Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2014 V 44 No 2 | Page 14

staff in our public schools. Many students
learn to walk and talk among their friends
on the street. Often their manner of dress,
ways of walking and patterns of speech
carry a negative social stigma in the schools,
though not in their neighborhood; they are
being identified negatively for simply being
who they are.
Just as I did not realize the language I used
was inappropriate and vulgar, many students do not comprehend that the language
they use is inappropriate, as it is what they
hear in their endemic environment.

Knowing when it’s time for a life lesson
Yes, there are also many who are quite
cognizant that the language or dress they
use is inappropriate for a school setting. As
administrators, it is our role to understand
and celebrate the diversity in our schools
so we know when it is a time for a life lesson
and cultural coaching on how to behave in
school, and when it is a time to be the disciplinarian.
Students may recognize the cultural dif-

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Leadership

Another practice to support
equity is to remove barriers to
entry for high-level classes.
ferences, yet find it very difficult to change
the very core of who they are. This is where
the need to build equity for these students
manifests its importance.
The EADS Committee is committed to
fostering collaboration to create a catalog of
best practices in schools that achieve equity.
The best practices for caring for a redwood
tree in Northern California are not the same
as cultivating a Joshua tree in Southern California; the most transferable best practices
are multi-faceted and adaptable to different
situations.

Providing access to AP and IB classes
Highly successful schools advocate and
celebrate the diversity on campus. Multiple
perspectives and viewpoints are argued and
respected on issues in science, social studies,

art, music and math throughout the entire
school year.
Another practice to support equity is
to remove barriers to entry for high-level
classes to ensure the population in the most
advanced classes at a school is reflective of
the general population of the school.
By not restricting access to Advanced
Placement or International Baccalaureate
classes, students from ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups that have traditionally
been underserved will learn alongside students who can model and show them effective practices to use education as a tool for
personal advancement. They will be challenged academically, and expected to be successful.
Simply placing a diverse group of students
in the room does not automatically guarantee success. Thus, K-12 educators need to
work together to start preparing these students for the academic rigors before the 11th
grade, so when they enter the class they can
compete and believe in their abilities to be
successful with college-level curriculum.
Equitable educators value interest and desire over traditionally perceived ability. One
of the greatest teachers I have worked with
shared with me that she celebrates growth
over final AP test scores.
Each year she assesses the students at the
start of the year. Some students are projected
in August to receive a 5 on the AP exam and
others to receive a 1. This teacher says she receives more joy from a student who starts the
year as a 1 and develops to receive a 2 on the
test than the total number of 5’s her students
receive.
She says people just want to know her pass
rate, but she thinks knowing the growth rate
is more important. It’s easy to teach kids
how to get a 5 on an exam if they come to
you with the skills; the true test of a teacher
is getting kids to move up. And that student
who got a 2 is more likely to b H