There’s a growing national conversation about equity and how our public systems - from schools to the justice system - impact the access each person has to reach success in life.

At NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning we believe that equitable access to high-quality public education is every person’s right. That belief drives our work as we strive to ensure that all children have access to an education that sets them up for success in college, careers and life.

A commitment to equity has always been at the heart of our work, but our strategic plan puts this as a more intentional, defined pursuit in all of our work. Fundamental to our definition of success is that traditionally underserved populations of students thrive.

Our internal working team, Excellence for All, is focused on answering this question: What can NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning do to effectively support students who are low socio-economic status and an underrepresented minority?

To answer this question, we are:

1. Identifying potential reasons for under-enrollment of these populations in our programs and identify promising programs and resources;
2. Increasing awareness of the need for strategies to recruit, retain and graduate low-income minority males who are the most at risk for dropping out;
3. Aligning NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning supports to ensure a consistent theme of equity; and
4. Seeking supporting policy recommendations.

Consistent with our belief in data-driven decision-making, Excellence for All is defining measurable indicators for success in increasing equity including:

• Growing the number of underrepresented low-income minority students, especially males, entering early colleges;
• Increasing the number of impact plans that address recruitment and retention of underrepresented low-income minority students; and
• Increasing participation in equity focused professional learning.

We expect that these indicators will continue to evolve and new ones will be created to fit various pieces of our work.

Our Excellence for All team is actively engaging in research and planning to help us achieve the above outcomes. Stay tuned for more updates as this work progresses.

In the meantime, we’d love to hear what this focus on equity means to you.

• What does ensuring equity look like in your work?
• What systemic barriers do you see preventing all students from equitable access to a high-quality public education?
• What actions will you take to put Excellence for All at the center of your work?