Stage 1: Digging Into the Data addresses the question “Do disparities in school discipline exist in our school or district?” The guide provides a set of tasks to help determine your data needs, harvest the data you already have at your disposal, identify additional data you may need, disaggregate and analyze your data, and then develop preliminary findings.

Stage 2: Getting at the Roots of Disparities addresses the question “What are the root causes of our disparities in school discipline?” You will learn how to dig deeper and conduct a root cause analysis to understand why disparities exist in your discipline outcomes.

Stage 3: Creating an Action Plan addresses the question “How will root causes of disparities in school discipline be addressed?” This stage walks you through developing an action plan for eliminating the disparities discovered in your root cause analysis that can be implemented, monitored, and continuously improved over time.

The guide includes a Disciplinary Disparities Risk Assessment Tool to aid in data gathering and analysis. The tool contains a series of Microsoft Excel–based worksheets, with detailed instructions on the kind of data to gather and how to analyze your results using a set of key questions. The tool automatically generates visual data displays to enhance analysis. This tool can be used as-is, modified, or serve as a model for designing a tool that can integrate with or import data from an existing school or district database or student management system. The tool also can be used in concert with existing data collection efforts, such as those connected with positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS).

The guide also includes the following:
• Templates to help plan and facilitate communication among stakeholders;
• Real-world examples from schools and districts already experiencing success;
• Sidebars and tip sheets to extend knowledge;
• Links to useful resources;
• Strategies for doing a thorough job without getting bogged down; and
• Tips for undertaking tough conversations.

This brief produced by the Learning Policy Institute summarizes research and recommendations for strategies states and districts can do to improve equitable opportunities and outcomes. The brief suggests that to promote equity and improve outcomes, states can:
• track suspension and expulsion rates, while removing zero-tolerance discipline policies
that have proven ineffective in improving youth performance, replacing them with
restorative justice practices;2
• incentivize schools to evaluate and improve school climate, which is associated with youth
achievement and educational attainment, for all groups of youth, with special attention to
those who are most vulnerable;
• monitor attendance and chronic absenteeism, and create approaches to intervene early
and support attendance where needed to increase learning time;
• use an extended-year graduation rate (e.g., 5, 6, or 7 years), as well as a 4-year rate, to
encourage high schools to work with and bring back young people who, for a variety of
reasons, could not graduate in 4 years; and
• measure youths’ access to and completion of college- and career-ready courses of study
in an effort to open up evidence-based pathways to future success that help youth reach
their potential and encourage schools to offer these opportunities to all youth.

Influencer Circle for Prioritizing Hypotheses of Root Cause
Purpose:
The influencer process guides teams to prioritize the likely root cause that has the greatest influence on other root causes.

Description:
This influencer process is a relations diagram. It is used to identify the most likely root cause of a student data problem generated during the data inquiry process. Teams use an influencer circle to study the interrelationships among those possible causes, helping them determine how hypotheses of practice (HOPs) connect to one another and which practices have the greatest influence. By completing this activity, teams identify dominant root causes to consider for improvement.

This draft slideshow and associated script is a placeholder for a summary slideshow video that will introduce the Equity Root Cause Hub, including resources and discussion questions for users.

Summary of Upstream Knowledge Podcast process and structure, and placeholder for Episode #1 focusing on the theme of equity.