Equity is vital to improving school readiness and creating a fair start for early learners, and only when all participants in the education experience embrace equity as a core value – and use it to shape policy … 466 People Used View all course ›› Much has been made of the difference between equity and equality. When students are confronted by educational inequity—whether it stems from bias, structural racism, prejudice, socioeconomic status, or other factors—it can instill discouragement that disconnects them from their identity as learners. The dictionary definition of equity is “justice according to natural law or right; freedom from bias or favoritism.” When we talk about equity in education, we usually mean something similar to “fairness.” But what does this look like in practice at the national, district, school, classroom, or individual student level? Providing equitable educational opportunities begins with understanding that students and schools have different needs and require individualized resources. However, while equity is used intuitively in development debates and programming, it seems that its meaning is not clearly understood. Equality can be useful in the education system; however, it can hinder one's own education since everyone would have to receive the same education as each other rather than receiving the necessary education What educator doesn’t want to see all students have an equal opportunity for success? Equity and equality, both of these concepts are very important in many things like in the educational system; however, equity is more important than equality when dealing with education. Often in education… Funding? Here’s a collection of equity-related lessons we’ve learned from our partners. Increasingly, the most constant cause of education advocates—acquiring adequate funding for schools—is informed by a deeper understanding: Those with less need more. Home / Resources / Position Statements / Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education Position Statement. How to Be a Transformational Leader in Education, How to Promote Change and Equality in Education, Social Justice in Education: The Role Educational Leaders Play, FutureEd, “State Education Funding: The Poverty Equation”, Great Schools Partnership, The Glossary of Education Reform, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Profile of the Labor Force by Educational Attainment”, U.S. Department of Education, “Equity of Opportunity”, Waterford.org, “Why Understanding Equity vs. Inclusion, which means setting a basic minimum standard for education that is shared by all students regardless of background, personal characteristics, or location. Education Commission of the States supports states in identifying their equity needs and bringing together thought partners across the education field to better understand, develop and implement decisions that improve opportunities for all students. Equity means recognizing that power imbalances exist within both historical and modern contexts of race, ability, gender, sexual orientation, financial background, upbringing, etc., and accounting for these difference in order to improve the education and daily life of the maximum number of students. Understanding the differences between them provides a better understanding of the importance of educational equity: Opportunity gaps are differences in the distribution of—and access to—resources and circumstances that support education. Achieving equity is closely tied to personalized learning: it requires understanding each student’s individual needs and designing educational experiences that will help all students achieve success. 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