Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2014 V 44 No 2 | Page 12

DIVERSITY MATTERS
Equity needs to be embedded
into all facets of education so
all students receive the
academic, institutional
and cultural knowledge
they need for success.

12

Leadership

“L

eadership matters.
Diversity counts.”
This ACSA motto is
branded across the
website and in publications. The power of the motto rests not in
the words, but in how ACSA members work
and live by this meaningful mantra. Transformative administrators use leadership that
matters to make diversity count.
In addition to ACSA’s 12 councils that
represent different job-alikes within school
administration, ACSA maintains nine committees, including one focused on equity for
all: the Equity, Achievement and Diversity
for Success Committee. EADS has representatives from each region focused on building and sustaining equity, achievement and
diversity for our students and for ourselves.
Education is going through a transformation driven by changes to funding, curriculum and assessment. The EADS Committee
works to ensure that equity and diversity stay
in the forefront of the conversation and are

integrally included in the changes. To serve
the members of ACSA and all students in
California, EADS has developed goals complemented with an action plan and equity
framework tied to ACSA’s Strategic Plan.
Equity and diversity mean more than disaggregating standardized test scores each
summer to measure the progress of subgroups, or stating in the school or district
mission that all students can learn. Equity
and diversity need to be embedded into the
many facets of education: staff, pedagogical practices, communication, leadership,
assessment, curriculum, and community
engagement. EADS is committed to making equity and diversity an active part of our
conversations and actions.
Before advocating equity, one must understand equity. The terms “equity” and
“fair” are often used interchangeably, yet
they are not the same. This metaphor helps

By Mark Anderson