Norwalk expands equity work: Rutgers audits, equity leads and My Brother’s Keeper evaluation to be scaled districtwide

NORWALK, Conn. — At the May 7 meeting of the Board of Education Ad Hoc Inclusion and Educational Justice Committee, district staff and an external consultant described a year of equity-focused capacity building and outlined next steps including a Rutgers Equity Lab audit, districtwide expansion of equity leads, and targeted professional development.

Mary Anne Shepherd, executive director of leadership and development for Norwalk School District, told committee members that Rutgers University’s Equity Lab completed third round school visits to support school equity goals and to combine data review with learning walks. "They're celebrating both the progress that schools are making with their goals, but also just how they're approaching this work," Shepherd said.

Why it matters: the audits and coaching inform changes to district systems—such as identification processes for accelerated courses and discipline supports—that aim to reduce disproportionality and improve access to advanced coursework.

Shepherd summarized Rutgers’ findings: some schools are shifting systems and structures that create sustainable improvements, selection and recommendation processes for advanced courses are being revised, and leaders are using a principal dashboard to monitor progress in real time. She and others emphasized the difference between system gaps (missing teams or processes) and implementation gaps (processes exist but are not delivered with fidelity).

Paul Forbes, founder of Lead In with Hearts and Minds and a district consultant, described extensive school-level touch points in the 2024–25 school year and urged continuity. "It's not competing, it's completing," Forbes said, describing efforts to braid initiatives so they reinforce rather than duplicate each other.

Alden Burnham, director of educational data strategy, and Alden’s colleagues presented on My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) and My Sister’s Keeper (MSK). Burnham summarized the program’s working theory of action as "focusing on relationship building, mentorship, and curricula that focuses on Black excellence." He said qualitative focus groups showed students describing increased confidence, cultural competence and exposure to role models.

But staff also flagged evaluation challenges. Burnham and others reported that quantitative outcomes tied to MBK/MSK — such as changes in grades or engagement measured on district surveys — have not shown clear average differences between participants and similar nonparticipants. He said the district plans to better operationalize program goals and to collect pre/post measures so progress can be monitored.

Allison Bridal Johnson told the committee the district intends to follow Rutgers’ audit with policy reviews and targeted summer work. "We actually disaggregate. We go ahead… We might just give a measure of belonging and engagement to students when they're at MBK," Johnson said, and added that the district will offer professional development on equitable grading to school leaders starting July 31.

Committee chair Sherry McCready Pritchett and board members asked for clarification about which schools were included. Staff said the district’s equity-leads structure has been implemented across all schools this year and that next year the team will embed individualized coaching informed by the audit and school-level needs.

No formal board action was taken; presenters described continuing audits, summer professional development and plans to embed individualized coaching and policy review to support school improvement work.