Organizations Publish New Education and Equity Resources for Families and Educators

The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice and the Erikson Institute have recently published new education and equity resources for parents, caregivers, teachers, policy makers, and child care providers.

Find a list of these resources below.

Recently Published Resources on Education & Equity

Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline – U.S. Departments of Education and Justice

About

The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice share with educators around the country the goal that all students attend schools where they are supported, safe, and able to access an excellent education. A school environment that is free from discrimination is essential to meeting that goal. However, decades of enforcement activity have demonstrated that discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in student discipline was, and continues to be, a significant concern.

Discrimination in student discipline forecloses opportunities for students, pushing them out of the classroom and diverting them from a path to success in school and beyond. Significant disparities by race—beginning as early as preschool—have persisted in the application of student discipline in schools.

The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice created this resource to to support schools’ efforts to confront the issue of race discrimination in student discipline effectively.

Content

In it, the authors:

provide examples of the Departments’ investigations of discrimination over the last 10 years;
describe how the Departments resolved investigations of 14 school districts in 10 states;
discuss concerns of discrimination in schools’ use of:
- out-of-school suspensions
- expulsions
- school-based arrests
- referrals to law enforcement
- involuntary discipline transfers
- informal removals
- and other discipline against Black, Latino, and/or Native American students;
demonstrate the Departments’ ongoing commitment to the enforcement of laws that protect students from discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in student discipline;
and demonstrate ways school districts can take steps to proactively improve their administration of student discipline

Access this resource or learn more about it on the U.S. Department of Education website.

Pre-K in Family Child Care Project: Strategies Toward the Equitable Implementation of Pre-K in Family Child Care – The Erikson Institute

About

The Pre-K in Family Child Care (PKFCC) Project explores strategies, successes, and challenges in the implementation of public pre-kindergarten (pre-k) in family child care (FCC) settings across states and locals in the U.S. through an equity lens.

This brief presents key findings about how pre-k systems address curriculum, assessment, developmental screening, and monitoring requirements to ensure FCC settings are equitably included in pre-k delivery.

Findings are based on data collected through focus groups in November 2022. These groups included 14 state and local pre-k administrators representing seven states and three cities or locals.

Content

Highlights from the report include:

Many pre-k systems that include FCC require educators to use designated curriculum, assessment, and/or screening tools and to
participate in monitoring.
- Some pre-k systems allow FCC educators to select a curriculum, assessment, or screening tool from the same approved lists offered to center-based preschools.
- Pre-k systems generally do not offer FCC-specific curriculum options that address mixed-age groups or are culturally representative.
Few pre-k systems differentiate requirements for FCC educators or intentionally include FCC educators’ voices and perspectives in decision making.
- Approved or vetted tools are often not available in providers’ or children’s home languages. Additionally, they do not often represent the culture of the FCC educators and children they serve.
- Requirements for FCC educators implementing pre-k are often the same as center-based pre-k settings.
Pre-k systems invested in including FCCs offer individualized supports to meet curriculum, assessment, developmental screening, and monitoring requirements.
- Coaching and professional development are provided through some pre-k systems to support FCC implementation of curriculum and assessment standards and requirements.
- Fiscal supports are provided in some pre-k systems to offset the costs of curriculum, assessment, and developmental screening requirements. However, more supports are offered for curriculum implementation than for assessments and developmental screening.