What would my school have to be willing to publish about itself before I could call its equity work real?
Why the question matters
Publication is the test I keep returning to, because it is the one thing a school can refuse without anyone making it refuse. ESSA-style reporting works in public systems largely because the tables are visible. In an independent school the tables exist — discipline records, course rosters, retention, staffing, aid — and nobody outside the building sees them. Whatever equity means here, it means something different if the numbers can be kept private whenever they are unflattering.
What I currently think
I am not proposing a public report card on my colleagues, and I want to be careful about small numbers: at this size a disaggregated table can identify a child, so anything published would need a minimum cell size and a plan for privacy. What I actually want is a standing, published set of counts updated yearly, kept at a level that protects individuals, plus a written description of what the school does when a number looks wrong. The uncomfortable part for me is that I would want to see it too — and I would have to be willing to read what came back.
What I am reading & learning
- —Barth (2016), Educational equity: What does it mean? How do we know when we reach it?
- —U.S. Department of Education (2025), Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
- —Milner (2019), Race to improve teacher education: Building awareness for instructional practice
- —Lewis & Diamond (2015), Despite the Best Intentions
Related journal entries
- Fair is not the same as equitable
My whole career has been about growing in my understanding of fairness versus equity. Fair treatment is not necessarily equitable treatment — students need scaffolds that help them reach their best potential — and I want to understand what that requires in the elite school where I teach.