Excellence Through Equity: Five Principles of Courageous Leadership to Guide Achievement for Every Student

Courageous, inspiring examples of educational equity in action!

School leaders know that the journey to equity can involve turmoil and controversy. This illuminating book demonstrates how in the most effective schools here and worldwide, equity is the most powerful means we have to lift all children to higher achievement.  The authors challenge the "zero sum" myth head-on, arguing that equity is truly the path to excellence – for low AND high-achieving students, and our educational system overall.

In this ground-breaking anthology, renowned authors Noguera and Blankstein pair leading-edge ideas from award-winning educational scholars, visionaries, and practitioners with powerful case studies from multicultural  K-12 settings at all levels of the system who have pursued equity goals and closed instructional and achievement gaps. Readers will find

• Examples of high-leverage practices used by award-winning schools and districts, including  de-tracking, leadership capacity development and deployment to build teacher efficacy and close gaps between schools, and successful innovations in curriculum and assessment design
• Powerful classroom practices that lead to success for ELL, special Ed and underserved students as well as for their more privileged peers
• System-level examples by Michael Fullan, Paul Reville and others of how excellence was achieved through equity at district, state and provincial levels
• A powerful concluding chapter by Andy Hargreaves on how other nations have used educational equity as a driver for extraordinary educational and economic gains.

As you strive to close gaps, succeed with all students, and lead equity initiatives in your school or district, turn to this guide for invaluable support and perspective from inspiring, effective, and award-winning leaders.

"A movement is born out of the convergence of dire conditions, a powerful idea, and people committed to carrying out that idea.
This landmark (work) by Alan M. Blankstein and Pedro Noguera, may be a catalyst to such a movement."
-Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu

Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A former “high-risk” youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher. He worked for Phi Delta Kappa, March of Dimes, and Solution Tree, which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years while launching Professional Learning Communities beginning in the late 1980s. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. Alan is Senior Editor, lead contributor, and/or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera,.  He also authored some 20 articles in leading education print including Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Principal, and Executive Educator. Alan has provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major U.S. Ed Org, and throughout the UK, Africa, and the Middle East.  Alan has served on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, and the Jewish Child Care Agency, where he once was a youth in residence.

Pedro Noguera is the Dean of the Rossier School of Education and a Distinguished Professor of Education at USC. He is one of the nation’s leading scholars on issues related inequality and public policy in education. Prior to coming to USC, he held endowed chairs at UCLA, NYU, Harvard, and the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of 15 books, hundreds of articles and editorials, and serves as an advisor to several states, school districts, foundations, NGOs, and nonprofits. Noguera has received eight honorary doctorates from American universities, and he has received several awards for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at promoting educational equity. In 2023 he was ranked 1st in the nation for influence and impact in the field of education by Education Week. He was born in New York City to Caribbean immigrants and is the father of five children and grandfather to five.