Department of Education Equity Action Plan

The U.S. Department of Education has released the 2023 equity action plan as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's continued commitment to advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government. This plan aligns with the one of the President's first Executive orders: 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.

At the U.S. Department of Education (Department), we believe that our nation's future is brighter when we provide every student in every community with equitable access to an academically rigorous, well-rounded education in a safe and inclusive school. We are answering President Biden's call to prioritize equity across government by working intentionally to ensure our policies, grants, and programs address longstanding disparities in education still faced by underserved students, families, and communities. Our "Raise the Bar: Lead the World" agenda tackles these inequities head - on with an emphasis on accelerating learning in our schools, ensuring access to a comprehensive and well-rounded education, strengthening supports for students' mental health and wellbeing, empowering educators, expanding access to multilingual learning, and reimagining pathways to college and careers. Together, we can build an education system that ensures all students have opportunities to discover their passion, find their purpose, and realize their potential.

The Department plans to advance these efforts in the upcoming year by:

• Improve college access, affordability, and degree completion for underserved students to increase economic mobility. Supporting higher education with pandemic relief funding.
• Implement Maintenance of Equity requirements to ensure historically underserved students have equitable resources for learning recovery. Supporting learners with disabilities.
• Address inequities faced by justice-impacted individuals by expanding access to postsecondary learning opportunities that improve outcomes for communities and reduce recidivism rates.
• Advance equity in and through career and technical education.
• Increase mental health resources with an emphasis on underserved communities, from the historic legislation and funding provided by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

The detailed action plan can be found here.

Agency Equity Data Action Plans

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Action Plan 

Executive Order 14075 – Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals (LGBTQI+) directs Federal agencies to develop a sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) Data Action Plan, which details how the agency plans to use SOGI data to advance equity for LGBTQI+ individuals and identifies how the agency plans to implement the recommendations in the Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity. 

Answers to the following Priority Learning Questions would improve the Department’s ability to make evidence-based decisions related to its federal programs, policies, operations, and regulations. Further, answers to these questions would improve the ability of ED’s Federal partners to make evidence-informed decisions related to their programs. 

1. Attainment. What is the distribution of educational attainment among LGBTQI+ people? 
2. Adverse experiences. How prevalent are reported acts of discrimination, harassment, bullying, or physical abuse experienced by LGBTQI+ students in education at different ages or levels of schooling? How are those experiences related to their educational outcomes?. 
3. Supports and Barriers. What institutional contexts, policies, or practices are associated with positive academic social, emotional, and mental wellbeing outcomes for LGBTQI+ students (e.g., achievement, graduation)? Which are associated with negative outcomes (e.g., adverse disciplinary actions, chronic absenteeism, bullying)? What is the extent of both positive and negative school-related outcomes?
4. Educator training. What training is required or provided for teachers and school staff on creating welcoming and safe school environments and supporting equitable academic outcomes for LGBTQI+ students?
5. Educator experiences. What are the experiences (e.g., environment, attrition) of LGBTQI+ educators and staff in K-12 and postsecondary institutions, and how do their experiences differ from those of their peers?

To build evidence related to the ED SOGI Learning Agenda, ED will, consistent with applicable laws and policies:

1. Catalog existing evidence-building activities, within and beyond ED, where evidence relevant to the SOGI Learning Agenda is already collected;
2. Compile relevant evidence into an ED-facing data portal for internal dissemination and use;
3. Identify opportunities to augment existing evidence-building activities to better address Learning Agenda questions; and
4. Work with internal and external stakeholders to design new evidence-building activities to address remaining gaps.

The U.S. Department of Education SOGI Data Action Plan, July 2023.

Additional Resources

• https://www.whitehouse.gov/equity
• https://www.performance.gov/equity
• This is the second year that the Department has released an equity action plan. The 2022 equity action plan can be found here.