Equity Audits and School Resource Allocation

William A. Owings (late) was Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University, USA. In 2023, he received the National Education Finance Academy’s Lifetime Achievement award.Leslie S. Kaplan is a retired school administrator, a full-time education writer, and Adjunct Professor of Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University, USA.

“In this companion to Critical Resource Theory, Owings and Kaplan use case studies to walk the reader through the equity audit process for elementary through secondary schools. Using this model provides practitioners, academics, and legislators a valuable tool for increasing equity in education programs, schools, and districts. A must read.” S. Kern Alexander, Professor, University of Illinois Champaign Urbana, USA“A great, powerful resource for education finance professors and school leaders.Owings and Kaplan have provided a rich, deep, comprehensive handbook to tackle the elusive problem of equity in schooling. This book is at once practical and theoretical; focused and inclusive across elementary and secondary schools; technical and action packed. If you are impatient to move beyond the status quo and need a rational but comprehensive set of tools and ideas to go deep into action, you won’t find a more effective guide.” Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada“There are many volumes that lament the state of inequality, but very few that provide explicit strategies about what to do about it. This profoundly important book is in the latter category. Owings and Kaplan provide powerful evidence that while data and dollars are necessary conditions for moving toward equity, there is more to the equation. Professional practices, effective leadership, personal relationships, and belief systems are essential if equity is the goal. Most importantly, leaders must establish trust. Without trust, dollars and data mean nothing. Every policymaker, leader, teacher, and voter should take these ideas to heart.” Douglas Reeves, Educational Leadership Author, USA

• 1. Inequality, Education, and Critical Resource Theory 2. Factors Creating Inequitably Resourced Classrooms 3. Case Study #1: Applying Critical Resource Theory to School Resource Inequities Between Two Elementary Schools 4. Case Study #2: Applying Critical Resource Theory to an Equity Audit Among Three Secondary Schools 5. Case Study #3: Applying Critical Resource Theory to an Equity Audit Within a School 6. Moving Beyond the Status Quo