Getting Students Empowered Towards an Equitable Learning Environment

Educational Equity

Education is a right, and each student should receive the training he or she needs to become lifelong learners, successful in his or her fields of work, and participate in representative government. Unfortunately, the quality of learning experiences necessary for students to achieve these objectives cannot be attained by a large number. It is not always possible to achieve equality of resources for all when achieving meaningful progress towards equity in education. Compared to their peers, some students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds are starting with less, and so require additional resources to reach the same level of success. Educational equity means that each student has access to the resources and educational rigor they need at the right moment in their education despite gender, ethnicity, language, disability, family background, or family income. Such personal and social identifiers as gender, race, ethnicity, language, disability, family background, and/or income are not barriers to accessing educational opportunities; the circumstances children are born into do not predict their access to the resources and educational rigor necessary for success in an equitable education system. Within such a system, all individuals attain adequate knowledge and skills to follow the college and career path of their choice and become active and contributing members of their communities (The Aspen Education and Society Program and the Council of Chief State School Officers [AESPCCSSO], 2017).