A newly created resource, The MAP Center State Education Agency Self-Assessment and Preplanning Worksheet, is designed to help strengthen and increase integration strategies for students with disabilities, who are at the intersection of race, sex, national origin, and religion. The tool, which is currently being disseminated, was developed as a joint venture between national and regional technical assistance (TA) centers, educational thought leaders, and an extensive convening of stakeholders from the Midwest & Plains Equity Assistance (MAP) Center 13 state region. Two Senior Research Scientists from the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) were partners in the development―Christina Kasprzak, MA, director of the Trohanis Technical Assistance Projects and co-lead of the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center, and Caryn Ward, PhD, director of the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN).

Led by the MAP Center, the collaborators, including Kasprzak and Ward, convened for a series of virtual meetings in which they brainstormed to develop the purpose and content of this new resource for educational equity. The MAP Center facilitated the advisory meetings, and then hosted a national event to gather additional input on the draft product. Through a rigorous, critical, and collaborative process with MAP Center leadership, the team created the resource to help state and local education agencies, educators, and community stakeholders to better understand how well they are meeting the needs of students with disabilities, particularly children with intersectional identities, and then identify areas of improvement.

The resource consists of two parts: a recording of the MAP Center’s 2023 Technical Assistance Center Equity Advisory and Service Networks Convening, and the State Educational Agency Self-Assessment and Preplanning Worksheet. Entitled Staying Intentional: Advancing Integration Strategies for Students with Dis/abilities at the Intersection of Race, Sex, National Origin, and Religion, the worksheet provides users the ability to examine their policies and practices related to creating safe, inclusive, and supportive school climates through the lens of five guiding principles:

1. Foster a sense of belonging through a positive, safe, welcoming, and inclusive school environment.
2. Support the social, emotional, physical, and mental health needs of all students through evidence-based strategies.
3. Adequately support high-quality teaching and earning by increasing educator capacity.
4. Recruit and retain a diverse educator workforce.
5. Ensure the fair administration of student discipline policies in ways that treat students with dignity and respect (including through systemwide policy and staff development and monitoring strategies).

Kasprzak describes these principles as core areas in which states can examine the existing infrastructure for creating safe and inclusive school environments.  The resource supports administrators in identifying areas where they are doing well, areas for improvement, and key actions for addressing  areas of need. Noting that the worksheet’s title includes the phrase, “staying intentional,” Kasprzak says that the written self-assessment, planning worksheet, and recording provide the tools for thoughtful use. With her expertise in early childhood and a systems perspective, Kasprzak focused on ensuring that the resource reflected the priorities and data of early childhood programs as well as the infrastructure pieces critical to supporting effective and equitable systems.

“We’re in the early stages of dissemination of this tool so it is too soon to see a long-term impact―but the short-term impact of a tool like this is building awareness about what it means to have equitable systems and services,” says Kasprzak. “Many times, people use the word equity, but don't know what that looks like in practice. This tool operationalizes equity by showing what it looks like in infrastructure areas such as policies, hiring practices, professional development, licensure, and standards.”

In addition to bringing her early childhood perspective to the tool as MAP was applying for new funding from the federal government, Kasprzak wrote a support letter and agreed to serve on MAP’s TA Center advisory group. Kasprzak says that she was invited to serve as an advisor not just because of her role as director of ECTA, but because of the strong partnership she enjoys with Seena Skelton, MAP director. They first connected in 2021 when Kasprzak reached out to Skelton after reading an article she wrote on situating her positionality as a Black woman with a disability. Impressed by the article, Kasprzak reached out to Skelton and has been engaging her in ECTA work ever since. Kasprzak says that as a Black woman with a disability in early childhood, Skelton brings a distinct, helpful, and needed perspective on equity-focused TA. In turn, Skelton recognized Kasprzak’s expertise and asked her to be on MAP’s advisory group.

“We’re in the early stages of dissemination of this tool so it is too soon to see a long-term impact―but the short-term impact of a tool like this is building awareness about what it means to have equitable systems and services,” says Kasprzak. “Many times, people use the word equity, but don't know what that looks like in practice. This tool operationalizes equity by showing what it looks like in infrastructure areas such as policies, hiring practices, professional development, licensure, and standards.” She adds that the long-term outcome is for children with disabilities, particularly those who are most minoritized, to have equitable access, participation, and support in order to realize their fullest potential.