Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2014 V 44 No 2 | страница 17

school and board decisions. Tiered diplomas
and classroom practices and policies that
re-segregate our schools and disproportionally affect the future of under-resourced
students are examples of how setting lower
expectations can be detrimental to certain
sub-groups of students.
Educational equity means that school districts are leveraging policies, reform strategies and resources, tracking performance
results and evaluating efficacy and effectiveness of programs to not only improve outcomes for under-performing students, but
also transforming the entire system so that
all students can lay claim to the education
that is rightfully theirs.
n  Ralph Porras: First and foremost, when
we talk about equity I try to remind myself –
and others – that equity is not always equal.
If we in public education are to serve all students who walk up to the door, then we must
meet each of those students where they are,
inclusive of their history, background and
diverse needs.
This cannot possibly happen if we address the needs of each student in the same
fashion. Some students need more resources
just to bring them up to the standard, others
require less. The manner in which we apply
these resources, encourage colleagues to
apply them, and seek out leadership support
on behalf of students, partially defines the
measure of equity.
Certainly, as professionals, educators
must seek to understand the pressures that
students face, and learn how to assist those
students in the classroom and in their home
lives. All in all, then, equity entails applying
the appropriate resources to the degree necessary for each individual student; understanding the professional responsibilities
that we have in serving students in needs;
seeking school community support on behalf of our most needy students; and helping further the collegiality needed to create
a balanced educational environment for all
students.
n  Patrick Sweeney: Educational equity is
providing each student what he or she needs
to succeed. Education is one of the best ways
to address issues of social justice. I believe in

the purpose of the Local Control Funding
Formula. The LCFF is designed to provide
more resources for foster youth, students
of poverty and those learning English. All
means all, and some students deserve more
access and opportunities to succeed.

Q

UESTION: What practical steps can a
site principal take to initiate courageous conversations around equity and
race with their staff?
n  Ramona Bishop: Use qualitative and
quantitative data to shed light on organizational issues and create collaborative, sys-

temic, strategic remedies that will have immediate and long-term positive impact on
the student outcomes.
n  Will Ector: Any time you initiate courageous conversations around equity and/or
race, a principal must have a firm knowledge
of the current status of their site-level race
quotient. A conversation of this depth requires the principal to reflect on what types
of practices are in play at the school. Several
questions must be answered, such as:
• Do any of the practices in our school inhibit kids of color from reaching their potential?
• Is the current learning environment
positive? Does it promote learning and is it
healthy for a student’s spirit?
• Does my relationship with my staff allow
me to address the issue of race in the learning environment? If teachers don’t respect or

believe in the messenger, they certainly will
not believe in the message.
Administrators of color have to be even
more aware that any time you bring up the
question of race it will most often be perceived that you are “playing the race card.”
As a general practice I would always let my
school’s data drive this conversation. For instance, I would look at my school’s data to
see who is being sent to the office and how
often are they sent out of class. Who is being
suspended and how often? I would look at
the grade distribution by class to see if there
is a trend.
I would also monitor my sub-group performance data to see if anything was significant over
the time students were with
us. I would look at my sites’
institutional practices and
those systematic issues that
enable outcome disparities
to persist. This conversation would always be data