Hub Leaders’ Perspectives on Equity in Networked Improvement

Abstract

Given their proximity to local problems; deep engagement with educators, students, and other community stakeholders; and emphasis on recognizing systemic factors that produce school-level outcomes, improvement networks and the tools of improvement science offer unique equity affordances. Despite considerable and rapidly shifting environmental signals related to educational equity in recent years, little is known about whether and how leaders in improvement networks have conceptualized and operationalized equity in network structures and routines. This article leverages hub leaders’ descriptions of equity approaches in archival documentation for 35 networks for school improvement funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve outcomes for traditionally underserved students. We present a framework for conceptualizing multiple dimensions of equity in networked improvement and further describe leaders’ reports of common strategies, tools, and data sources associated with each equity dimension. Ultimately, we find that leaders largely reported adopting expansive approaches to equity, attending to equity in network outcomes and processes. However, while no leaders ignored the press for equity, leaders’ interpretations of and responses to the equity signals in their environment varied considerably.