US School District Monitored Students’ Progress by Race with ‘Equity Dashboard’
A Pennsylvania School District’s Controversial “Equity Dashboard”
A Pennsylvania school district has recently come under scrutiny for its implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The district spent thousands of dollars to create an “equity dashboard” that categorized students by race, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
In June 2020, the Pennsbury School District in Pennsylvania entered into a $95,000 contract with Qualtrics, a data analytics company, to acquire software that would enable the creation of an “equity dashboard.” This dashboard would track students’ achievements and outcomes based on their race, as revealed in the obtained documents. The district has been prioritizing DEI initiatives for several years, aiming to establish an education system rooted in equity.
As part of its commitment to DEI, the district appointed its first director of “Equity, Diversity, and Education” in July 2020. The Equity Office was tasked with conducting a comprehensive equity audit to address any gaps in the education system, according to the report.
However, the district’s DEI strategy faced criticism from parents in 2021. They argued that the plan was introducing Critical Race Theory into the classroom, as reported by the Bucks County Courier Times.
Prior to appointing its director of “Equity, Diversity, and Education,” the Pennsbury School District purchased the Qualtrics software, which provided them with the controversial “equity dashboard,” as shown in the documents.
Examining the “Discipline Gap” and ”Opportunity Gap”
The equity dashboard highlighted two significant gaps in the district’s education system. The first, known as the “discipline gap,” refers to patterns of differences in behavioral outcomes and disciplinary responses across different demographic groups. From 2016 to 2020, approximately 60% of K-12 students suspended each year were white, while less than 20%, with a few exceptions, were black students.
The second gap, referred to as the “opportunity gap,” relates to differences in access to educational programs, resources, and support among demographic groups. From 2015 to 2021, nearly 80% of students in advanced classes were white, while less than 10% were black or Hispanic.
According to Jennifer Neill, supervisor of public relations for Pennsbury School District, the district initially contracted with Qualtrics to gather parent feedback during the pandemic. However, they soon explored the software’s potential as a data management tool, leading to the development of the equity dashboard. Neill mentioned that the district found the product challenging to work with, and eventually switched to the Survey Money survey platform, resulting in significant cost savings.
While it remains unclear how the district utilized the equity dashboard, it is evident that Pennsbury School District continued to promote DEI initiatives following the software’s purchase. In April 2021, the district released an “educational equity audit report” outlining its vision to make equity the foundation of all decision-making. The report emphasized the importance of maintaining a diverse staff, teaching a culturally relevant curriculum, and reducing achievement, discipline, and opportunity gaps.
During a recent school board meeting, some parents expressed their dissatisfaction with the district’s DEI initiatives, claiming that they had not produced significant results. One parent urged the district to abandon the equity ideology and allow teachers to focus on their primary role of teaching.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
The post US School District Ran ‘Equity Dashboard’ Tracking Students by Race appeared first on The Western Journal.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
