Services | Social Justice & Equity
Partners for Educational Leadership is committed to helping districts, schools, and teachers meet the needs of all students, a challenge that remains complex and difficult, as school systems and individuals continue to struggle with understanding their own and systemic biases that contribute to inequity and significant achievement gaps.
Partners maintain that equity in education is achieved when student outcomes are not predicted by gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, language or ability and where all students reach a level of efficacy and competence that supports a rewarding and productive life. This requires the elimination of the inequities that contribute to disproportionate learning and achievement by students of certain social groups while ensuring all students are prepared for a productive and meaningful life.
Beliefs Guiding Our Equity Work
In America, perceptions and biases about race, class, ability, and gender have deep roots bound into our national history, culture, systems, and structures. By default, these perceptions and biases are replicated in schools.
- Inequities based on racism and classism are baked into our educational system and must be dismantled at a personal, institutional, and systemic level–it is the system that causes the inequities, not the student.
- Educational inequities are caused by racism, prejudice, and bias that disadvantage marginalized groups.
- Working on institutional racism without working on personal and interpersonal transformation allows inequities to persist and subverts systemic transformation.
- Ensuring equity in schools requires a deep commitment to and accountability for high quality teaching and learning.