CPRE Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Recreation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A recreation manager reviews program data and finds that Latino families are underrepresented in aquatics programs. The most effective first step is to:
- Lower program fees by 10% for all participants
- Conduct focus groups with Latino community members to understand barriers (Correct answer)
- Translate the program brochure into Spanish
- Hire a Latino aquatics instructor
Correct answer: Conduct focus groups with Latino community members to understand barriers
Community engagement through focus groups identifies the actual barriers—which may be cultural, financial, scheduling, or safety-related—before solutions are designed.
Question 2: In the context of EDI, 'intersectionality' is most accurately described as:
- The overlap between recreation programs and academic outcomes
- The way multiple social identities combine to create unique experiences of privilege or discrimination (Correct answer)
- A scheduling conflict between two community programs
- The intersection of public and private funding sources
Correct answer: The way multiple social identities combine to create unique experiences of privilege or discrimination
Intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, recognizes that overlapping identities (race, gender, class, disability) produce compounded and distinct experiences.
Question 3: A park district's board is entirely composed of white, affluent residents in a diverse city. An EDI-informed approach to governance would recommend:
- Maintaining current membership since board members are elected
- Establishing term limits and active outreach to recruit candidates from underrepresented communities (Correct answer)
- Creating a separate advisory council for minority groups
- Requiring board members to attend one EDI training per year
Correct answer: Establishing term limits and active outreach to recruit candidates from underrepresented communities
Structural changes like term limits and targeted recruitment create pathways for diverse leadership that better reflects the community served.
Question 4: Which data collection practice best supports an equity-focused needs assessment for a recreation department?
- Surveying only current program participants
- Disaggregating data by race, income, age, ability, and geography (Correct answer)
- Collecting total headcounts without demographic detail
- Relying on staff observations rather than formal data
Correct answer: Disaggregating data by race, income, age, ability, and geography
Disaggregated data reveals disparities in access and participation that aggregate totals obscure, enabling targeted interventions.
Question 5: A recreation center staff member repeatedly mispronounces a participant's name despite being corrected. This is an example of:
- Cultural humility
- A microaggression (Correct answer)
- Implicit bias
- Tokenism
Correct answer: A microaggression
Repeatedly mispronouncing someone's name after correction is a microaggression—a subtle, often unintentional act that communicates disrespect toward a person's identity.
Question 6: A park agency wants to ensure its scholarship program reaches the most marginalized residents. Which application design principle best reduces barriers to access?
- Requiring detailed documentation of household income from all applicants
- Using a simple self-attestation process with minimal documentation requirements (Correct answer)
- Limiting scholarships to referrals from social service agencies only
- Making applications available only in English at the main office
Correct answer: Using a simple self-attestation process with minimal documentation requirements
Simplified self-attestation reduces administrative burden and stigma, making financial assistance accessible to those with the greatest need.
Question 7: According to NRPA's EDI frameworks, which organizational practice reflects a commitment to equity over equality in recreation service delivery?
- Charging all participants the same fee regardless of income
- Allocating more resources to communities with higher need to achieve comparable outcomes (Correct answer)
- Treating all program participants identically under a standardized approach
- Distributing facilities evenly across all zip codes in a jurisdiction
Correct answer: Allocating more resources to communities with higher need to achieve comparable outcomes
Equity requires differential resource allocation based on need, ensuring all communities can achieve comparable outcomes rather than simply receiving identical inputs.
CPRE Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Recreation 5
A recreation manager reviews program data and finds that Latino families are underrepresented in aquatics programs.
The most effective first step is to: