Equity Elementary Extended: The Growth and Effects of 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion' Staff in Public Schools. Backgrounder. No. 3791

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10

Student Diversity; Achievement Gap; Elementary Secondary Education; Public Schools; Inclusion; Equal Education; Administrator Role; Minority Group Students; School Districts; White Students; Hispanic American Students; Program Effectiveness; Socioeconomic Status; Low Income Students; School District Size; Politics of Education; African American Students; COVID-19; Pandemics; Mathematics Achievement

Two years ago, the Heritage Foundation "Backgrounder" "Equity Elementary" (ED616087) first examined the extent to which the idea that educational institutions should have Chief Diversity Officers (CDO) had spread from higher education into public school districts. That "Backgrounder" also examined whether there was a relationship between the presence of a CDO within a district and the size and trend in achievement gaps between minority and white students. Despite CDOs ostensibly having the goal of reducing the extent to which black and Hispanic achievement, on average, lags behind average white achievement, the authors found that districts with CDOs had "larger" racial achievement gaps, which had been growing larger despite the adoption of CDOs during the preceding decade. This "Backgrounder" updates information on the number of school districts with CDOs and conducts a new analysis on how minority student achievement fared during the COVID-19 pandemic in districts with CDOs relative to districts without CDOs. Districts with a CDO suffered greater pandemic learning losses by black and Hispanic students. Not only did these black and Hispanic students experience significantly larger declines in math achievement, but those declines, on average, exceeded the rate of decline among white students. In fact, CDOs' energies appear to have been directed to politically contentious issues: Districts with CDOs were significantly more likely to have policies to keep parents in the dark about children's "gender" confusion or dysphoria. Chief Diversity Officers enforce the ideological orthodoxies opposed by majorities of parents instead of assisting with student learning or closing minority achievement gaps.

ERIC

2023

ED635061