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FPS Released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Racial Equity Audit Project
Today Joseph Corazzini, Assistant Superintendent for Equity, Diversity and Community Development has released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Racial Equity Audit Project.
You can download the RFP here or read below.
Background
Framingham Public Schools (FPS), located in Framingham, Massachusetts is a multicultural, multi-ethnic school district serving over 9,100 students. Our mission is to educate each student to learn and live productively as a critically thinking, responsible citizen in a multicultural, democratic society by providing academically challenging instructional programs taught by a highly qualified and diverse staff and supported by comprehensive services in partnership with our entire community. Our student body is currently made up of 7% African American students, 5.1% Asian students, 27.1% Hispanic students, 0.1% Native American students, 56.8% White students, 0.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and 3.8% Multiracial students.
In the spring of 2018 the Framingham Public Schools School Committee, championed by the work of the Racial Equity Sub-Committee and the advocacy of Families For Racial Equity in Education (FFREE), voted to hire an external consultant to conduct a racial equity audit of the district. Framingham, like many urban districts, has struggled to close the achievement gap between White students and Students of Color. Disproportionate student discipline rates show Black and Latino students, who collectively represent 34.1% of the student population, receive twice as many in-school suspensions and three-times as many out of school suspensions. Additionally, despite district attempts to increase and sustain staff diversity, nearly 86% of teachers identify as White. As a district, we believe in inclusiveness and collaboration. The purpose of this audit is to understand the drivers behind the gaps in student opportunity and achievement in an effort to fully understand the challenges, identify best practices and align resources to meet the needs of our Students of Color.
Scope of Work
FPS is looking for an experienced professional who has worked with public education institutions to assess student access to high quality programs, high quality teaching, just discipline procedures, equitable resources, and root cause analysis of persistent achievement gaps for Students of Color. This individual should be fluent in critical race theory with a history of coalition building and a commitment to racial and social justice. The contractor will conduct a thorough review of the district. Once material is collected and analyzed, the contractor will prepare a detailed report. The district also requests a preliminary report midway through the project timeline that outlines the work completed and findings up to that point.
Deliverables
- Conduct focus groups with students, families, teachers, principals, central office staff and community partners. Provide a detailed report on common themes that emerge.
- Review targeted intervention supports for academic, social emotional and behavioral needs. Identify strengths, challenges, opportunities and effectiveness.
- Policy review of FPS policies and practices as outlined in the School Committee Policy, FPS Employee Handbook and the Student Handbook. Submit recommendations based on identified best practices.
- Assessment of financial resources distributed across the district. Provide recommendations on best practice strategies on how to equitably fund schools.
- Review of literature on institutional racism in public education. Identify current strategies and practices that promote equity or create inequity. Identify best practices and submit recommendations.
- Assess leadership team’s readiness to address institutional racism and equity. Review professional development offerings related to equity, diversity and creating schools free of bias, prejudice and discrimination. Make recommendations for improving programs to support staff readiness.
- Provide a detailed analysis on district data relative to student academic performance, enrollment based on tracking, discipline, achievement, attendance, social emotional needs, dropout and graduation rates, involvement in extracurricular activities, special education and English Learner classification. Disaggregate the data by race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, disability and English language proficiency.
- Preliminary Findings Report with presentation to the Racial Equity Sub-committee at the halfway mark of the project.
- Review current efforts to recruit and retain staff of color. Provide recommendations on how to improve staff recruitment and strategies on how to support a diverse workforce by creating a welcoming, bias free work environment. Recommend strategies used by other districts who have successfully increased the diversity of their teaching pool. Strategies should cover recruitment, onboarding, cohort development, staff retainment, strategies on engaging labor unions and incentives for recruiting a diverse workforce.
- Review curriculum to ensure it is fully representative of our diverse community. Provide recommendations on how to increase representation within the curriculum. Recommend supports to increase student representation in advanced classes or programming.
- Review family and community engagement practices and provide recommendations on strategies for creating a safe and welcoming environment for families of color.
- Final report that assesses the causes of inequity and recommends strategies supported by researched based best practices.
Project Timeline
FPS will solicit bids from contractors beginning on November 5, 2018. All bids will be reviewed by the Racial Equity Sub-Committee and the Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Diversity and Community Development. The winning bid will be sent to the Procurement Office of the City of Framingham to finalize the contract. The work of the audit is scheduled to begin in the winter of 2018.
Proposal Submission Requirements
- A work plan describing methodologies, approaches, and roles and responsibilities for how the work will be accomplished
- Detailed description of deliverables and outcomes
- Timeline
- Estimated costs
- Experience providing consulting services, including audits or assessments related to racial equity/diversity/inclusion/cultural competency
- Experience and philosophy regarding your work as part of a multicultural/multiracial team
- Relevant experience in the education/nonprofit and philanthropic sectors
- Professional training and short bios of the proposed project team members
- A sample list of past and current clients in the public sector, preferably public schools
- Contact information for a minimum of 3 relevant references
- Proposal should be limited to 4 pages (excluding supplemental attachments) and emailed to jcorazzini@framingham.k12.ma.us
- Any questions regarding this proposal should be directed to jcorazzini@framingham.k12.ma.us