Women leaders explore personal and professional growth through reflection and story

Leading While Female means working with female and male colleagues who are grounded in values for equity to confront and close the gender equity gap. This guided reflection is both a stand-alone book and a companion to the bestselling Leading While Female: A Culturally Proficient Response to Gender Equity.

Combining the first-hand experiences of female leaders with research on feminism, intersectionality, and leadership, Arriaga, Stanley, and Lindseysupport readers to explore their personal and professional cultural proficiencies. Readers will find:

support to identify barriers and formulate methods to overcome them, opportunities to record their experiences following a narrative protocol for their Stormy First Draft (SFD), a writing experience derived from nine chapters of guided reflective journal entries, leadership stories and figures to provide guidance and illustrate the need for gender equity, and opportunities for males who are mentors and allies to dismantle gender bias.

Data show women are doing the work of classroom teaching while disproportionately, men are making leadership decisions. This interactive resource supports women leaders to interrupt current dominant narratives with their own stories of challenges and success.

Close the gender equity gap with powerful mentoring relationships

According to a recent report, women earned 73% of doctorates in education, but only hold one-third of the school superintendent’s jobs in the United States. At the current pace of change, it will take almost 30 years before there are as many women serving as superintendents as men. Trudy T. Arriaga, Stacie L. Stanley, and Delores B. Lindsey introduce a new model for creating mentoring relationships that help emerging women leaders thrive. Current and aspiring leaders can use Mentoring for Momentum as a standalone resource or in conjunction with the authors’ Leading While Female and My Leading While Female Journey. Leaders will learn to mentor aspiring female leaders, and mentees will discover how to build these vital connections.

Using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency, the authors guide readers in identifying and overcoming systemic barriers, helping aspiring leaders build the momentum needed to achieve their career goals and foster greater gender equity in their organizations.

This practical guide includes:

A framework for using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency to develop reciprocal and culturally responsive mentoring relationshipsCase stories from female leaders that offer models for navigating the challenges and opportunities of mentorshipGuidance on how to locate a mentor, serve as a mentor, and establish effective mentoring programs within your organizationReflective prompts, end-of-chapter questions, and a free study guide to deepen understanding and encourage personal and professional growth

Female leaders will learn how to leverage the power of mentorship to break through barriers, build supportive networks, and create lasting change for themselves and for the next generation of women leaders.

"Cultural proficiency challenges learning communities to go even deeper when inquiring about student barriers to success. This perspective is necessary to truly address the achievement and expectation gaps in our schools. Before we ask ourselves why our students are not succeeding, we must understand and examine our own perceptions and assumptions about them."—Timothy A. Bias, AdministratorPomona Unified School District, CA

Close the achievement gap with equity-focused professional learning communities!

Professional learning communities (PLCs) can be a powerful force for creating equitable, inclusive schools where all students succeed. Integrating the four Tools of Cultural Proficiency with the PLC framework, this relevant guide offers school leaders, district administrators, and staff developers a collaborative approach to address bias and inequity.

Culturally Proficient Learning Communities discusses the impact of our history on cultural understanding and provides a wealth of practical PLC-building strategies—including assessment and inquiry-driven planning, instructional design, curriculum development, coaching, leadership, and shared decision making. The authors examine the goals, purpose, and process of creating and sustaining equity-focused PLCs through:

Templates, protocols, activities, and rubrics for deconstructing inequity in student achievementStories, tools, and thinking prompts to guide an inside-out transformation toward cultural proficiencyAn extended example of one school district's journey in becoming a culturally proficient learning community

Schools that view diversity and differences as assets and opportunities will experience stronger holistic growth and increased academic achievement!

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 guidelinesA conceptual framework for the tools of cultural proficiencyNew 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. 

Help your English learning students achieve academic success!U.S. demographics are quickly shifting, and it is more important than ever to reach and teach English learning students. Designed to empower educators to become agents of change in their classrooms, schools, and communities, this guide introduces the principles of Cultural Proficiency and how they can help improve educators' ability to effectively teach English language learners. This book features:

Activities that build core Cultural Proficiency skills and promote personal transformationA chapter-by-chapter rubric for working effectively with English learning studentsA conversation-starting case story featuring the River View School DistrictStrategies for using action research to improve the success of English learning students

By focusing on Cultural Proficiency—and the underlying causes of EL achievement gaps—educators can uncover ways to break down academic barriers and use students' cultural background as educational assets.

