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Leading Change Through the Lens of Cultural Proficiency

An Equitable Approach to Race and Social Class in Our Schools

By: Jaime E. Welborn, Tamika Casey, Keith Myatt, Randall B. Lindsey

Using vignettes focused on engagement, leadership, implementation frameworks, and collaborative learning, the authors demonstrate how to uncover and remedy inequities.

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781071823699
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2022
Page Count: 416
Publication date: January 14, 2022

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Description

The pathway to uncovering and dismantling inequities

Educational leaders who work in the district, site, or classroom level know that opportunity gaps have long been a focus of education policy in the United States. Leadership can be a critical lever for advancing policies that oppose racism and confront systemic inequities. In meeting this challenge, educators have found that acknowledging beliefs and behaviors is critical. Still, deficit-based thinking, especially due to privilege, remains a barrier to equity. Among the most damaging blind spots is the continuation of practices that are grounded in the values of entitled groups.

Leading Change Through the Lens of Cultural Proficiency tells the story of a school community in the midwest United States that contended with its approach to teaching and valuing students of diverse backgrounds. Featuring the research-based Cultural Proficiency Framework and Tools, the book provides a clear road map to advancing equity across schools and districts. Designed to support leaders and school communities in developing policies and practices that respond to the needs of all students, this book

Guides school leaders in a journey of learning the theory and strategies that improved student achievement and improved the working conditions in this district
Features a real-life case study of a school community using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency and the Framework
Provides vignettes and data, based on work conducted across an actual school district, that resulted in improvements in school climate, achievement, mindset, and equitable educational practices
Includes powerful reflection, dialogic, and action activities for use in a variety of community learning modalities
Is grounded in assets-based assumptions with respect to students, families, and the school community

With a focus on engagement, leadership, implementation frameworks, and collaborative learning, the authors demonstrate how to uncover and remedy inequities. Designed for education leaders at all levels of the education system, this is the ideal foundational text for implementing Cultural Proficiency in your setting as you open doors for all students to thrive.

Author(s)

Jaime E. Welborn

Jaime Welborn, Ph.D. currently serves as an Assistant Professor in Education Leadership at Saint Louis University in Missouri. She completed her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University and has presented her research that investigated the degree to which principals use and value culturally proficient educational practices at Harvard and California State University. Prior to coming to the university, Jaime served as an elementary school assistant principal in the Rockwood School District in West St. Louis County, and as a middle school mathematics and language arts teacher and elementary school teacher in rural and metropolitan public schools in Illinois. Jaime’s experiences in education have been in working with diverse student populations, and her work and other life experiences have contributed to her passion in using the Cultural Proficiency lens in education for increasing educational equity, social justice, and culturally proficient leadership. In 2018, Jaime started a consulting business, JWE Education Consulting, LLC - DBA “doing business as” Midwest Collaborative for Cultural Proficiency in Schools. She works with school organizations, helping educators examine their individual values and behaviors, as well as their organization’s practices and policies, to implement and sustain the work of Cultural Proficiency through transformative action plans. Jaime lives in St. Louis with her husband, Daniel, and two daughters, Brynley and Hailee.

You can contact Dr. Welborn at info@midwestccps.org.
Website midwestccps.org
Twitter @welborn_jaime

Tamika Casey

Tamika Casey currently serves as a site administrator in the San Bernardino City Unified School District and co-pastor of New Life Christian Church of Fontana. She has served in many capacities in education, including mainstream classroom teacher as well as a SANKOFA Culturally Responsive Demonstration Teacher, teaching coach, program specialist for the Department of Equity and Targeted Student Achievement, elementary principal, and instructor in the school leadership program, in the college of education for California State University, San Bernardino. She has served as conference speaker and session facilitator. Tamika is the founder and lead consultant for Casey Education Solutions. Her leadership is focused on developing and building the capacity for individuals and organizations to align stated values and principles with more equitable and culturally proficient practices. Tamika’s faith and passion for developing relationships drives her to her ultimate aim to effect change in communities and the lives of scholars.

Email-tamikacasey@caseyedsolutions.com

Keith Myatt

Keith Myatt, Ed.D., was a full-time instructor in the School Leadership Programs at California State University, Dominguez Hills where developing school leaders dedicated to dismantling systems of oppression and focusing on Cultural Proficiency were at the heart of the program. Prior to that he was at the Los Angeles County office of Education in Educational Leadership Services as a director in the California School leadership Academy (CSLA). He is coauthor of Culturally Proficient Education: An Asset-Based Response to the Conditions of Poverty (Corwin, 2010) and Culturally Proficient Coaching, Supporting Educators to Create Equitable Schools, (Corwin, 2020). He has worked at the Museum of Tolerance providing seminars for educators wishing to establish Cultural Proficiency as an element of their work and provided seminars for educators supporting credential candidates with the tools of Cultural Proficiency and Coaching. He has recently been working to implement the California Administrator Performance Assessment and is currently helping to develop an Ed.D. program at Dominguez Hills dedicated to creating school systems focused on the success of each and every child.

