This page is a work in progress and is being updated regularly.
Vermont education leaders are enhancing their efforts to improve equitable practices and outcomes for all Vermont students. VSBA, in partnership with the Vermont Superintendents Association (VSA), and the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) received a $150,000 grant award from the Vermont Community Foundation's Welcoming, Equitable and Antiracist Communities Recovery Initiative and Barr Foundation to support work by the Associations to address antiracism and promote equity and inclusion in communities statewide.
VSBA Equity Definition
(shared by VSA and VPA)
Each student receives the resources and educational opportunities they need to learn and thrive.
Equity means that a student's success is not predicted nor predetermined by characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, family economics, class, geography, ability, language, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or initial proficiencies.
Equity means that every school provides and every student has access to high quality culturally responsive curriculum, programs, teachers and administrators, extracurricular activities and support services to meet the needs of each and every student.
Equity goes beyond formal equality where all students are treated the same. Achieving equity may require an unequal distribution of resources and services.
Equity involves acknowledging and disrupting inequitable practices, acknowledging biases, employing practices that reflect the reality that all students will learn, and creating inclusive multicultural school environments for adults and children.
Equity Lens Tools
According to NonprofitAdvancement.org, "The purpose of an equity lens is to be deliberately inclusive as an organization makes decisions. It introduces a set of questions into the decision that help the decision makers focus on equity in both their process and outcomes." Here are some tools that may help your board facilitate an equity review.
Vermont Agency of Education Resources
National School Boards Association Resources
Intentional Allocation of Resources
Access to Rigorous Educational Programming: LifeReady Skills
Fostering Safe and Supportive School Climates
Kirwan Institute Implicit Bias Training (free, online, self-paced training)
AOE's Professional Development Provider List [NOTE: VSBA has not reviewed or evaluated this list.]