"This is a valuable resource for staff developers creating culturally proficient learning environments to close the achievement gap. This work focuses on English learning students with the same 'inside out' approach as the authors' previous work. A perfect asset for a professional learning community book study!"—Linda Fisher, Staff Development CoordinatorLincoln Unified School District, Stockton, CA

"The book provides the school leader with the tools to engage themselves and others in making English learning students a priority. It is a must read for educators to get those hard and healthy conversations started and to examine our school practices and policies."—Lori Henderson, Assistant Superintendent of Educational ServicesManitoba, Canada

An introspective response with LGBT communities for positive change

A Culturally Proficient Response to LGBT Communities is a guide for educators to collaboratively combat issues of discrimination, inequity, and bullying through the review of current policies, practices, and deeply held assumptions about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered (LGBT) communities. This inside-out approach carries readers through a personal journey of reflection to action by using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency to examine their values, beliefs, and assumptions about how LGBT communities are served educationally. 

 Creating safe and welcoming schools includes both setting effective and appropriate policies and the inside-out analyses of one’s own beliefs and values. Resulting cultural proficiencies, steeped in self-reflection, boost empathy and improve learning environments. On this simple, powerful premise, readers will find:

Inside-out growth through personal stories and case-studies Reflection through activities and prompts appropriate for individuals and teams Insight into current responses to bullying

Using this first step for positive systemic change, school leaders can elevate understanding and propel schools toward safe and diverse-friendly environments.

"This book provides essential tools for educators who want to make schools safe and welcoming for all students.  I could not put this book down. In my nearly 25 years of education I have not come across a resource that handles the needs of LGBT students as sensitively and supportively as these authors have using the tools of Cultural Proficiency." —Gunn Marie Hansen, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Orange Unified School District, CA

Professional development that increases educator effectiveness and student success! Learning Forward is a leader in understanding and advancing professional learning that leads to student success.  This series explores Learning Forward’s seven Standards for Professional Learning which outline the characteristics of effective professional learning that, collectively, advance teaching and learning. This volume gives teachers and administrators a detailed roadmap for implementing the Outcomes standard. Deepen you knowledge of this standard with:  

An original essay by Delores B. Lindsey and Randall B. Lindsey on using the lens of Cultural Proficiency to highlight the theme of educational equity that is embedded in the standard Practical tools that guide leaders in finding coherence between performance standards for educators and curriculum standards for students A powerful case study to illustrate how the standard was enacted across a major urban school district

With this book, educators will reach new heights in professional growth and students will reap the benefits!

 

Lead a Common Core implementation that closes achievement gaps!

 

Will your Common Core implementation promote equity, access, and inclusion?

 

This illuminating book shows how central Common Core tenets—rigor, meaningful curricula and assessment, and higher order thinking—can become educational realities for every child in your school or district.

 

Written by a team of respected authors known for guiding schools and districts towards cultural proficiency, this resource enables readers to

Understand how underlying beliefs related to historically-underserved students may create roadblocks to effective instruction Create a school culture where diversity is valued, including developing relevant professional learning Compile and analyze meaningful data that enables faculty to better reach students from all backgrounds Advance the goal of college and career-readiness for all learners

 

With a compelling call to action and practical strategies, this timely book points the way to a Common Core implementation that benefits every student.

 

"The authors have ensured that the use of cultural proficiency by educators provides the Common Core State Standards with the 'step towards the place where equity and access are realized for all learners.' Equity and access, two of the pillars of equity in education, are essential if meeting individual student needs are truly to occur."

—Dr. Kenneth R. Magdaleno, Associate Professor

Kremen School of Education, Fresno State, CA

 

“This resource gives not only theory and rationale for this important change in thinking, but also the guided steps to collaborate and reflect as part of the change process."

—Dr. Carol Van Vooren, Assistant Professor

California State University, San Marcos

 

Create inclusive educational environments that benefit ALL learners!

