American Institutes for Research presents equity audit findings, recommends districtwide monitoring and school-level follow-up

Maddie Denjunkba, project director for the equity audit at the American Institutes for Research, told the Westwood School Committee on April 1 that a district-root-cause analysis identified uneven implementation of instructional supports and several actionable priorities.

"We focused on 3 areas in the district: resource allocation, educational climate, and instructional supports for diverse learners," Denjunkba said, summarizing the scope of the review.

The audit team collected district data, interviewed staff and leaders, held three family focus groups and convened a 32-member root-cause analysis event that included school leaders, teachers, students and community members, Denjunkba said. From that work, AIR developed problem statements and prioritized causes to guide recommendations.

Why it matters: AIR flagged issues that could affect which students receive supports and how well those supports work. Among the top problem statements were inconsistent implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) across buildings, and a lack of clear entrance and exit criteria for special-education decisions — concerns that the audit team said can lead to uneven student experiences across Westwood schools.

The audit report summarized five problem statements related to educational climate, including that Westford Public Schools has resources for social-emotional learning (SEL) but has not formally implemented those resources consistently in grades K–8, and that a lack of comprehensive discipline data limits the district’s ability to monitor restorative or progressive-discipline practices.

AIR’s prioritized recommendations include: - Providing professional development focused on culturally responsive pedagogy and classroom management with practical strategies for daily instruction, paired with systems to monitor effectiveness; - Establishing regular observation and feedback cycles beyond the annual evaluation system to align coaching, PD and instructional priorities; - Standardizing MTSS processes, including clear guidance on Tier 1 classroom responsibilities, documented data collection timelines for interventions, and clear referral thresholds to IST/SST teams; and - Clarifying and posting program entrance and exit criteria for specialized programming and strengthening data use for progress monitoring and IEP standardization.

Denjunkba emphasized the implementation focus: "Picking a couple of things to really hone in on next school year or for the next 3 would be really helpful," she said, describing the next-phase work with building-based teams.

Superintendent Dr. Chu told the committee the district will use building-level teams to translate the recommendations into school improvement actions. He said principals will assemble 5–7 person teams — including at least one administrator and teachers — to meet with AIR for two-hour sessions scheduled in the coming weeks.

"The report is almost completely drafted and will come simultaneously," Denjunkba said of the final audit, noting AIR will deliver a district-level report that the district then must use to align practices and expectations at the school level.

Committee members pressed for clarity about methodology and representation. Denjunkba cautioned that the family focus groups were self-selected and small (about five to seven people per focus group) and therefore not statistically generalizable; she said the team combined those conversations with survey and administrative data to identify recurring themes.

The audit also found no significant differences in teacher qualifications or experience across schools, and district-level fiscal analysis showed schools with higher needs received higher per-student spending under entitlement formulas. AIR said principals were not always aware of those allocations, which underlines the team’s recommendation for clearer communication about resource distribution.

Next steps: AIR will meet school-based teams to gather teacher perspectives and to help the district prioritize recommendations. Denjunkba and district leaders said those sessions will inform a final set of prioritized actions tied to the district strategic plan and to next year’s professional-development calendar.

The committee did not take formal action on the audit at the meeting. Denjunkba and district staff said they will return with school-level implementation plans and that the final AIR report will be published for committee review.