Shattering Inequities

Robin Avelar La Salle earned her Ph.D. in education from Stanford University and is the Co-founder and CEO of Principal’s Exchange; a technical assistance organization with a 20 years history partnering with schools and districts that serve struggling students. Her career as an “equity warrior” is captured in her book, “Data Strategies to Uncover and Eliminate Hidden Inequities: The Wallpaper Effect: (co-authored with Dr. Ruth Johnson).Ruth Johnson, is a nationally known expert in the use of data to promote equity. She is the author of several books including ''Data Strategies to Uncover and Eliminate Hidden Inequities: The Wallpaper Effect'' (with co-author Dr. Avelar La Salle), and ''Using Data to Close the Achievement Gap,'' a bestselling book published by Corwin Press.

• ForewordMichael FullanPrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroductionPart I: How Do Equity Leaders Get Started?Chapter 1: A Moral ImperativeEquity Hook: Go to Work and Look for TroubleChapter 2: Data as an Equity EngineEquity Hook: Beware the Wallpaper Effect!Part II: How Do Impactful Equity Leaders Lead?Chapter 3: When Adult Behavior Poses Equity ChallengesEquity Hook: Everyone’s Got a StoryChapter 4: Inspiring Equity ActionEquity Hook: Lead with a Flashlight, Not a ClubChapter 5: Growing a Culture of Equity Equity Hook: I Want You To Want toChapter 6: The Power of ExpectationsEquity Hook: Language Is a Window Into Belief SystemsChapter 7: Setting the Conditions for Building Collective Equity MuscleEquity Hook: A Star Does Not a Constellation MakePart III: What Are the Most Common Threats to Equity Leadership?Chapter 8: Self-Imposed Equity Hurdles Equity Hook: Get Out of Your Own WayConclusion: Make Educational Equity Your True NorthEquity Hook: Do You Want To Be Right or Do Right?ReferencesAbout the AuthorsIndex

In Shattering Inequities, former California school administrator Robin Avelar La Salle and co-author Ruth S. Johnson, an emeritus faculty member at Cali­fornia State University, detail how to address deeply entrenched disparities in a practical and sensitive way. Each chapter revolves around a real-life example derived from the authors’ work in improving schools and districts serving high-poverty, high-minority communities. As they unravel processes and the assumptions on which they are based, the authors provide what equity leaders should say and do when they encounter obstacles. They even suggest how leaders with an equity lens should respond when they don’t know what to say and do. This book is powerful because of its spec­ificity and concreteness — attributes not always found in education leadership texts. This is real-world wisdom indeed.