Educational Leadership and Equity

Running Head: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND EQUITY

Educational leadership faces challenges regarding equity. While likely being the most accessible institution in our nation, irrespective of a child’s status, our public schools are unequal. The funding of education, the quality of facilities, personnel, and other resources differ from one district to another. As the federal government has endorsed the principle of educational equity through No Child Left Behind by holding schools and students accountable to common academic standards through testing, it has done little to address the inequitable conditions under which children learn.

Public education faces a number of constraints which limit the ability of schools to pursue equity in their results. The issue of poverty and equity is one which profoundly affects the unmet nonacademic and academic needs of poor children. In a society where one-fifth of all children come from families whose household incomes fall below the poverty level, large numbers of children arrive at school poorly nourished and lacking access to basic health and human services.

In the absence of federal and state leadership to support the needs of poor children and families, schools that serve large concentrations of poor students must adopt partnerships with external agencies that enable them to meet student needs (Noguera, 2001). Educational administrators and other leaders must develop partnerships with community-based organizations and local governments that have the resources and expertise to meet such students’ needs.

There are numerous facets related to the issue of poverty and its impact on student academic success. Several of these include: the utilization of data to address health and education issues in a community, the training of educators in cultural diversity and issues of poverty, the reduction of the ‘digital divide’ between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, the impact of private schools in a community, and the development of an educational culture that maximizes a school’s performance. The administrator who relates to issues of poverty and education must deal with these and more.

The collection of data can be a starting point in providing an educational leader a wealth of information about a community. Data relating to children’s health, education, and family services enables an administrator the opportunity to study the physical and academic wellness of the students who are served by the school (Roos, Roos, Brownell, & Fuller, 2010). Educational administrators and other key leaders have the opportunity to bring the results of sophisticated research into the arena of policy and engage in dialogue with political leaders to translate this knowledge into helpful information with the goal of improving academic success in communities of poverty. Leadership requires building collaborative long-term relationships with a variety of entities for a common purpose. Roos et al (2010) acquired insights regarding child development which found that effective communication with policymakers, coupled with data, can lead to investments targeted to correct inequity. A transformational leader would have the ability to draw together information, engage various constituencies, and implement positive change for academic success.

The impact of a culture of poverty does not only reside within a community, but it affects its schools and those who teach in them. The preparation of educators to teach low-income, culturally diverse students requires knowledge about diverse learners, their families and their communities. Lee and Hemer-Patnode (2010) recommend several key components to the development of a culturally diverse educational setting. These include: the critical selection of materials, culturally responsive education, the creation of a culturally sensitive classroom, and the incorporation of various assessment tools. The development of an educator’s knowledge and application of those learned tools can occur in either an academic context or through the implementation of learning strategies that create classroom equity. Team leadership, applied in an educational setting affected by poverty, would enable an educational administrator to construct a team that mentors its newest educators and respond appropriately to the problems faced by schools in poor neighborhoods.

Pogrow (2006) offers a unique approach for public schools addressing poverty and education. Educational leaders would be surrounded with high-quality teachers and a synergistic blend of the most effective traditionalist and progressive educational ideas. Schools serving children born in poverty must deal with the large differences in skill levels and transiency. To this end, he recommends that three interventions be combined in Hi-Perform Schools. Such a design includes: 1) Modularized Continuous Progress (where coursework is modularized and students are grouped by skill level not grade), 2) student participation in drama and musical productions, and 3) the use of “HOTS” (Higher Order Thinking Skills) where students learn to understand “understanding”. Again, the educational leader would need to develop a team approach, but also utilize path-goal strategies to assess how the students, teachers and community are responding to such an educational approach.

The disparity of access to educational resources is a tangible measure of inequity in relationship to poverty. A school leader may possess a wealth of data and have highly qualified teachers within her or his school and yet lack adequate tools for teaching. This is true for educational technology tools. The advent of the personal computer brought about a term called “the digital divide” as more affluent homes had access to this technology and poorer homes did not. Although computer access at home is increasing, schools remain an important initial entry point of access, especially among low poverty children (Judge, Puckett, and Kabuk, 2004). Educational leaders need to advocate for students, as many children from poor families have less access to computers and the Internet. As mentioned earlier, a transformational leader could collaborate with local entities to provide as good an access to such technology as possible. Community libraries, after-school computer labs, and other options would enable students to have access to the electronic tools necessary for education.

Educational leaders and students in communities of poverty face another issue beyond the school’s control. Saparito and Sohoni (2004) found that minority children attending urban, public school are exposed to elevated poverty rates because of at least three factors: the under-representation of more affluent children in neighborhood-based public schools, the tendency for wealthier students to withdraw from public schools in favor of private schools, and the withdrawal of poor and non-poor children from schools serving neighborhoods that are predominately black or Hispanic. This out-migration of wealthier students results in nearly half of the segregation of between poor and non-poor students in our nation (Saparito & Sohoni, 2004).

Pursuing equity in public schools will be challenge for their leaders. The sources of inequity often lie outside of schools in such things as the level of parent education and household income, access to jobs in the community and a host of other resources. In the absence of a national effort to pursue equity among communities, it is unlikely that schools and their leaders can succeed on their own. However, no matter how difficult to reach, the goal of equity remains one that educational leaders must pursue if our schools are to remain viable as public institutions and our children have access to the education they need in the 21st Century.

References

Judge, S., Puckett, K., and Cabuk, B. (2004). Digital Equity: New Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. Vol. 36, No. 4: 383-396.

Lee, Y. A. and Hemer-Patnode, L. (2010). Developing Teacher Candidates ' Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions to Teach Diverse Students. Journal of Instructional Psychology, Vol. 37, No.3: 222-235.

Noguera, P. (2001). The Elusive Quest for Equity and Excellence, Education and Urban Society. Vol. 34, No. 1 (November):18–41.

Pogrow, S. (2006). Restructuring High-Poverty Elementary Schools for Success:
A Description of the Hi-Perform School Design. Phi Delta Kappan. Vol. 88, No. 3: 223-229.

Roos, N. P., Roos, L. L., Brownell, M. & Fuller, E.L. (2010). Enhancing Policymakers’ Understanding of Disparities: Relevant Data from an Information-Rich Environment
The Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 88, No. 3: 382–403

Saporito, S., Sohoni, D. (2007). Mapping Educational Inequality: Concentrations of Poverty among Poor and Minority Students in Public Schools. Social Forces. Vol. 85, No. 3: 1227-1253.

References: Judge, S., Puckett, K., and Cabuk, B. (2004). Digital Equity: New Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. Vol. 36, No. 4: 383-396. Lee, Y. A. and Hemer-Patnode, L. (2010). Developing Teacher Candidates ' Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions to Teach Diverse Students. Journal of Instructional Psychology, Vol. 37, No.3: 222-235. Noguera, P. (2001). The Elusive Quest for Equity and Excellence, Education and Urban Society. Vol. 34, No. 1 (November):18–41. Pogrow, S. (2006). Restructuring High-Poverty Elementary Schools for Success: A Description of the Hi-Perform School Design. Phi Delta Kappan. Vol. 88, No. 3: 223-229. Roos, N. P., Roos, L. L., Brownell, M. & Fuller, E.L. (2010). Enhancing Policymakers’ Understanding of Disparities: Relevant Data from an Information-Rich Environment The Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 88, No. 3: 382–403 Saporito, S., Sohoni, D. (2007). Mapping Educational Inequality: Concentrations of Poverty among Poor and Minority Students in Public Schools. Social Forces. Vol. 85, No. 3: 1227-1253.