School Leadership & DEI: Home

The purpose of this research was to investigate leadership facilitating effective inclusive school practices. Data were collected from leaders at a complex multicultural school perceived by the system and local community as an inclusive school with a focus on quality education. A qualitative case study was used and data were collected over a 6-month period of immersion at the research site. Data included semistructured interviews with the head of special education and the school principal, observations of dialogical and behavioural data described within the lead researcher's reflective journal, and the documented operational structure of the school. The findings include insights into what the principal and head of special education believed inclusion to be, and how these leaders worked with staff to embed inclusive practices. The conclusion drawn from the study is that school leadership for inclusion involves making hard decisions. It is a complex and multifaceted act requiring consciously targeted effort, advocacy, and particular ways of leading. Inclusive practices need reinforcing by frequently articulated expectations, support, and acknowledgement that for all stakeholders inclusion is a constant journey toward a shared vision.

This research review analyzes studies on the recruitment and retention of teachers of color in order to examine the current state of teachers of color in the workforce; understand the factors that affect their recruitment, hiring, and retention; and highlight opportunities for policymakers to grow a stable workforce of teachers of color in their districts and states. The first section of this paper, Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Teacher Workforce Today, includes a description of the proportion and growth of teachers of color in the workforce based on several national data sources and an analysis of the most recent nationally representative datasets from the U.S. Department of Education Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) 2011-12 and the SASS Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) 2013-14. This section also summarizes recent literature regarding the value to students of a racially diverse teacher workforce, followed by a discussion of the significant role teacher retention plays in shortages of teachers of color. The second section of this paper, Barriers to Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color, summarizes the most recent literature on factors affecting the recruitment, hiring, and retention of teachers of color. Included within this discussion is enrollment in and completion of high-quality TPPs, school closure and turnaround policies, and teaching conditions. Finally, the last section of this paper, Promising Practices, examines the evidence for promising practices aimed at overcoming the common barriers to recruiting, hiring, and retaining teachers of color identified in section two. These practices include funding high-retention pathways into teaching, such as teacher residencies, Grow Your Own programs, and college mentoring and support programs; creating proactive hiring and induction strategies; and improving school teaching conditions through improved school leadership. [For the research brief, see ED606432.]

Studies consistently show that teachers of color matter for all students, and especially for students of color. Yet, the proportion of teachers of color in the workforce continues to lag far behind the share of students of color in our schools. Recruiting teachers of color only gets them into the building. We must pay equal, if not more, attention to their retention to make long-lasting change in the diversity of the workforce. This is why Teach Plus and The Education Trust set out to learn why teachers of color are leaving schools, what teachers of color believe would help solve the turnover problem, and what strategies exist in schools and school systems that are intentionally working to bring about change. "If You Listen, We Will Stay: Why Teachers of Color Leave and How to Disrupt Teacher Turnover" examines the challenges teachers of color face as they navigate the profession and zeroes in on the solutions adopted by schools working to retain faculty of color.

This article seeks to provide an insight into the role of school principals dealing with newly multicultural and multi-faith student populations by drawing on a mixed-methods study on state-funded multi-denominational community national schools in Ireland. The study explores the extent to which school principals address the increasing social and cultural diversity in their schools by helping to establish inclusive and supportive school environments. The study identifies the main agents in shaping the school culture, and how the multi-denominational ethos is experienced by students. The article endeavours to provide academics and practitioners with a better understanding of the importance of leadership in shaping school climate that promotes a sense of belonging for all the students.

School motivation as a construct is increasingly surfacing in classrooms across the United States. The research on achievement and intrinsic motivation has become more complex, given contemporary inquiries on trauma-informed practices, special education-related services. With the absence of culturally empathic practices, each of these factors can potentially add another barrier and impact those involved in the learning process. The need for schools to develop dynamic multi-disciplinary teams that capitalize on relational energy to provide support and increase student motivation remains necessary. Schools explore creative ways to prioritize relationships before rigor to see improvements in student motivation and the attainment of student learning outcomes. Low self-worth, falling short of expectations, or completely missing the mark magnifies the differences between self-perception and one's identity as perceived by others. To combat deficit-based models of engagement, the researchers analyzed culturally empathic motivation in diverse students. Teacher expectations, modeling, and enthusiasm need to be apparent to students, and teachers' efficacy needs to embrace the idea that all students can learn. Teacher quality, learning climate, and powerful instruction are vital to designing a productive learning environment that motivates students to learn. In a positive learning climate, the teacher and the students work together as a community of learners to help everyone achieve. Motivation plays a significant role in the creation of experiences that enhance the development of empathic awareness. Taking a deeper look at motivation interventions through a holistic ecological lens that is both culturally intelligent and trauma-informed will create a strength-based collaborative learning perspective.

This case study research identified culturally relevant leadership practices that influence the outreach, recruitment, and retention of Hispanic girls in Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (T-STEM) programs in a School District in the Southwest Border region. Educators have a social justice responsibility to challenge the inequitable social, cultural, and political constructs in their schools and districts and address the unique needs of students who represent underserved racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Administrators in this study acknowledged the hegemonic structures and barriers they and their students face and share some of their strategies and ideologies for school improvement and equity. Suggestions are made on how to implement culturally responsive and sustaining leadership that can spark and sustain the interest of Hispanic girls to continue their pursuit of higher education and careers in STEM fields.

Culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) has become important to research on culturally responsive education, reform, and social justice education. This comprehensive review provides a framework for the expanding body of literature that seeks to make not only teaching, but rather the entire school environment, responsive to the schooling needs of minoritized students. Based on the literature, we frame the discussion around clarifying strands—critical self-awareness, CRSL and teacher preparation, CRSL and school environments, and CRSL and community advocacy. We then outline specific CRSL behaviors that center inclusion, equity, advocacy, and social justice in school. Pulling from literature on leadership, social justice, culturally relevant schooling, and students/communities of color, we describe five specific expressions of CRSL found in unique communities. Finally, we reflect on the continued promise and implications of CRSL.

