Congratulations in choosing to work toward increasing equity and access for every student. Changing the culture of a school is both an exciting time as well as a daunting challenge. It’s often hard to know where to begin as well as who needs to be engaged in the process. The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) has worked with secondary schools and community colleges to develop and implement a comprehensive, practical, and research-based process for program improvement focused on equity and closing achievement gaps. Over the next hour or so, you will have an opportunity to learn about the Program Improvement Process for Equity (PIPE™).

A simulation is woven throughout the activities of this course. In this simulation, you’ll lead the PIPE team at a fictional school district and community college as they complete each step of the process. During PIPE, organizations use an Implementation Plan to document their decisions and strategies. In the simulation, you’ll be able to download a sample Implementation Plan as it is updated for each stage of the process.