1st Edition
Equity Audits and School Resource Allocation Applying Critical Resource Theory to Increase Equal Opportunity in Schools
Equity Audits and School Resource Allocation explores how to apply Critical Resource Theory (CReT) to conduct school equity audits, ultimately preparing educational leaders to find equity disparities, engage in more equitable resource allocation in their schools, and to improve equal educational opportunity for every student. With case study scenarios woven throughout the book, the authors explore key equity factors, including per-pupil expenditures, poverty, teacher and principal quality, program equity, and achievement equity. They also walk through the process of implementing the 5-step CReT equity audit within a school district or school at any level. Owings and Kaplan also describe the communication and interpersonal factors that equity advocates will need to leverage to gain community support for equity process, considering the data, and rethinking their policies and practices. In today’s education context, the problems of equitably funding public schools and allocating learning resources to generate more equal opportunities and higher outcomes for traditionally underserved children are particularly relevant. This important book is designed for course use in leadership preparation programs, for practicing principals and superintendents, and for educational leadership scholars.
1. Inequality, Education, and Critical Resource Theory 2. Factors Creating Inequitably Resourced Classrooms 3. Case Study #1: Applying Critical Resource Theory to School Resource Inequities Between Two Elementary Schools 4. Case Study #2: Applying Critical Resource Theory to an Equity Audit Among Three Secondary Schools 5. Case Study #3: Applying Critical Resource Theory to an Equity Audit Within a School 6. Moving Beyond the Status Quo
Biography
William A. Owings (late) was Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University, USA. In 2023, he received the National Education Finance Academy’s Lifetime Achievement award.
Leslie S. Kaplan is a retired school administrator, a full-time education writer, and Adjunct Professor of Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University, USA.
“In this companion to Critical Resource Theory, Owings and Kaplan use case studies to walk the reader through the equity audit process for elementary through secondary schools. Using this model provides practitioners, academics, and legislators a valuable tool for increasing equity in education programs, schools, and districts. A must read.”
S. Kern Alexander, Professor, University of Illinois Champaign Urbana, USA
“A great, powerful resource for education finance professors and school leaders.Owings and Kaplan have provided a rich, deep, comprehensive handbook to tackle the elusive problem of equity in schooling. This book is at once practical and theoretical; focused and inclusive across elementary and secondary schools; technical and action packed. If you are impatient to move beyond the status quo and need a rational but comprehensive set of tools and ideas to go deep into action, you won’t find a more effective guide.”
Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, CA
“There are many volumes that lament the state of inequality, but very few that provide explicit strategies about what to do about it. This profoundly important book is in the latter category. Owings and Kaplan provide powerful evidence that while data and dollars are necessary conditions for moving toward equity, there is more to the equation. Professional practices, effective leadership, personal relationships, and belief systems are essential if equity is the goal. Most importantly, leaders must establish trust. Without trust, dollars and data mean nothing. Every policymaker, leader, teacher, and voter should take these ideas to heart.”
Douglas Reeves, Educational Leadership Author, USA
