Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2014 V 44 No 2 | Page 33

engaging parents. He made sure that parents
felt welcome and valued. Parents responded
with enthusiasm, volunteering at the school
and helping teachers celebrate personal
milestones.
Inspired by a discussion of “Beyond Heroes and Holidays” (Lee, Menkart & Okazawa, 1998), Redwood’s instructional leadership team (the principal plus one teacher
from each grade) decided to further engage
students’ families. The team asked all teachers to design a unit of study that would involve parents. When some teachers said they
did not know how, the principal pushed
them to try something and learn from it for
the following year.
In addition, the principal ensured monolingual teachers that translators would be
on hand to bridge any communication gaps
with parents who did not speak English.
These measures fostered better relations between teachers and parents, and gave parents
a detailed look at what their children were
learning.

Monitoring student achievement data

rich, 2004). The teachers’ growing willingness to tackle equity issues head-on led to an
improved rating on the essential practice of
examining race, culture, class and power. In

should become proficient at equity work in
order to maximize their effectiveness. By
getting to know their students and parents,
and employing research-based strategies
related to instruction and school culture,
educators can help all students realize their
academic potential. n

References

two years, their rating went from “no evidence” to “emerging.”
Although some educators may see discussing equity as unnecessary, beyond their
training, or straying from the mission of
schooling, we believe that educators can and

Lee, E.; Menkart, D. & Okazawa-Rey, M.
(1998). Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A
Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development. Washington, D.C.: Network of
Educators on the Americas.
McKenzie, K.B. & Scheurich, J.J. (2004).
“Equity Traps: A Useful Construct for
Preparing Principals to Lead Schools
That Are Successful With Racially Diverse Students.” Educational Administration Quarterly, 40, 5, 601-632.

Brian Edwards is a research writer with Partners in
School Innovation.

The principal also helped create a dataoriented culture at the school. He constantly
monitored formative assessment results and
helped teachers see the value of regular data
analysis. They often used part of their weekly
collaboration time to review data and identify standards that needed to be re-taught.
In two years, the staff went from the
“readiness” to the “implementing” stage in
the use of achievement data broken down by
student subgroup.
Although the school staff was generally
eager to help their students learn, and the
principal ensured that English learners received robust support, the school’s adults
were not alwa