Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A former “high-risk” youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher. He worked for Phi Delta Kappa, March of Dimes, and Solution Tree, which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years while launching Professional Learning Communities beginning in the late 1980s. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. Alan is Senior Editor, lead contributor, and/or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera,.  He also authored some 20 articles in leading education print including Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Principal, and Executive Educator. Alan has provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major U.S. Ed Org, and throughout the UK, Africa, and the Middle East.  Alan has served on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, and the Jewish Child Care Agency, where he once was a youth in residence. Marcus J. Newsome is the director of the Virginia Superintendents Leadership Academy. Previously he served for 16 years as an award-winning school superintendent in Newport News, Chesterfield County and Petersburg City (Virginia). In 2015 his work was recognized by the U.S. Office of Educational Technology during a White House ceremony as a leader in transforming schools from a print to a digital learning environment. He has served as a consultant to governors, members of congress, and both national and international business leaders on solutions for closing achievement gaps, narrowing the digital divide, assessment design, professional development, and 21st century teaching and learning. Newsome has earned doctorate degrees in educational leadership and religious education. He began his career as an art and mathematics teacher in the District of Columbia, and later served as a curriculum writer, principal, and district administrator. He has also served as an associate professor for several universities, including Harvard University and Virginia Commonwealth University. An ordained minister, and dedicated husband and father, he has dedicated his career to the service of children.

"With all its devastation, COVID-19 also presents the opportunity of the century to transform the public education system that, to say the least, has become stalled and stagnant in the past 50 years. The good news is that there are strong pockets of pent-up desire and frustration to develop new learning that engages students in the demands of the 21st century. Among other problems, inequity has worsened over the past 20 years despite substantial increased budgets and rhetoric to the contrary. Breakthrough Leadership makes a significant contribution to our next phase, which must be one of definable and targeted transformation of equity-based kerning. This book meets the challenge in two significant ways. First, it advocates a bold and specific vision. while at the same time is detailed in the specific strategies and actions that need to be taken in the face of COVID-19 related fallout. Second, aside from its revolutionary timeliness, the virtue of Breakthrough is that is stems from grass roots practice and practitioners. Any solution to our present problems must be relentlessly bottom up. This collection represents a strong contribution to the growing post-COVID movement that is vital for the immediate future of public education."

• Foreword by Pedro A. NogueraAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsChapter 1. Out of the CrisisChapter 2. Breakthrough LeadershipChapter 3. The First Hundred Days: A Pandemic Reentry PlanChapter 4. Relational Trust as a Foundation for the Equitable Learning CommunityChapter 5. Principle 1—The Pillars of an Equitable Learning Community: Mission, Vision, Values, and GoalsChapter 6. Principle 2—Ensuring Achievement for All Students: Comprehensive Systems for Prevention and InterventionChapter 7. Principle 3—Data-Based Decision Making for Continuous ImprovementChapter 8. Principle 4—Collaborative Teaming Focused on Curriculum, Instruction, and AssessmentsChapter 9. Principle 5—Meaningful Engagement With Families and CommunityChapter 10. Principle 6—Building Sustainable Leadership CapacityIndex

Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A former “high-risk” youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher. He worked for Phi Delta Kappa, March of Dimes, and Solution Tree, which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years while launching Professional Learning Communities beginning in the late 1980s. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. Alan is Senior Editor, lead contributor, and/or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera,.  He also authored some 20 articles in leading education print including Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Principal, and Executive Educator. Alan has provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major U.S. Ed Org, and throughout the UK, Africa, and the Middle East.  Alan has served on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, and the Jewish Child Care Agency, where he once was a youth in residence. Marcus J. Newsome is the director of the Virginia Superintendents Leadership Academy. Previously he served for 16 years as an award-winning school superintendent in Newport News, Chesterfield County and Petersburg City (Virginia). In 2015 his work was recognized by the U.S. Office of Educational Technology during a White House ceremony as a leader in transforming schools from a print to a digital learning environment. He has served as a consultant to governors, members of congress, and both national and international business leaders on solutions for closing achievement gaps, narrowing the digital divide, assessment design, professional development, and 21st century teaching and learning. Newsome has earned doctorate degrees in educational leadership and religious education. He began his career as an art and mathematics teacher in the District of Columbia, and later served as a curriculum writer, principal, and district administrator. He has also served as an associate professor for several universities, including Harvard University and Virginia Commonwealth University. An ordained minister, and dedicated husband and father, he has dedicated his career to the service of children.

