Equity

All students deserve to thrive in school. We are committed to equitable solutions that address systemic barriers in education and meet the diverse needs of students in our district.

Thriving Schools

We believe that the ability to thrive exists within each of our schools. But creating thriving schools isn’t easy. The conditions do not occur by happenstance; they must be intentionally cultivated and supported, and we all have a role to play. 

Explore the Thriving Schools website to learn more about the conditions necessary to build a school in which all students thrive, and read our school profiles on MNPS schools climbing to thriving.

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Designing the Future: How Measuring and Mapping Student Opportunities in Nashville Can Improve Outcomes for Kids

Our newest policy brief explores how measuring and mapping data about student experiences in and out of school is critical to informing policies and practices that help ensure all Nashville’s children and youth thrive. In the brief, we call for a Nashville Children and Youth Opportunity Index and recommend the school district build on its Equity Roadmap by regularly reporting on equity metrics.
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By Design: How Nashville Created and Sustains Inequities in our Schools

Our policy brief further unpacks how city structures and systems prevent low-income students and students of color from thriving. The brief outlines specific policies and decisions in our city's history - such as housing and zoning decisions - that have established, exacerbated, and continue to perpetuate inequities for students and families.
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The Limitations of Desegregation in Nashville's Public Schools

Our new, condensed version of the full documentary focuses specifically on the failings on desegregation-era policies in Nashville. This resource offers a 22-minute option for screenings where a shorter or more specific showing is desired.
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The Limitations of Desegregation in Nashville's Public Schools: Watch Guide

Our new Watch Guide accompanies the 22-minute condensed documentary by Design: The Limitations of Desegregation in Nashville's Public Schools. This resource facilitates solutions-driven conversations about the film and our collective role in designing a future that ensures all students thrive.
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Webinar: Continuing the Conversation - Inequities of the Nashville Youth Experience

Watch our webinar from December 8, 2021 featuring Dr. Maury Nation, Johari Matthews, Kasar Abdulla, and Vanessa Lazón. This conversation focuses on how our community can come together to shape how we prioritize children and youth across our diverse city, and explores how our city's systems, structures, and resources affect children and youth in the classroom and beyond.
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By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools

By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools has been produced by NPEF in collaboration with education experts, leading historians, community and state leaders, and students from defining moments in Nashville’s public-school history dating back to the 1800s.
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By Design: Watch Guide

We created this Watch Guide to accompany our documentary By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools. Use this resource as a starting point to lead a discussion with a group of family, friends, coworkers, or others in your community after watching the film.
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By Design: Action Guide

We created this Action Guide to accompany our documentary By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools. Use this resource to discover how you can take action to ensure every child has what they need to thrive in school each day.
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Webinar: Exceptional Education in MNPS

Watch our webinar from January 27, 2021 titled "Exceptional Education in MNPS: How do we support our special education students to thriving?" with a panel featuring educator, family, and student voice.
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Webinar: Navigating COVID-19 as an English Learner in MNPS

Watch our webinar from September 23, 2020 titled Navigating COVID-19 as an English Learner in MNPS: Community Perspectives on Supporting Students and Families with a panel of those working closest with Nashville's EL students and families.
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Webinar: Inequities of the Nashville Youth Experience

Watch our webinar from June 30, 2020 titled A City Where All Youth Thrive: A Conversation about Dismantling the Inequities of the Nashville Youth Experience led by Dr. Maury Nation from Vanderbilt University.
Watch Webinar

Thriving Schools Advocacy Guide

This resource provides guidance on how we can collectively work together to create schools where all kids thrive. The guide includes a checklist for each of NPEF's Thriving Schools Framework conditions as well as a list of things you can do today to create a thriving school.
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SAMPLE: Op-Ed

Use this sample op-ed to write your own piece advocating for increasing teacher pay or another important public education issue and send it to your local newspaper or other news source to be published.
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SAMPLE: Letter to a Metro Council Member

Use this sample letter to write your own letter to a member of the Metro Council advocating for increasing teacher pay or another important public education issue.
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A Framework for Thriving Schools

Our Thriving Schools Framework explores the conditions necessary to create thriving schools and explains how the presence of these conditions leads to increased student performance and agency.
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NPEF Inequities Brief

This brief includes our recommendations for identifying and dismantling the inequities baked into our schools and communities that prevent too many of our students from thriving.
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Infographic: Who Makes Decisions About Our Schools?

This infographic provides information on the roles played by local and state government and other stakeholders related to public education in Nashville.
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