Five Practices for Equity-Focused School Leadership

This timely and essential book provides a comprehensive guide for school leaders who desire to engage their school communities in transformative systemic change. Sharon I. Radd, Gretchen Givens Generett, Mark Anthony Gooden, and George Theoharis offer five practices to increase educational equity and eliminate marginalization based on race, disability, socioeconomics, language, gender and sexual identity, and religion. For each dimension of diversity, the authors provide background information for understanding the current realities in schools and beyond, and they suggest "disruptive practices" to replace the status quo in order to achieve full inclusion and educational excellence for every child.

Assuming that leadership to create equity is a unique practice, the book offers

* Clear explanations of foundational terms and concepts, such as equity, systemic inequity, paradigms and cognitive dissonance, and privilege;

* Specific recommendations for how to build support and sustainability by engaging colleagues and other stakeholders in constructive dialogues with multiple perspectives;

* Detailed descriptions of routines and roles for building effective equity-leadership teams;

* Guidelines and tools for performing an equity audit, including environmental scans;

* A change framework to skillfully transform your system; and

* Reflection activities for self-discovery, understanding, and personal and professional growth.

A call to action that is both passionate and practical, Five Practices for Equity-Focused School Leadership is an indispensable roadmap for educators undertaking the journey toward an education system that acknowledges and advances the worth and potential of all students.

Sharon I. Radd, EdD, is Program Director and Associate Professor of Organizational Leadership at St. Catherine University, Principal at Sankalpa Consulting, and an Equity Fellow for the Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center at IUPUI. Prior to entering higher education, she spent 23 years in K–12 public education as a school social worker, building-level administrator, district administrator, and professional development provider. Awarded a 2006 Archibald Bush Leadership Fellowship and winner of the 2010 Social Justice Dissertation Award given by the American Educational Research Association LSJ-SIG, she specializes in the areas of leadership, educational equity, adult learning, organizational change, team functioning, and cross-cultural proficiency. Radd holds bachelor's degrees in sociology and social work; a master's degree in educational leadership; and, from the University of St. Thomas, an EdD in leadership.

Gretchen Givens Generett, PhD, is Interim Dean and Professor of Foundations in the School of Education at Duquesne University. She holds the Noble J. Dick Endowed Chair in Community Outreach at Duquesne, where she has served as the Director for the University Council Educational Administration Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research. She is a qualitative researcher whose scholarship intermingles traditional sociology of education, African American studies, and feminist studies with more progressive concepts of justice that examine agency, empowerment, and action. Her most recent scholarship is a book entitled The American Dream for Students of Color: Barriers to Educational Success, coauthored with Dr. Amy M. Olson. Generett received her BA in English from Spelman College and her PhD in Foundations of Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mark Anthony Gooden, PhD, is the Christian Johnson Endeavor Professor in Education Leadership and Director of the Endeavor Antiracist & Restorative Leadership Initiative at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is the former Director of the Summer Principals Academy–NYC in the Department of Organization and Leadership at Teachers College. His research focuses broadly on culturally responsive school leadership with specific interests in antiracist leadership, the principalship, urban educational leadership, and legal issues in education. Before entering higher education, he served as a secondary mathematics teacher and departmental chairperson in Columbus (OH) Public Schools. He has spent two decades in higher education. Gooden earned his BA in mathematics from Albany State University (a historically Black college/university). He holds an MEd in mathematics education, and an MA and a PhD in policy and leadership, all from The Ohio State University.

George Theoharis, PhD, is a Professor in Educational Leadership and Inclusive Education at Syracuse University. He has extensive field experience in public education as a principal and teacher. At Syracuse, he previously served as Department Chair, Associate Dean for Urban Education Partnerships, and the Director of Field Relations. His interests, research, and work with K–12 schools focus on issues of equity, justice, diversity, inclusion, leadership, and school reform. His books, The School Leaders Our Children Deserve (2009), Leadership for Increasingly Diverse Schools (2015), What Every Principal Needs to Know to Create Excellent and Equitable Schools (2012), and The Principal's Handbook for Leading Inclusive Schools (2014), focus on issues of leadership and creating more equitable schools. Theoharis's PhD is in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.