A positive school climate fosters healthy interactions and promotes the equitable well-being of students, staff, families, and the school community. Equitable school climates are central to education equity and require awareness of race, ethnicity, gender, language, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, family background, and geographic differences. Educational Equity is the degree of achievement, fairness and opportunity in education as measured by a standard of success. Refer to the AOE’s Educational Equity webpage for more resources.
VTPBIS provides information and resources to address five foundational elements of equity in a PBIS system which are:
- Collect, Use, and Report Disaggregated Discipline Data
- Implement a Behavior Framework that is Preventive, Multi-Tiered, and Culturally Responsive
- Use Engaging Instruction to Reduce the Opportunity Gap
- Develop Policies with Accountability for Disciplinary Equity
- Teach Strategies for Neutralizing Implicit Bias in Discipline Decisions
In addition, the National Association of State Boards of Education published this resource for (Creating Equitable School Climates, 2020).