Equity in Data: A Framework for What Counts in Schools

Building a better data culture can be the path to better results and greater equity in schools. But what do we mean by data?

Your students are not just statistics. They aren't simply a set of numbers or faceless dots on a proficiency scale. They are vibrant collections of experiences, thoughts, perspectives, emotions, wants, and dreams. And taken collectively, all of that information is data—and should be valued as such.

Equity in Data not only unpacks the problematic nature of current approaches to data but also helps educators demystify and democratize data. It shows how we can bake equity into our data work and illuminate the disparities, stories, and truths that make our schools safer and stronger—and that help our students grow and thrive.

To this end, the authors introduce a four-part framework for how to create an equitable data culture (along with a complementary set of data principles). They demonstrate how we can rethink our approach to data in the interest of equity by making five shifts:

* Expand our understanding of data.
* Strengthen our knowledge of data principles.
* Break through our fear of data.
* Decolonize our data gathering processes.
* Turn data into meaningful, equitable action.

We have an opportunity to realign school data with what students want out of their educational experiences. When we put equity first, we put students first.

Andrew Knips has more than a decade of experience teaching students, leading teams, and coaching leaders in Philadelphia's public, alternative, and charter schools. He is an education leadership coach, executive coach, data consultant, and racial literacy trainer. Previously, he was a high school English teacher and school administrator. Andrew has observed thousands of teacher team and leadership team meetings, facilitated hundreds of professional learning sessions, coached hundreds of educators, and collaborated on equity audits in over a dozen schools and organizations. He has designed dozens of data tools and systems for teachers and leaders. He has presented at conferences such as AERA and NCTE and has published articles on blogs such as Edutopia and Education Post.

Sonya Lopez is currently a school-based social worker in Philadelphia. She has worked for more than a decade in schools in a number of roles, including language arts and literature teacher, school administrator, and director of social-emotional learning at a K–12 charter school. Across settings, her approach to practice supports a contextual understanding of individual experiences through a systems lens and a holistic perspective of identity. Throughout her career, Sonya has collaborated with clinicians, therapists, creatives, educators, and families in Philadelphia to shape environments informed by understanding mental health, resilience, sociopolitical contexts, trauma, and grief.

Michael Savoy has 25 years of educational experience, including teaching mathematics at the middle school, high school, and college levels; working with community organizations on school policy, advocacy, and involvement; and working with K–12 teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators to improve the equitable education experiences and opportunities for all their students. Throughout his educational career, he has continued to focus on ways to dismantle educational inequities, improve educational environments, and involve more parent and community members in the success of all students. He is the author of several journal articles and book chapters on educational change.

Kendall LaParo is an education researcher and sociologist who studies inequality in school systems. She currently works as a quantitative researcher at Research for Action, an education research firm in Philadelphia. She also cofacilitates Philadelphia's Data &amAssessment Community of Practice, a gathering space for education leaders. Kendall began her career as an elementary school teacher in Camden, New Jersey. While teaching, she discovered a passion for education research and now uses her experience as an educator to inform her data science work. She served as director of analytics at the education nonprofit Springboard Collaborative, where she managed data collection and analysis for three national out-of-school-time literacy programs that served more than 5,000 students each year. She also worked as a researcher at the School District of Philadelphia and Temple University’s Public Policy Lab.