Becoming a culturally proficient leader requires the kind of courage, clarity, and insight that can only come from looking inward first. It’s a personal learning journey of will and skill, and if you’re up to the challenge, one that will change how you see your school, your students, and yourself as you build your own cultural competence. Consider this second edition of Culturally Proficient Leadershipyour personal road map for navigating that journey. Each chapter of Culturally Proficient Leadership invites you to put your experiences up front and challenges you to reframe your story based on multiple viewpoints—now, notably, with the addition of new coauthors Delores Lindsey and Eloise Kemp Terrell, who have their own remarkable stories and insight to share. Overall, all four authors will help you answer the critical question “Is what we say what we do?” utilizing the tools of Cultural Proficiency to engage in Reflections and Cultural Interviews to explore what you learn about those who are culturally different from you develop a Cultural Autobiography to provide a picture of the cultural memberships that have influenced who you are as a person use the Cultural Proficiency Continuum to examine your progress as a leader in serving your students and communities prepare an intentional Leadership Plan that summarizes your journey from Cultural Precompetence to Cultural Proficiency The central “inside-out” premise of Cultural Proficiency is that engaging in deep introspection around one’s personal beliefs, values, and behaviors in response to human differences is the first step toward systemic educational reform. We invite you to embark on this journey of self-awareness, of moral courage, and of the life-affirming power of human diversity. “I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together—unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and may not come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction: toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren.” —Barack Obama, Los Angeles Times, 2008

This powerful third edition offers fresh approaches that enable school leaders to engage in effective interactions with students, educators, and the communities they serve.

"This book is about the American Educational Dream and how all educators can be successful with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Written by three Latina superintendents who have achieved great success as leaders of culturally and linguistically-diverse districts, the book provides a unique vision for transforming schools into places of equity and excellence. The authors use the lens of Cultural Proficiency to facilitate an understanding of both the barriers to educational opportunity as well the conditions that help to promote the success of underserved groups. Their lessons for being successful in diverse communities are a source of inspiration to all educators who aspire to extend the promises of democracy to every public school student"-- Provided by publisher.

Are you doing all you can to improve teaching and learning? Culturally proficient instruction is the result of an inside-out journey of teaching and learning during which you explore your values and behaviors while evaluating the policies and practices of your workplace. The journey deepens your understanding of yourself and your community of practice. In the newest version of their best-selling book, the authors invite you to reflect on how you engage with your students and your colleagues as a community of learners. The third edition features a case study to show cultural proficiency in practice and: An updated discussion of standards-based education guidelines A conceptual framework for the tools of cultural proficiency New language for understanding the microaggressions of dominant cultures An integrated guide for use with study groups Each chapter contains reflective activities and group work conducive to collaborative professional development. Culturally Proficient Instruction is invaluable for anyone dedicated to creating an environment in which all learners can succeed.

Using the framework of cultural proficiency, this timely resource offers educators the knowledge and skills to maximize educational opportunities for all students, independent of students' socioeconomic status.

Culturally Responsive School Leadership focuses on how school leaders can effectively serve minoritized students—those who have been historically marginalized in school and society. The book demonstrates how leaders can engage students, parents, teachers, and communities in ways that positively impact learning by honoring indigenous heritages and local cultural practices. Muhammad Khalifa explores three basic premises. First, that a full-fledged and nuanced understanding of “cultural responsiveness” is essential to successful school leadership. Second, that cultural responsiveness will not flourish and succeed in schools without sustained efforts by school leaders to define and promote it. Finally, that culturally responsive school leadership comprises a number of crucial leadership behaviors, which include critical self-reflection; the development of culturally responsive teachers; the promotion of inclusive, anti-oppressive school environments; and engagement with students’ indigenous community contexts. Based on an ethnography of a school principal who exemplifies the practices and behaviors of culturally responsive school leadership, the book provides educators with pedagogy and strategies for immediate implementation.

Why a new edition of Culturally Proficient Coaching? Why now, especially? Because several polarizing years later, there’s even greater urgency for us all to critically examine our attitudes, beliefs, and practices when working with students who look or sound "different." No matter how broadly you define coach, no matter which coaching model you follow, this is the resource to help you get started. With the first edition, the authors’ big goal was to shift our thinking in service of standards-based teaching and leading, and equitable interactions that support all students achieving at highest levels. Now, with this second edition, the authors add a third goal: to encourage a more holistic mindset and expanded contextual uses. New features include: Enhanced research on the effectiveness of coaching in educational settings New data on response to implicit bias and microaggressions--subtle and unintentional, yet destructive, forms of discrimination that continue to marginalize Refinement and updating of the Tools of Cultural Proficiency, which enable you to provide equitable life-affirming experiences to all cultural groups Expanded models of Culturally Proficient Coaching Conversations A special section on crafting Breakthrough Questions to shift entrenched mindsets and barriers to Cultural Proficiency By design, Culturally Proficient Coaching is an intentional, inside-out approach that mediates a person’s thinking toward values, beliefs, and behaviors that enable effective cross-cultural interactions and equitable learning environments. Here’s your opportunity to serve as that expert and trusted mediator, boosting educators′ cultural confidence and consciousness, while honing their coaching skills. "We owe it to ourselves and to our children to productively embrace and engage diversity, with all of its tensions, for the sustainability of humanity. These authors have given us the invitation, the road map, and the call to action. the embarkment is up to each one of us." --Carolyn M. McKanders, Director Emeritus Center for Adaptive Schools and Thinking Collaborative

Integrating the four Tools of Cultural Proficiency with the PLC framework, this guide provides school leaders with practical strategies for building equity-focused PLCs to help all students achieve.

This fully updated second edition of The Culturally Proficient School-likely the most influential book yet on improving the learning experience by valuing diversity and cultural dignity- is more relevant, accessible and effective than ever. Incorporating up-to-date research and reader feedback, the new content includes: Instructive vignettes that reflect contemporary truths about educational diversity and moral leadership. Emphasis on skills development, including the art and science of conversation. A conceptual framework that leaves no doubt about the first steps to take towards a more culturally proficient school.

"Leading Change through the Lens of Cultural Proficiency is rooted in the proven tools of Cultural Proficiency and a case study of an actual P-12 school district that contended with its own approach to teaching and valuing students of diverse backgrounds. Using vignettes focused on community engagement, leadership, implementation frameworks, and collaborative professional learning communities, the authors demonstrate and recommend organizational changes necessary for uncovering and remedying inequities like those described above. The book is designed to support school leaders in developing policies and fostering practices that respond to the educational and social needs of all students"--