In 2020, the Atlanta Board of Education and Atlanta Public Schools (APS) launched an ambitious strategic plan that places equity at the forefront of their work. The We are APS, Building on Our Legacy plan outlines equity commitments and provides a framework for staff to address education equity in specific and impactful ways. In late 2021, APS opened its first office devoted solely to advancing equity in education to drive forward the district’s new equity policy. The APS Center for Equity and Social Justice (CES) will support APS in delivering on its Equity Commitments, and envisions serving as a national model for intentionally, explicitly, and sustainably addressing equity challenges in education. This includes launching the first-of-its-kind Opportunity, Tangible, Intangible, and Systems (OTIS) Equity Index. The OTIS Equity Index will extract data trends to inform how APS makes strategic decisions about its programs, interventions, time, and resources.

To support district leaders and staff with being more deliberate in infusing equity into APS’s practices and operations, APS will partner with FUSE Corps to lead the co-design, implementation, and dissemination of the OTIS Equity Index. The FUSE Executive Fellow will work directly with district leaders and stakeholders to transparently solicit and incorporate input on the development of the data tool and develop a comprehensive plan to operationalize the data tool, internally and externally. The Executive Fellow will review initial trends and recommend emerging opportunities for APS to champion that support the academic interests and whole-child development of APS students, families, and school communities. Overall, this tool will be essential to enhancing the district’s mission of equipping students for college, career, and life.