"With all its devastation, COVID-19 also presents the opportunity of the century to transform the public education system that, to say the least, has become stalled and stagnant in the past 50 years. The good news is that there are strong pockets of pent-up desire and frustration to develop new learning that engages students in the demands of the 21st century. Among other problems, inequity has worsened over the past 20 years despite substantial increased budgets and rhetoric to the contrary. Breakthrough Leadership makes a significant contribution to our next phase, which must be one of definable and targeted transformation of equity-based kerning. This book meets the challenge in two significant ways. First, it advocates a bold and specific vision. while at the same time is detailed in the specific strategies and actions that need to be taken in the face of COVID-19 related fallout. Second, aside from its revolutionary timeliness, the virtue of Breakthrough is that is stems from grass roots practice and practitioners. Any solution to our present problems must be relentlessly bottom up. This collection represents a strong contribution to the growing post-COVID movement that is vital for the immediate future of public education."

• Foreword by Pedro A. NogueraAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsChapter 1. Out of the CrisisChapter 2. Breakthrough LeadershipChapter 3. The First Hundred Days: A Pandemic Reentry PlanChapter 4. Relational Trust as a Foundation for the Equitable Learning CommunityChapter 5. Principle 1—The Pillars of an Equitable Learning Community: Mission, Vision, Values, and GoalsChapter 6. Principle 2—Ensuring Achievement for All Students: Comprehensive Systems for Prevention and InterventionChapter 7. Principle 3—Data-Based Decision Making for Continuous ImprovementChapter 8. Principle 4—Collaborative Teaming Focused on Curriculum, Instruction, and AssessmentsChapter 9. Principle 5—Meaningful Engagement With Families and CommunityChapter 10. Principle 6—Building Sustainable Leadership CapacityIndex

Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A former “high-risk” youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher. He worked for Phi Delta Kappa, March of Dimes, and Solution Tree, which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years while launching Professional Learning Communities beginning in the late 1980s. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. Alan is Senior Editor, lead contributor, and/or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera,.  He also authored some 20 articles in leading education print including Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Principal, and Executive Educator. Alan has provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major U.S. Ed Org, and throughout the UK, Africa, and the Middle East.  Alan has served on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, and the Jewish Child Care Agency, where he once was a youth in residence. Marcus J. Newsome is the director of the Virginia Superintendents Leadership Academy. Previously he served for 16 years as an award-winning school superintendent in Newport News, Chesterfield County and Petersburg City (Virginia). In 2015 his work was recognized by the U.S. Office of Educational Technology during a White House ceremony as a leader in transforming schools from a print to a digital learning environment. He has served as a consultant to governors, members of congress, and both national and international business leaders on solutions for closing achievement gaps, narrowing the digital divide, assessment design, professional development, and 21st century teaching and learning. Newsome has earned doctorate degrees in educational leadership and religious education. He began his career as an art and mathematics teacher in the District of Columbia, and later served as a curriculum writer, principal, and district administrator. He has also served as an associate professor for several universities, including Harvard University and Virginia Commonwealth University. An ordained minister, and dedicated husband and father, he has dedicated his career to the service of children.

"With all its devastation, COVID-19 also presents the opportunity of the century to transform the public education system that, to say the least, has become stalled and stagnant in the past 50 years. The good news is that there are strong pockets of pent-up desire and frustration to develop new learning that engages students in the demands of the 21st century. Among other problems, inequity has worsened over the past 20 years despite substantial increased budgets and rhetoric to the contrary. Breakthrough Leadership makes a significant contribution to our next phase, which must be one of definable and targeted transformation of equity-based kerning. This book meets the challenge in two significant ways. First, it advocates a bold and specific vision. while at the same time is detailed in the specific strategies and actions that need to be taken in the face of COVID-19 related fallout. Second, aside from its revolutionary timeliness, the virtue of Breakthrough is that is stems from grass roots practice and practitioners. Any solution to our present problems must be relentlessly bottom up. This collection represents a strong contribution to the growing post-COVID movement that is vital for the immediate future of public education."

• Foreword by Pedro A. NogueraAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsChapter 1. Out of the CrisisChapter 2. Breakthrough LeadershipChapter 3. The First Hundred Days: A Pandemic Reentry PlanChapter 4. Relational Trust as a Foundation for the Equitable Learning CommunityChapter 5. Principle 1—The Pillars of an Equitable Learning Community: Mission, Vision, Values, and GoalsChapter 6. Principle 2—Ensuring Achievement for All Students: Comprehensive Systems for Prevention and InterventionChapter 7. Principle 3—Data-Based Decision Making for Continuous ImprovementChapter 8. Principle 4—Collaborative Teaming Focused on Curriculum, Instruction, and AssessmentsChapter 9. Principle 5—Meaningful Engagement With Families and CommunityChapter 10. Principle 6—Building Sustainable Leadership CapacityIndex