Randall B. Lindsey

Randall B. Lindsey is Emeritus Professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He has served as a teacher, an administrator, executive director of a non-profit corporation, as Interim Dean at California Lutheran University, as Distinguished Educator in Residence at Pepperdine University, and as Chair of the Education Department at the University of Redlands. All of Randy’s experiences have been in working with diverse populations and his area of study is the behavior of white people in multicultural settings. His Ph.D. is in Educational Leadership from Georgia State University, his Master of Arts in Teaching is in History Education from the University of Illinois, and his B.S. in Social Science Education is from Western Illinois University. He has served as a junior high school and high school teacher and as an administrator in charge of school desegregation efforts. At Cal State, L.A. he served as Chair of the Division of Administration and Counseling and as Director of the Regional Assistance Centers for Educational Equity, a regional race desegregation assistance center. With co-authors he has written several books and articles on applying the Cultural Proficiency Framework in various contexts.

Email – randallblindsey@gmail.com
Website - CCPEP.org
Twitter - @RBLindsey41

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Part I: School Leadership: Educational Debt, Race, Social Class, and Change

1. Leading Equity Starts With “Why”

Calibration

Why You?

Why District and School Leadership?

Why Cultural Proficiency?

Why Race and Social Class?

Why Do We Even Have to Consider Our "Why"?

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to our Next Destination

2. The Cultural Proficiency Framework: Research and Planning

Calibration

On-Ramp to Planning, Research, and Cultural Proficiency

The Framework and Tools of Cultural Proficiency

A Case Study: Narratives as Illustrations of an Organizational Change Process Using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency

Inquiry: A Guide for Leading Organizational Change Toward Equity, Access, and Inclusion

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to our Next Destination

3. The Intersectionality of Race and Social Class

Calibration

On-Ramp to the Intersectionality of Race and Social Class

A Word About Nomenclature: Words Matter

Theoretical Frameworks

Race and Social Class in Education

Opportunity, Access, and Educational Gaps

Equity by Whatever Means It Takes

Today’s Inequities

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

4. Individual and Organizational Change Leadership

Calibration

On-Ramp to Leading the Change

Identification

Culturally Proficient Leadership for System Transformation

Being Present and Involved in the Work

Foundational Leadership Research on the Case of Eaveston

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

Part II: The Framework of Cultural Proficiency

5. Overcoming Barriers to Cultural Proficiency

Stories from Eaveston

Calibration

On-Ramp to Overcoming Barriers to Cultural Proficiency

Identifying Barriers to Cultural Proficiency

Acknowledging and Overcoming Barriers

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to our Next Destination

6. Relying on Our Inclusive Core Values; The Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency for Organizational Change

Calibration

On-Ramp to Relying on the Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency

The Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency

Turning Inward and Relying on the Guiding Principles of Cultural Proficiency

Eaveston’s Reliance on the Guiding Principles

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

7. Telling Our Stories and Changing the Conversations: The Cultural Proficiency Continuum

Stories from Eaveston

Calibration

On-Ramp to the Cultural Proficiency Continuum

The Cultural Proficiency Continuum

Eaveston’s Voices

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

8. Committing to Standards of Equity-Focused Change Through Improvement and Growth with the Essential Elements

Calibration

On-Ramp to the Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency

The Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency

The Essential Elements Guide Development of a Transformational Equity Action Plan

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

Part III: Commitment to Planning, Collaboration, Growth, and Improvement

9. Implementation: Planning for Challenges Along the Journey

Calibration

On-Ramp to Challenges of Implementation and Sustainability

Preparing for the Challenges of the Journey

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

10. Lessons Learned and Recommendations for School Leaders

Calibration

On-Ramp to Recommendations for School Leaders

Diverse Family and Community Engagement

Professional Learning Communities

Continuous School Improvement

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

11. Implementation and Sustainability: Commitment to Action Planning

Calibration

On-Ramp to a Commitment to Learning, Planning, and Ensuring Equity

Commitment to Learning and Action Planning

Strategic Planning for Implementation and Sustainability

Transformational Action Planning

Looking in the Rearview Mirror

On to Our Next Destination

12. Sustainability: Commitment to Ensuring Equitable Outcomes

Calibration

On-Ramp to Ensuring Equitable Outcomes

Cultural Proficiency Policy to Practice

Building the Critical Mass

Race, Social Class, and Cultural Proficiency: Ensuring Equity for All

Resources

References

Reviews

The authors do an excellent job of making connections between theory and practice, providing clear guidance and examples of how to bridge the two. This book provides a practical tool that can be applied immediately to help principals assess the alignment of their plans with continually moving toward being a culturally proficient organization.

Jeff Ronneberg

Leading Change Through the Lens of Cultural Proficiency is a must-read for anyone in education who wants to be the voice of educational reform so that all students feel valued and are able to achieve success regardless of race and/or socioeconomic status.

Melissa Miller

Other Titles in: Race, Ethnicity & Class | Leadership | School Culture & Climate

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Related Resources

Leading Equity Starts with "Why" [Book Excerpt]