How Partnerships Conceptualize Equity in Curriculum-Aligned Professional Learning

• In Event: Implementation and Effects of Curriculum-Aligned Professional Learning: A Study of Professional Learning Partnerships

Abstract

Objectives
Policies and privately funded initiatives aiming to improve instructional quality often include an explicit equity rationale (Bulkley & Burch, 2011; Trujillo & Woulfin, 2014). However, equity is often ambiguously defined (Albright et al., 2019; Bulkley, 2013) and its operationalization varies across policy contexts (e.g., Bertrand, Perez, & Rogers, 2015). In this study, we examine how 12 different curricular-aligned PL partnerships conceptualize equity in their proposed work. We ask: 1) How do PL partnerships describe equity in the context of their curricular aligned PL? 2) What outcomes do they propose to achieve with respect to equity and how do they propose achieving those outcomes?

Theoretical Framework
We draw on four conceptions of equity in the policy context (Albright et al., 2019; Guiton & Oakes, 1995) that address inputs, processes, and outcomes: Libertarian (focused on equal distribution of resources and meritocracy), Liberal (focused on a fair distribution of inputs and processes to provide equal opportunity), Democratic liberal (focused on outcomes and ensuring that all individuals meet a threshold of performance), and Transformative (focused on disrupting and challenging oppression through distributing resources in ways that support and empower students typically harmed by power and privilege).

Data Sources and Methods
Data for this analysis come from the funder’s request for proposals (RFP), each of the 12 partnerships’ proposals to the foundation, and interviews with key leaders from each partnership (n=35). We conducted a content analysis of the foundation RFP and grant proposals submitted by each partnership. We used a priori codes for conceptions of equity, as well as open and axial coding focused on how each partnership framed the problem, goals, activities, and outcomes of their partnerships. We wrote and discussed memos within and across partnerships to develop the findings, using a matrix to look across partnerships. We supplement this analysis with qualitative coding of transcripts from interviews with partnership stakeholders.

Findings
The Democratic Liberal conception of equity was most common across partnerships, explicitly addressing goals of supporting students to meet academic benchmarks and disaggregating data by demographic subgroup to do so. This framing was aligned with specific language in the funder’s RFP. However, we also multiple conceptions within each partnerships’ proposed goals, activities, and intended outcomes, creating ambiguity around how a focus on equity would be enacted. While over half of partnerships used language suggestive of a Transformative conception of equity, this stance was not centrally connected to the proposed activities. With respect to equity-focused outcomes, partnership proposals focused on achievement and growth, narrowing achievement gaps, opportunity to learn, and to a lesser extent teacher beliefs and mindsets. However, proposed activities did not always align with these intended outcomes.

Scholarly Significance
How reformers conceptualize equity relates to the direction and emphasis of the proposed reforms (Bulkley, 2013). This study critically examines how policies and programs refer to equity. Findings suggest that further attention might be paid to better defining equity goals and integrating those goals into the theories of action for proposed activities within reform initiatives.

Authors

• Erica Litke, University of Delaware

• Meghan Comstock, University of Pennsylvania

• Horatio Blackman, National Urban League