Leading Your School Toward Equity

A Practical Framework for Walking the Talk

Dwayne Chism

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781416631361
• eBook ISBN: 9781416631385
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Leadership in Education

A four-step process for effective equity practices in schools, with an array of professional development activities, leadership tips, and downloadable tools.

Recent years have brought new calls to dismantle discriminatory policies and practices in U.S. schools. But adopting an equity focus doesn't guarantee the desired results. There's a risk that doing equity will be toothless—surface level and designed more to avoid tension and blame than to build a better educational system.
In Leading Your School Toward Equity, veteran educator Dwayne Chism shows district, school, and teacher leaders a four-step process for taking equity work beyond talk and into effective action. You'll learn concrete ways to

* Define and clarify equity. Guide even reluctant staff to a consensus understanding of what equity is, why it's necessary, and what it will look like.
* Create productive discomfort. Use intentional dialogue to lead staff to a place where they can talk frankly about privilege, bias, racial inequality, and how these affect students' experience of schooling.
* Build efficacy. Help staff develop higher levels of individual and shared professional efficacy—the number one factor influencing equitable educational outcomes—and create an empowered group of educational equity allies united for results.
* Normalize action. Support the day-to-day use of an equity lens, a mindset that empowers all teachers to counteract stereotypes and rectify conditions that negatively affect students of color.

To make this complicated work a little easier, Chism provides an array of assessments, coaching guides, and activities to use with staff. If you're committed to creating a true equity-driven culture, if you're ready for courageous leadership, this book is for you.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: A Reflection on Education
• Chapter 1. Paving the Way
• Chapter 2. Defining and Clarifying Equity
• Chapter 3. Creating Discomfort
• Chapter 4. Building Efficacy
• Chapter 5. Normalizing Action
• Chapter 6. Acquiring Hope
• Appendix: A Toolkit for Active Equity Leadership
• References
• About the Author
• Related ASCD Resources
• Copyright