 

As schools become more diverse with students of differing abilities and needs, this self-reflective and action-oriented guide helps you create and support more inclusive schools and classrooms that intentionally educate all students. Using the Five Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency as a roadmap, this book presents: 

Students’ learning differences as just that – differences rather than deficits Strategies that show you how to break though the common barriers to culturally proficient and inclusive schooling Assessments that gauge your awareness and show you how to best serve every student’s needs

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 is a book for everyone who teaches.  Whether you are responsible for your organization’s training and development, you are providing basic education in an elementary school, or you are creating workshops for professional development, this book will help you manage the dynamics of difference necessary to create an environment where all students can learn.  Use this book as a workbook for small groups, or as a guide for improving the cultural competence of your teaching. “This book is a riveting and unparalleled resource for all educational merchants of hope. . . . The insights, learning strategies, and professional development structures in this edition illuminate a path for all leaders to successfully commit to the journey of being equity champions!” --Dr. Erick E. Witherspoon, National Director of Equity Professional Development Services Generation Ready  “There is no greater honor than to have one’s professional work become the inspiration for a new way of thinking, and transformative literature and action that change the world for schools and the children and youth they serve. I am grateful that the ideas have been so skillfully brought to scale by these authors.” --Dr. Terry L. Cross, MSW, Founder and Senior Advisor National Indian Child Welfare Association 

Women leaders explore personal and professional growth through reflection and story

Leading While Female means working with female and male colleagues who are grounded in values for equity to confront and close the gender equity gap. This guided reflection is both a stand-alone book and a companion to the bestselling Leading While Female: A Culturally Proficient Response to Gender Equity.

Combining the first-hand experiences of female leaders with research on feminism, intersectionality, and leadership, Arriaga, Stanley, and Lindseysupport readers to explore their personal and professional cultural proficiencies. Readers will find:

support to identify barriers and formulate methods to overcome them, opportunities to record their experiences following a narrative protocol for their Stormy First Draft (SFD), a writing experience derived from nine chapters of guided reflective journal entries, leadership stories and figures to provide guidance and illustrate the need for gender equity, and opportunities for males who are mentors and allies to dismantle gender bias.

Data show women are doing the work of classroom teaching while disproportionately, men are making leadership decisions. This interactive resource supports women leaders to interrupt current dominant narratives with their own stories of challenges and success.

Close the gender equity gap with powerful mentoring relationships

According to a recent report, women earned 73% of doctorates in education, but only hold one-third of the school superintendent’s jobs in the United States. At the current pace of change, it will take almost 30 years before there are as many women serving as superintendents as men. Trudy T. Arriaga, Stacie L. Stanley, and Delores B. Lindsey introduce a new model for creating mentoring relationships that help emerging women leaders thrive. Current and aspiring leaders can use Mentoring for Momentum as a standalone resource or in conjunction with the authors’ Leading While Female and My Leading While Female Journey. Leaders will learn to mentor aspiring female leaders, and mentees will discover how to build these vital connections.

Using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency, the authors guide readers in identifying and overcoming systemic barriers, helping aspiring leaders build the momentum needed to achieve their career goals and foster greater gender equity in their organizations.

This practical guide includes:

A framework for using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency to develop reciprocal and culturally responsive mentoring relationshipsCase stories from female leaders that offer models for navigating the challenges and opportunities of mentorshipGuidance on how to locate a mentor, serve as a mentor, and establish effective mentoring programs within your organizationReflective prompts, end-of-chapter questions, and a free study guide to deepen understanding and encourage personal and professional growth

Female leaders will learn how to leverage the power of mentorship to break through barriers, build supportive networks, and create lasting change for themselves and for the next generation of women leaders.

"Cultural proficiency challenges learning communities to go even deeper when inquiring about student barriers to success. This perspective is necessary to truly address the achievement and expectation gaps in our schools. Before we ask ourselves why our students are not succeeding, we must understand and examine our own perceptions and assumptions about them."—Timothy A. Bias, AdministratorPomona Unified School District, CA

Close the achievement gap with equity-focused professional learning communities!

Professional learning communities (PLCs) can be a powerful force for creating equitable, inclusive schools where all students succeed. Integrating the four Tools of Cultural Proficiency with the PLC framework, this relevant guide offers school leaders, district administrators, and staff developers a collaborative approach to address bias and inequity.

Culturally Proficient Learning Communities discusses the impact of our history on cultural understanding and provides a wealth of practical PLC-building strategies—including assessment and inquiry-driven planning, instructional design, curriculum development, coaching, leadership, and shared decision making. The authors examine the goals, purpose, and process of creating and sustaining equity-focused PLCs through:

Templates, protocols, activities, and rubrics for deconstructing inequity in student achievementStories, tools, and thinking prompts to guide an inside-out transformation toward cultural proficiencyAn extended example of one school district's journey in becoming a culturally proficient learning community

Schools that view diversity and differences as assets and opportunities will experience stronger holistic growth and increased academic achievement!

