Creating Equity Audits
View the EEMS Equity Audit Template. This template is designed for 2017-2018 data available from the Maine Department of Education and 2015 data available from the Office of Civil Rights.
This page is dedicated to the creation of EEMS Equity Audits. The Equity Audit Template revolves around four opportunity areas and allows for an examination of equity at the school level. For the slide show tutorial for creating your own template please use this google slide template. Please contact us for the powerpoint version of the template or to learn how to use the template with more recent data (currently designed for 2017-18/2015 data as stated above).
Understanding the Equity Audit Framework
The EEMS Equity Audit Framework is based around the idea that discrepancies in opportunities are reflected in achievement gaps for students. The framework consists of four opportunity areas: access to programming, discipline policies, funding, and achievement.
Interpreting Equity Audit Data
Paul Gorski's social justice framework for Equity Literacy calls on educators to
- Recognize biases and inequities
- Respond in immediate term
- Redress biases in long term
- Create and Sustain bias-free and equitable learning environment
The Equity Audit model helps us to Recognize Opportunity Gaps – discrepancies in funding, access, and discipline that lead to achievement gaps. Use the following questions to examine your school's equity audit data with a lens of responding to inequities and creating solutions for building an equitable learning environment.
- Where do you see (recognize) balanced representation and where do you see racial, gender, or SES discrepancies in access (enrollment in programs – GT, Spec Ed, AP), discipline procedures, funding, and achievement?
- Give a deficit model explanation for these discrepancies.
- Give a critical structural model explanation for these discrepancies.
- Using the critical structural model explanation – brainstorm possible strategies to respond and redress the discrepancies.
Equity Audit Examples
Below are student made examples of the equity audit by district.
Biddeford Schools
Biddeford Middle School
Biddeford High School
Gorham Schools
Great Falls Elementary School
Gorham High School
Lewiston Public Schools
Governor James B Longley Elementary School
Lewiston High School
MSAD 72 - Fryeburg
MSAD 75 - Topsham
Portland Public Schools
Fred P Hall Elementary School
Lincoln Middle School
Lyman Moore Middle School
Deering High School
South Portland School Department
Mahoney Middle School
Memorial Middle School
South Portland High School
Waterville Public Schools
Westbrook School Department
Oxford-Cumberland Canal School
Westbrook Middle School
Westbrook High School