first part of the Review was completed September 14-18, 2020, which utilized a rubric-based set of 23 indicators to measure educational equity tenets and was implemented by six highly-trained reviewers. Ninety-five individuals were interviewed, 14 group interviews were held, and a district-level document review was completed. The WEEAC's Executive Summary highlighted the Equity Policy and noted six recommendations for growth.
  • The second Review included six TSD schools and was completed between March 29 and April 1, 2021.
  • The Educational Equity Framework included a broad range of diverse community and stakeholder input from students, staff, families, and community representatives.
  • The Equity Framework was shared at a public board meeting on June 2, 2021.
TSD Educational Equity Framework

TSD Commitment to Educational Equity

TSD values each individual's diversity, safety, well-being, and success. Building the capacity of district staff to demonstrate culturally responsive and equitable practices throughout the system will bring about the conditions and skill sets needed to ensure educational benefit to each of our students. Our commitments include:

  • Honoring diversity
  • Empowering staff
  • Providing safe, inclusive, and supportive learning and work environments
  • Welcoming families, guardians, and community members
  • Allocating resources equitably

Our commitments, founded on our TSD Equity Beliefs, will be the center of all of our work-- as a system.

TSD Foundational Educational Equity Beliefs

  • The district believes that each student is valued and important, has the potential to learn and grow, and that we are responsible for educating each child in our system while honoring their diversity.
  • The district is committed to creating and implementing a district organization in which leadership and members of all divisions take responsibility for and are accountable for ensuring that students and staff are provided with what they need to be successful.
  • The district is committed to further empowering excellent staff to provide culturally responsive and sustaining practices through ongoing training across the system.
  • The district is committed to providing safe, inclusive, and supportive learning and work environments in which students, staff, families, and the community's diversity are recognized, honored, and respected, thereby creating a strong sense of belonging so that each individual can achieve their goals.
  • The district believes families should be welcomed, supported, and engaged in receiving information about programs available to their children.
  • The district believes that allocating resources equitably will support the narrowing of student opportunity gaps. Adjusting academic, athletic, activity fee, resource, and supply structures across the school district will increase access and opportunity for each student.

Equity Moves

The TSD Equity framework includes the following Equity Moves that support the implementation of our Educational Equity Policy over the next five years:

 

TSD Educational Equity Framework

 

Equity Moves are the core features of our framework that will help us move our equity work forward in the Thompson School District. Each Move is valuable in our systemic growth.

Equity Move → Equitable Student Outcomes

At the core of our framework: Increase Data-informed decision-making to improve student outcomes

TSD leadership will lead data-informed district and school decision-making processes to narrow student's opportunity gaps by reviewing, setting goals, and monitoring progress based on disaggregated trend data by any available identifiers.

Equity Move → Inclusive Family/Guardian and Community Input

Increase diverse representation in decision-making

TSD leaders will create and maintain meaningful systems and structures for active involvement, engagement, and decision-making of students, families, staff, and community members that reflect the diversity of the student body.

Equity Move → Multilingual Communication

Increase multilingual communication

TSD leaders will provide information in the home language of families at the school and district levels.

Equity Move → Culturally Competent and Diverse Staff

Increase the Cultural competence and diverse representation of TSD employees

TSD leaders will utilize targeted recruitment, employment, support, and retention of a culturally competent workforce that reflects the diversity of the student body. Multilingualism of staff is seen as an asset to support our Multilingual communication goal and responsibility.

Equity Move → Professional Learning for Equity

Increase staff capacity to engage in equitable practices

TSD will offer high-quality ongoing professional learning to engage and empower staff at all levels with the goal of increasing culturally relevant and equitable practices to meet the learning variability of EACH and EVERY student.

Equity Move → Equitable Resource Allocation

Increase equitable resource allocation of funds, resources, people, and time

TSD will increase access for each student through equitable resource allocation throughout TSD.