Promoting Excellence and Equity Through Inquiry and Reflective Practice: Transforming Urban School Leadership in Southern California

• In Event: Transformative Leadership on the Front Lines: In Pursuit of Excellence and Equity for All Students

Abstract

Long criticized for a wide range of transgressions (Levine, 2005) many leadership programs offer little connection between the preparation programs’ curriculum and actual school leaders’ daily job realities. Prominent researchers and commentators have long pressed for equity and excellence in schools (Darling-Hammond, French, & Garcia-Lopez., 2002; Kozol, 2005; Theoharis, 2007). Further, “Essential cultural, ethnic, gender, and linguistic issues in school communities are frequently missing from course consideration and clinical experiences are occasionally insipid, unstructured, and sometimes even absent” (Bruner, Greenlee & Somers Hill, 2007, p. 1).

This paper will present the efforts of one innovative educational leadership program designed to prepare more effective urban school leaders. Known as Urban School Leaders (USL) the program is housed at Southern California Metropolitan University (SCMU - pseudonym) and made possible through a partnership between SCMU’s Educational Administration Program and four Local Districts (LDs) within Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). All four LDs are contiguous and nearest in proximity to CPCU. These LDs encompass some of Los Angeles’ poorest neighborhoods, including East L.A., South L.A., and South Central L.A. There are 300, 921 students in 282 Title 1 schools. The student ethnic majority in all four districts is approximately 75% Hispanic. The second largest student ethnic group is African-American, which averages approximately 25%. English Language Learners comprise approximately 35% of the students. Principles that guide the USL program focus on the need to recruit qualified school-leader candidates (Hess & Kelly, 2007), especially those who are culturally, economically, and/or linguistically diverse (Barth, 2002) to meet the leadership needs of underperforming schools in LAUSD. In support of previous research, this emphasis supports a shift from “tolerating diversity” to a “transformational commitment to equity” (Nuri-Robins, Lindsey, Terrell, & Lindsey, 2007; Shields, 2010). USL program is committed to the development of leaders who advocate for equitable opportunity and practice so that every child has an equal chance to improve academic achievement.

Content analysis of survey data (Krippendorf, 2004) of 64 graduates indicated that the USL program expands the emphasis on participants’ reflection on their core values and dispositions while fostering and promoting diversity, equity and excellence. Consequently, interpersonal, reflective, and professional behaviors and practices of these aspiring leaders had positive impact on student achievement. Other insights were gained that may be instructive to other programs that are in the process of reforming leadership preparation. These include increased knowledge of adult learning (i.e., andragogy), collaborative learning communities, culturally relevant leadership and meaningful curriculum.

Authors

• Anthony H. Normore, California Lutheran University

• Antonia IssaLahera, California State University - Dominguez Hills

• Stefanie Holzman, California State University - Dominguez Hills