Despite numerous education reform efforts, disparities between more privileged students and students from marginalized and minoritized groups still persist in U.S. education. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) passed in 2015 indicates greater commitment of the federal government to advancing equity in education and gives state educational agencies more autonomy and flexibility in policy making. This article analyzes the content of 52 approved state ESSA plans to examine how the concept of equity in education is defined and applied in state-level ESSA policies and provisions. Results of a qualitative content analysis reveal that all but four state ESSA plans adopt a stance on equity centered on equitable access to educational resources—including funding and effective educators —and less than half state plans attend to equity in outcomes. Most of the state plans do not include a clear definition of what they mean by “equity”. In addition, the accountability systems used to evaluate the impact of equity policies in the plans are predominantly outcome-oriented using student standardized test performance as the key indicator. Incoherent policy principles, coupled with the market-oriented, standards-based policy solutions, may exacerbate the structural inequities facing schools and students that these policies aim to ameliorate. Implications for education policy and research are discussed.

This study critically analyzes knowledge about: (1) ethnic minority groups; (2) the dominant Han group; and (3) the interaction between ethnic minorities and Han presented in three types of elementary textbooks used in China. The analysis reveals that the knowledge about and the values and beliefs of the Han people are overwhelmingly dominant in all reviewed textbooks. At the same time, ethnic minority groups are marginalized and the knowledge about them is incomplete and stereotypical. In addition, most of the knowledge about ethnic minorities are constructed and presented from the perspective of the Han people. The results indicate that the dominant ideology and unequal power relations are reflected and reinforced through the strategic construction, selection, and presentation of knowledge in textbooks. It also calls for a need to incorporate more accurate and complete knowledge in textbooks for students to develop a critical understanding of the society. This article analyzes the representation of ethnic minority groups in China's elementary textbooks. The depiction of the majority Han group and the content about the interaction between Han and ethnic minorities is also examined. The questions that guided the inquiry were: (1) What knowledge and beliefs about ethnic minorities are constructed in Chinese elementary textbooks; and (2) Whose perspectives and interests are valued in the process of knowledge construction? Through an analysis of elementary textbooks, this study explored how knowledge about ethnic minorities is interpreted from the point of view of Han by highlighting certain discourses while eliminating others. What was also under scrutiny was the unequal power relations between Han and ethnic minorities that were reinforced and reproduced through Han's hegemonic control of knowledge construction and selection in textbooks. *

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