January 17, 2019
From the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) Commission on Independent Schools e-Newsletter
The Three Keys to Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Schools: A DEI Researcher’s Perspective
By Nadia Alam
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategist/Evaluation Lead
Enquiry Evaluation
As a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategist and assessment specialist, I’m often asked what “works best” when it comes to making tangible progress with DEI on school campuses. At the risk of oversimplifying the answer, I’ve written here on the three key factors that I believe are fundamental to advancing DEI in independent schools. My ideas about these factors are based on dozens of conversations that I’ve held with independent school heads, public school principals, and diversity directors and thousands of data points I’ve analyzed (from my own DEI assessment instrument and role as an institutional evaluator).
School constituencies, and especially students, must perceive the school head as wholly committed to promoting an equitable and inclusive environment.
It sounds obvious, doesn’t it, and yet so many school leaders underestimate their own ability to influence. School leaders need to lead DEI work — that means setting vision, speaking up, and getting involved — but many leaders, in lacking comfort or familiarity with DEI, delegate this work to a DEI director or committee. This, unfortunately, sends the wrong message about the importance and value of this work. When offering strategic advice to school heads, I ask them to pose one question to themselves, and that is: “To what extent do students, faculty, and staff recognize my commitment to advancing DEI on campus?” Sometimes, making progress with DEI involves doing something that not all leaders do — ask for help. With the Institutional Climate and Inclusion Assessment (ICIA), our DEI assessment instrument, we see a strong linkage between students’ perception of the school leadership’s valuing of DEI and the degree that students themselves personally value DEI. So, to school leaders who want to make a tangible impact with DEI, I say start by doing the following: Set vision. Speak up. Share your stories. Learn. Grow. Repeat Cycle.
Onboard Your Board!
To onboard an individual or group to an idea means to get them to see, believe, and understand something to the extent that they become fully familiar with it and support it on their own. Sometimes, onboarding the board is de-prioritized over other DEI activities when it should be one of the first action items. Many of the schools we work with have boards that are committed to DEI, at least on the level of “performative inclusion,’ but not committed to the extent that they vote to support fundraising efforts or significant allocation of resources to promote DEI. While some DEI activities are low-cost, such as posting a multicultural calendar on the school’s website or asking faculty to read texts that offer guidance on cultural competency, many activities require monetary investment, such as the hiring of a DEI director or the provision of high-quality DEI professional development to every faculty member. One way to onboard board members is to ask them to attend DEI conferences, such as the AISNE diversity conference or the National Diversity Practitioners Institute. Another action is to invite DEI experts to present to the board at a regularly scheduled meeting. The point is, without board support, schools will be hard-pressed to fully carry out the scale of initiatives that will have the greatest impact on advancing equity and inclusion.
Collect equity-driven student data.
When speaking with school leaders, I typically ask them: “How is your equity data informing your institutional strategy and what measures are being used to assess progress?” This question is sometimes difficult for leaders to answer, and how could it not be when so few instruments on the market are designed to specifically evaluate equity and inclusion? As an education researcher, any disconnect between metrics and strategy feels like a roadmap without a destination in mind. If a school wants to make progress with DEI, it must do more than haphazardly administer climate surveys, it must collect equity-driven data. Equity-driven data is data that describes how different identity groups on campus — including racial/ethnic groups, gender identity groups, economic class groups, etc. — are experiencing school. It’s data that show how identity groups are faring academically, socially, psychologically, and emotionally. It’s data that uncovers inequities across groups. It’s actionable data and it’s data that will set your institution on a path to making perceptible progress with DEI.
Advancing DEI in schools is challenging work that requires institutional will and forethought. While there is no ‘secret sauce’ for this work, I guarantee that these three steps will make a profound difference for any institution.
From the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) Commission on Independent Schools e-Newsletter
The Three Keys to Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Schools: A DEI Researcher’s Perspective
By Nadia Alam
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategist/Evaluation Lead
Enquiry Evaluation
As a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategist and assessment specialist, I’m often asked what “works best” when it comes to making tangible progress with DEI on school campuses. At the risk of oversimplifying the answer, I’ve written here on the three key factors that I believe are fundamental to advancing DEI in independent schools. My ideas about these factors are based on dozens of conversations that I’ve held with independent school heads, public school principals, and diversity directors and thousands of data points I’ve analyzed (from my own DEI assessment instrument and role as an institutional evaluator).
School constituencies, and especially students, must perceive the school head as wholly committed to promoting an equitable and inclusive environment.
It sounds obvious, doesn’t it, and yet so many school leaders underestimate their own ability to influence. School leaders need to lead DEI work — that means setting vision, speaking up, and getting involved — but many leaders, in lacking comfort or familiarity with DEI, delegate this work to a DEI director or committee. This, unfortunately, sends the wrong message about the importance and value of this work. When offering strategic advice to school heads, I ask them to pose one question to themselves, and that is: “To what extent do students, faculty, and staff recognize my commitment to advancing DEI on campus?” Sometimes, making progress with DEI involves doing something that not all leaders do — ask for help. With the Institutional Climate and Inclusion Assessment (ICIA), our DEI assessment instrument, we see a strong linkage between students’ perception of the school leadership’s valuing of DEI and the degree that students themselves personally value DEI. So, to school leaders who want to make a tangible impact with DEI, I say start by doing the following: Set vision. Speak up. Share your stories. Learn. Grow. Repeat Cycle.
Onboard Your Board!
To onboard an individual or group to an idea means to get them to see, believe, and understand something to the extent that they become fully familiar with it and support it on their own. Sometimes, onboarding the board is de-prioritized over other DEI activities when it should be one of the first action items. Many of the schools we work with have boards that are committed to DEI, at least on the level of “performative inclusion,’ but not committed to the extent that they vote to support fundraising efforts or significant allocation of resources to promote DEI. While some DEI activities are low-cost, such as posting a multicultural calendar on the school’s website or asking faculty to read texts that offer guidance on cultural competency, many activities require monetary investment, such as the hiring of a DEI director or the provision of high-quality DEI professional development to every faculty member. One way to onboard board members is to ask them to attend DEI conferences, such as the AISNE diversity conference or the National Diversity Practitioners Institute. Another action is to invite DEI experts to present to the board at a regularly scheduled meeting. The point is, without board support, schools will be hard-pressed to fully carry out the scale of initiatives that will have the greatest impact on advancing equity and inclusion.
Collect equity-driven student data.
When speaking with school leaders, I typically ask them: “How is your equity data informing your institutional strategy and what measures are being used to assess progress?” This question is sometimes difficult for leaders to answer, and how could it not be when so few instruments on the market are designed to specifically evaluate equity and inclusion? As an education researcher, any disconnect between metrics and strategy feels like a roadmap without a destination in mind. If a school wants to make progress with DEI, it must do more than haphazardly administer climate surveys, it must collect equity-driven data. Equity-driven data is data that describes how different identity groups on campus — including racial/ethnic groups, gender identity groups, economic class groups, etc. — are experiencing school. It’s data that show how identity groups are faring academically, socially, psychologically, and emotionally. It’s data that uncovers inequities across groups. It’s actionable data and it’s data that will set your institution on a path to making perceptible progress with DEI.
Advancing DEI in schools is challenging work that requires institutional will and forethought. While there is no ‘secret sauce’ for this work, I guarantee that these three steps will make a profound difference for any institution.
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