Fostering equity by offering the best education possible to all students is one of the main goals of inclusive schooling. One instrument to implement individualised education is individualised education planning (IEP). IEP requires cooperation between special and regular teachers. From research on school leadership it is known that leadership styles are connected to the way, school leaders use their scope of action with respect to fostering collaboration. However, little is known about the relationship between the leadership of a school, the provision of structures for collaboration, and the implementation of IEP in an inclusive context. The article focuses on the question to what extent transformational (TL) and instructional leadership (IL) are connected to the provision of structures for collaboration and how TL and IL as well as structures for collaboration relate to the implementation of IEP directly and indirectly. Based on data of N = 135 German schools, a path model was calculated. It revealed medium relations between TL, IL, and structures for collaboration as well as a medium effect from structures to collaboration on implementation of IEP. The effect from TL towards implementation of IEP was fully mediated by structures for collaboration, while the effect from IL persisted.

This qualitative study examines how urban school principals employ an equity frame to promote change in their daily work. Over a three-year period, an urban school district on the west coast implemented a process to develop and use a leadership rubric for principal professional learning and evaluation purposes. This Principal Leadership Rubric was developed, in part, through video observations of principals in action, and subsequent analysis and naming of leadership practices. The study examines a subset of the video transcripts and analyzes them using the foundational leadership element of the Principal Leadership Rubric: equity. We found that the principals’ enactments of equity varied in three ways: level of explicitness (explicit to implicit), type of issue (macro to micro), and indicators towards change (clear to unclear next steps). We argue that it is more likely that principals who were explicit about the equity issue and clear about next steps in their leadership practice, whether the issue was micro or macro, were more likely to disrupt historical inequities and allow all students to
encounter more learning opportunities. The findings have implications for research and practice of principal support and evaluation. We add to the field of social justice leadership by illustrating what “enacting equity” looks like in leadership practice.

Principals are required by policy, regulation, legislation and democratic discourse to promote equity of outcomes. This integrated review investigates research on equity issues facing five student groups: special needs students; religious, cultural and racial minorities; groups disadvantaged by socioeconomic status; gender groups; and students differentiated by their sexual orientations. Sixteen research-based strategies for reducing the gap in achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged students are generated, the strategies being organised within four domains of principal influence: curriculum interpretation, instruction, assessment, and community involvement.

The purpose of this article is to examine the leadership beliefs and practices of three school leaders in a large urban school district in the Rocky Mountain West to determine whether any are consistent with transformative leadership. We sought to (a) describe the challenges faced by these school leaders in addressing the needs of changing populations, (b) understand the ways in which these educators conceptualize an equitable education for all, and (c) identify the inclusive practices that they implement to ensure a socially-just education for all. This study used a transformative, multiple case study to understand the beliefs and practices of three school leaders. Data were collected for this study at one elementary, one middle, and one high school in the same urban school district. We used transformative leadership theory as a conceptual framework to guide the data collection and analysis, focusing explicitly on inclusion, equity, excellence, and social justice. The findings demonstrate how leaders exercise equitable, socially just leadership to create welcoming, inclusive schools where all students, including those who are minoritized or economically disadvantaged, feel affirmed, respected, and academically challenged. An important major challenge that emerged was the need for alignment of district goals and practices with those of school leaders. We conclude with a call to school leaders to disrupt inequitable school cultures and work in transformative ways.

Begins on Page 81
Though culturally relevant educational leadership has been practiced for more than 20 years, marginalized students from culturally diverse communities continue to be underserved. Additionally, other educational programs outside of traditional K-12 school environments are far less likely to have educational administrators who have any experience or training in culturally relevant leadership, begging the question, “Do we really understand what effective culturally relevant leadership best practices are, and if so, how can we improve them in all educational settings, and not just K-12 education?” This research project focuses on answering the following questions: 1.) What best practices are utilized by culturally relevant educational administrators?; 2.) What best practices are utilized by culturally relevant educational administrators who come from different cultural or racial backgrounds?; and 3.) What best practices are utilized by culturally relevant administrators from different types of educational institutions or environments? A
qualitative multiple-case study design was utilized to explore the best practices of four randomly
selected educational administrators in California, from different cultural backgrounds and from different school environments, with considerable experience and success in teaching and
educational administration. Results from the study indicate that despite some differences in their
approaches an their respective educational programs, there were common factors that were instrumental in the record of success experienced by these research participants. Key among these factors were (I.) Positive Relationships with the local community; (II.) Principal or Administrative Mentoring Programs; and (III.) Shared Decision Making. These, and other factors were vital for professional development, improved student academic performance, retention, and engagement, especially for marginalized populations in culturally diverse schools.

This qualitative case study investigated the implementation and experiences of access and equity work in a suburban, public K-12 school district in the Midwest United States. While the literature regarding educational leadership, student educational gaps, and school change is prolific, inequities in policy and practice perpetuate predictable failure for some of our nation's youth. Using the lens of the Cultural Proficiency Framework, this study aimed to address the research questions by examining (1) the educational leader's role in school change; (2) policies and practices used in the school district; (3) the ways in which implementation of the Cultural Proficiency Framework influenced change; and (4) challenges educational leaders face during the work of Cultural Proficiency. The findings of the study revealed consistency among three emergent themes for successful culturally proficient practice and policy implementation including outcomes from professional learning communities, diverse family and community involvement, and continuous school improvement towards student achievement. Implications of this study suggest application of the Four Tools of Cultural Proficiency with contextual usage of the emergent themes for leading organizational change towards increased equity, access, and inclusion.