George Theoharis

This is the updated edition of the bestselling seminal book on school leadership, equity, and social justice. Drawing on the experiences and words of successful public-school principals, Theoharis shows why social justice leadership is needed and how it can be effective in creating more equitable schools. Although they faced tremendous barriers, the principals featured in this book made important strides toward closing the outcome and opportunity gaps in their schools by using inclusive, equitable practices. Featuring a mix of theory and practical strategies, this edition has been updated with new examples and frameworks relevant to today's leaders. Responding to the current context of national resistance to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, this timely book portrays how real school leaders seek, create, and sustain equitable schools, especially for marginalized students. The School Leaders Our Children Deserve identifies seven keys that are crucial for social justice leadership: Key 1: Acquire Broad, Reconceptualized Consciousness/Knowledge/Skill BaseKey 2: Possess Core Leadership TraitsKey 3: Advance Inclusion, Access, and Opportunity for AllKey 4: Improve the Core Learning Context--Both the Teaching and the CurriculumKey 5: Create a Climate of Belonging Key 6: Increase Student LearningKey 7: Sustain Oneself Professionally and PersonallyBook Features:Grounds the lofty ideals of equity and social justice in the daily work of school leadership. Provides rich and abundant examples, ideas, and strategies for how to be a school leader committed to issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Includes a new focus on culturally sustaining leadership and how disability studies inform practice. Offers an examination of how leaders conduct equity audits to improve outcomes for minoritized students. Shows how leaders navigate challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in their communities.

This is the updated edition of the bestselling seminal book on school leadership, equity, and social justice. Drawing on the experiences and words of successful public-school principals, Theoharis shows why social justice leadership is needed and how it can be effective in creating more equitable schools. Although they faced tremendous barriers, the principals featured in this book made important strides toward closing the outcome and opportunity gaps in their schools by using inclusive, equitable practices. Featuring a mix of theory and practical strategies, this edition has been updated with new examples and frameworks relevant to today's leaders. Responding to the current context of national resistance to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, this timely book portrays how real school leaders seek, create, and sustain equitable schools, especially for marginalized students. The School Leaders Our Children Deserve identifies seven keys that are crucial for social justice leadership: Key 1: Acquire Broad, Reconceptualized Consciousness/Knowledge/Skill BaseKey 2: Possess Core Leadership TraitsKey 3: Advance Inclusion, Access, and Opportunity for AllKey 4: Improve the Core Learning Context--Both the Teaching and the CurriculumKey 5: Create a Climate of Belonging Key 6: Increase Student LearningKey 7: Sustain Oneself Professionally and PersonallyBook Features:Grounds the lofty ideals of equity and social justice in the daily work of school leadership. Provides rich and abundant examples, ideas, and strategies for how to be a school leader committed to issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Includes a new focus on culturally sustaining leadership and how disability studies inform practice. Offers an examination of how leaders conduct equity audits to improve outcomes for minoritized students. Shows how leaders navigate challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in their communities.

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.

The purpose of the work/life balance series is to highlight particular challenges that higher education faculty face as they participate in the demands of the academy and try to prevent those demands from invading their personal lives. On The High Wire looks at a specific subset of university faculty, education faculty with school-aged children, and the specific professional/personal balance these faculty need to find. The title On the High Wire suggests the precarious nature of the “walk” for education faculty who are parents of school-aged children. We know that our identities are central to how we experience the world and how the world reacts to us. This reality is clearly visible in this book. These multiple identities and roles come into conflict at multiple points and in different ways. This book explores these identities and roles through autoethnographic accounts written by varied education faculty in order to make these tensions visible for the field to address.

The purpose of the work/life balance series is to highlight particular challenges that higher education faculty face as they participate in the demands of the academy and try to prevent those demands from invading their personal lives. On The High Wire looks at a specific subset of university faculty, education faculty with school-aged children, and the specific professional/personal balance these faculty need to find. The title On the High Wire suggests the precarious nature of the “walk” for education faculty who are parents of school-aged children. We know that our identities are central to how we experience the world and how the world reacts to us. This reality is clearly visible in this book. These multiple identities and roles come into conflict at multiple points and in different ways. This book explores these identities and roles through autoethnographic accounts written by varied education faculty in order to make these tensions visible for the field to address.

Behind every successful inclusive school is a great principal with passion, vision, and a practical plan. With so much riding on their strong and proactive leadership, every principal and administrator will want this how-to book: the essential guide to bringing schoolwide inclusion from theory to practice. Covering everything from the basics of special education to the everyday nuts and bolts of making inclusion work, two renowned inclusion experts give readers clear guidance they can use right away to lead a fully inclusive school where every student learns and belongs. New and veteran administrators will discover how to make schoolwide (and districtwide) reforms that support social and academic success-and help all students reach their full potential.

Using the experiences and words of seven public school principals who came to the field of administration committed to advancing social justice in their schools, this book presents a framework and 7 'keys' to social justice leadership (SJL). Although facing tremendous barriers, these leaders were ultimately successful in making their schools more equitable and just. They also made important strides toward closing the achievement gap through the use of humane and equitable practices.