CLN's Research for equity statement

“Educational equity means that each child receives what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential.”

                                            ~National Equity Project

Choice-filled Lives Network approaches all of its research and evaluation work through an equity and justice lens, and in doing so we differentiate between the terms equality, equity, and justice. To this end, when we embark upon any research project, we view equity as a short-term pathway that should ultimately lead to a longer-term outcome of justice. We therefore choose to formally articulate our Research for Equity Statement. In particular, we account for the ways in which race and racism impact both social sector programming and research methods, by integrating culturally and historically responsive research, measurement, and assessment paradigms into our work:

1. We operationalize race and ethnicity, not as innate biological characteristics, but rather as socially constructed hierarchical statuses that impact how one interacts with society in terms of access to opportunity and benefits, as well as the allocation of power, resources, and burdens. 
2. We examine how race-based biases, assumptions, and politics shape programmatic questions, outcomes, and consequent research conclusions, and subsequently developed measures. In doing so, we consider whose way of knowing is being privileged, how power differentials and the implications for long-term social justice might influence that way of knowing.
3. We acknowledge the pervasiveness of epistemological racism in published research which delegitimizes and erases knowledge produced by scholars from historically and currently marginalized groups, and in turn, do our best to ensure diverse representation of scholarly perspectives and experiences when reviewing literature and/or citing prior work. 
4. We practice full transparency in describing how our lenses of race and racism affect our understanding and decision-making processes as researchers, evaluators, and psychometricians. We invite ongoing discussion, inquiry, and transparency from our partners and strive to build an environment of collaborative co-learning and constructive feedback.

We present research findings on inequities, or other social constructs, within the broader historical and cultural context to prevent the misconception that adverse experiences are endemic and shift the focus to targeting hierarchical structures of oppression. In these ways, we ensure that our research and findings always center the lives and realities of students, families, and communities with which we partner and whom we serve, as well as our own lived experiences as women researchers of color.