Creating Equity in Texas Schools: A Qualitative Exploration of the Texas Equity Toolkit Policy

Equity is a core value utilized in education to guide policy development and opportunities for students. While federal and state policy includes provisions and requirements to address educational equity, the problem is that inequities continue to exist in education. This research attempts to address educational equity qualitatively by analyzing the Texas Equity Toolkit policy serving as the intervention to address state-specific equity gaps. The overarching goal of the Texas Equity Toolkit policy is closing the achievement gap between high and low-performing students as well as creating equitable access to effective educators, emphasizing the equity gaps between minority and non-minority students. The purpose of the research is to develop an in-depth description and analysis of how the Texas Equity Toolkit policy addresses the existing equity gaps for economically disadvantaged, Title I students in rural, Region 17 school districts.