What Equity Really Means in Schools

Equity and equality are two different concepts that are often used interchangeably. Many people think
that equity in education means everyone getting the same thing, but it actually means that everyone
gets access to what they need. So how can we work to truly narrow the gaps and improve student
learning? Let’s take a closer look.

Equality versus equity

To understand what equity means in schools, we must first separate it from equality. “We have heard the
terms equality and equity used interchangeably. However, it is critical to note that while both concepts
are key to social justice and deal with resources, they are significantly different,” states The National
Association for Multicultural Education. “Generally, equality is associated with treating people the same
or people having equal access to resources and opportunities.”

Equity, on the other hand, is about ensuring that everyone receives what they need to be successful —
even if that varies across racial or socioeconomic lines. In short, equality is not enough to combat
hundreds of years of oppression, poverty, and disproportionality. “While the world in which we live
distributes talent equally, it does not equally distribute opportunity,” explains Equity Education.

Culturally responsive teaching

Culturally responsive education focuses on elevating the learning capacity of students who have
traditionally been marginalized in education. According to Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally
Responsive Teaching and The Brain, academic struggles are often attributed to a “culture of poverty” or
“different community values toward education” but they really exist because “we don’t offer [students]
sufficient opportunities in the classroom to develop the cognitive skills and habits of mind that would
prepare them to take on more advanced academic tasks.”

The idea of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is that we work toward equity by ensuring that
marginalized students receive opportunities for high-level thinking and grow into deep thinkers. “When
you’re engaged in complex thinking, your brain grows,” says Hammond. “Too many classrooms have
students passively sitting. The teacher is doing the majority of the work.” Hammond sees CRT as a driver
toward “helping students have environments in which they can grow their brain power and be active
participants in their own learning” and where “they see that they are more than capable because
competence precedes confidence.

Differentiated instruction

Differentiation is not a sorting method, nor does it mean scaffolding assignments to death.
Differentiation is a pathway toward equity because it tasks teachers with truly understanding the needs
— the evolving needs — of their students and providing modalities for learning and challenges that fit
those needs. “Connecting this way requires teachers to differentiate instruction — recognizing their
students’ individuality and then planning learning experiences with the range of student needs,
interests, styles, and preferences in mind,” says Stuart Udell, CEO of Catapult Learning.
In a differentiated classroom, students are known and understood, receiving exactly what they need to
be successful. “At its most basic level, differentiating instruction means ‘shaking up’ what goes on in the
classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and
expressing what they learn,” says Carol Ann Tomlinson, in her book How to Differentiate Instruction in
Academically Diverse Classrooms. “In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues
to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products so that each
student can learn effectively.”

Allocation of resources

When it comes to the allocation of school resources, equity and equality are very different. “Should per-
student funding at every school be exactly the same? That’s a question of equality. But should students
who come from less get more in order to ensure that they can catch up? That’s a question of equity,”
says Blair Mann of the Education Trust. “The students who are furthest behind — most often low-income
students and students of color — require more of those resources to catch up, succeed, and, eventually,
close the achievement gap. Giving students who come to school lagging academically (because of factors
outside of a school’s control) the exact same resources as students in higher income schools alone will
not close the achievement gap. But making sure that low-income students and students of color have
access to exceptional teachers and that their schools have the funding to provide them with the kind of
high-quality education they need to succeed will continue us on the path toward narrowing that gap.”
Ensuring that students who need more to achieve success receive those resources and opportunities
illustrates equity in action.