Leadership for Equity and Excellence: Creating High-Achievement Classrooms, Schools, and Districts

"It brings into focus the many aspects of equity and equality in one source. It makes an excellent base for some meaningful discussion of these issues by those working with aspiring educator leaders, as well as those already in the field."
Deborah A. Drugan, Principal
General John J. Stefanik Elementary School, Chicopee, MA

When true equity prevails, all students can be successful students!

Do you dream of success for every student? Do you dream of raising achievement for each and every child to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act? Historically, underserved students―children of color, children from low-income families, English language learners―all deserve to live this dream. Creating an equitable learning environment in which all students thrive is possible―with this guide you can turn dreams into reality for your school.

Leadership for Equity and Excellence encourages school leaders and teachers to develop creative strategies for student advancement using tools such as accountability, equity audits, and proactive redundancy. Scheurich and Skrla demonstrate how deeply held beliefs manifest as biases, preventing educators from unlocking their students′ potential. The authors also examine the U.S. education achievement gap, and suggest several concepts for overcoming this gap, such as:

• Eliminating "can′t" from your vocabulary
• Using creativity, perseverance, and persistence
• Envisioning educators as civil rights workers
• Moving beyond harmful, but entrenched, biases
• Understanding the cultures and backgrounds of each student

Children of color excelling in school . . . children from low-income homes thriving academically . . . classrooms, communities, and even a nation of people becoming truly equal―this is the living dream of today′s educators.

James Joseph Scheurich is an associate professor in educational administration and the director of the Public School Executive Leadership Programs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of two books, Anti-Racist Scholarship and Research Method in the Postmodern, and coauthor with Bob Donmoyer and Michael Imber of another, The Knowledge Base in Educational Administration. In addition, he and a coauthor have another book under contract and nearly completed, Equity and Accountability. He is the coeditor with Angela Valenzuela of the journal, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. He is the author or coauthor of numerous articles in academic journals, including in Educational Researcher, Journal of Education Policy, Urban Education, Educational Administration Quarterly, Education and Urban Society, and the International Journal of Leadership in Education, among others. He also writes newspaper editorials and for education journals, such as Phi Delta Kappan. His doctorate was earned at The Ohio State University.

Linda Skrla is Professor of Educational Administration at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the Texas A&M faculty in 1997, Linda worked as a middle school and high school teacher and as a campus and district administrator in public schools. Her research focuses on educational equity issues in school leadership, including accountability policy, high success school districts, and women superintendents. Linda is Vice President of Division A of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and Editor of Educational Administration Quarterly. She has published extensively in academic journals and has co-authored and co-edited five other books, the most recent of which is Using Equity Audits to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools (Corwin Press, 2009).