Equitable School Improvement
The Critical Need for the Human Side of Change

Rydell Harrison (Author), Isobel Stevenson (Author)

9780807769591

Hardback, published 26 April 2024

176 pages
23.5 x 16.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.272 kg

Promoting equity and improvement science has seen increased attention over the last several years as educators seek to expand the experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for marginalized students. This book shows school and district leaders how to create the conditions needed to use improvement science--with its robust collection of tools, resources, and processes--to achieve equity. Readers will find information about equity, continuous improvement, and the psychology of change that can be used to productively and respectfully engage all stakeholders. Chapters include the rationale for employing improvement science to pursue equity; advice for developing the dispositions of an equity-focused leader who thinks differently about power, possibility, and measurement; and guidance for facilitating conversations in the service of equitable improvement. Equitable School Improvement is important reading for teachers, coaches, principals, central office leaders, and any educator who wants to be part of creating a more socially just educational system for our children.

• Contents (Tentative)
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1.  
  Iterative Justice
  Why Read This Book
  Mental Models and Institutional Logics
  Improving Together
  What Do We Mean by Equity and Why Do We Want It?
  Why Improvement and Science and Equity Have More in Common Than You Might Think
  Values That Run Through This Book
• 2.  
  Centering the Experiences of Students
  Student Centered vs. Centering Students
  Belonging and Identity
  Marginalized Group Identity
  Social Homelessness
  Empathy and Empathy Interviews
  Focus Groups
  At Your Desk or In the Halls
• 3.  
  Dispositions of the Liberatory Improver
  Background on Dispositions
  Dispositions in Improvement Science
  Dispositions of Equity Leaders in Education
  Dispositions of Liberatory Improvers
  At Your Desk or In the Halls
• 4.  
  The Adjacent Possible
  Limitations of Traditional Mental Models
  Leveraging the Adjacent Possible
  At Your Desk or In the Halls
• 5.  
  Beliefs About Change and About People
  Attribution
  Defensive Routines
  Bias and Psychological Distance
  Mindsets
  Self-Efficacy and Stereotype Threat
  Identity
  Motivation
  Goals and Accountability
  Psychological Safety
  At Your Desk or In the Halls
• 6.  
  Dismantling Traditional Power Structures
  Traditional Power Structures
  Rationalization of Power
  Power and the Perception of Rightness
  Infantilization and Blame
  Interrogating the Status Quo
  Renegotiating Power
  Embracing Transformative Change
  Time as a Tool of Power
  Liberatory Power Sharing
  At Your Desk or In the Halls
• 7.  
  Broadening Our Concept of Data
  Data Contaminated by History
  A Test-Based Theory of Action
  Poor Assumptions and Unintended Consequences
  Reconfiguring Data Teams to Make Better Use of Data and Empower Teachers
  A Word on Equity Audits
  At Your Desk or In the Halls
• 8.  
  The Absolute Necessity of Conversation
  Why Conversations About Race Are So Difficult
  The Privilege of Comfort
  Conversation Skills
  Conversation: Where the Big Ideas Come Together
  At Your Desk or in the Halls
• Epilogue
• References
• Index
• About the Author