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 guidelinesA conceptual framework for the tools of cultural proficiencyNew 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. 

Help your English learning students achieve academic success!U.S. demographics are quickly shifting, and it is more important than ever to reach and teach English learning students. Designed to empower educators to become agents of change in their classrooms, schools, and communities, this guide introduces the principles of Cultural Proficiency and how they can help improve educators' ability to effectively teach English language learners. This book features:

Activities that build core Cultural Proficiency skills and promote personal transformationA chapter-by-chapter rubric for working effectively with English learning studentsA conversation-starting case story featuring the River View School DistrictStrategies for using action research to improve the success of English learning students

By focusing on Cultural Proficiency—and the underlying causes of EL achievement gaps—educators can uncover ways to break down academic barriers and use students' cultural background as educational assets.

"This is a valuable resource for staff developers creating culturally proficient learning environments to close the achievement gap. This work focuses on English learning students with the same 'inside out' approach as the authors' previous work. A perfect asset for a professional learning community book study!"—Linda Fisher, Staff Development CoordinatorLincoln Unified School District, Stockton, CA

"The book provides the school leader with the tools to engage themselves and others in making English learning students a priority. It is a must read for educators to get those hard and healthy conversations started and to examine our school practices and policies."—Lori Henderson, Assistant Superintendent of Educational ServicesManitoba, Canada

An introspective response with LGBT communities for positive change

A Culturally Proficient Response to LGBT Communities is a guide for educators to collaboratively combat issues of discrimination, inequity, and bullying through the review of current policies, practices, and deeply held assumptions about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered (LGBT) communities. This inside-out approach carries readers through a personal journey of reflection to action by using the Tools of Cultural Proficiency to examine their values, beliefs, and assumptions about how LGBT communities are served educationally. 

 Creating safe and welcoming schools includes both setting effective and appropriate policies and the inside-out analyses of one’s own beliefs and values. Resulting cultural proficiencies, steeped in self-reflection, boost empathy and improve learning environments. On this simple, powerful premise, readers will find:

Inside-out growth through personal stories and case-studies Reflection through activities and prompts appropriate for individuals and teams Insight into current responses to bullying

Using this first step for positive systemic change, school leaders can elevate understanding and propel schools toward safe and diverse-friendly environments.

"This book provides essential tools for educators who want to make schools safe and welcoming for all students.  I could not put this book down. In my nearly 25 years of education I have not come across a resource that handles the needs of LGBT students as sensitively and supportively as these authors have using the tools of Cultural Proficiency." —Gunn Marie Hansen, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Orange Unified School District, CA

Professional development that increases educator effectiveness and student success! Learning Forward is a leader in understanding and advancing professional learning that leads to student success.  This series explores Learning Forward’s seven Standards for Professional Learning which outline the characteristics of effective professional learning that, collectively, advance teaching and learning. This volume gives teachers and administrators a detailed roadmap for implementing the Outcomes standard. Deepen you knowledge of this standard with:  

An original essay by Delores B. Lindsey and Randall B. Lindsey on using the lens of Cultural Proficiency to highlight the theme of educational equity that is embedded in the standard Practical tools that guide leaders in finding coherence between performance standards for educators and curriculum standards for students A powerful case study to illustrate how the standard was enacted across a major urban school district

With this book, educators will reach new heights in professional growth and students will reap the benefits!

 

Lead a Common Core implementation that closes achievement gaps!

 

Will your Common Core implementation promote equity, access, and inclusion?

 

This illuminating book shows how central Common Core tenets—rigor, meaningful curricula and assessment, and higher order thinking—can become educational realities for every child in your school or district.

 

Written by a team of respected authors known for guiding schools and districts towards cultural proficiency, this resource enables readers to

Understand how underlying beliefs related to historically-underserved students may create roadblocks to effective instruction Create a school culture where diversity is valued, including developing relevant professional learning Compile and analyze meaningful data that enables faculty to better reach students from all backgrounds Advance the goal of college and career-readiness for all learners

 

With a compelling call to action and practical strategies, this timely book points the way to a Common Core implementation that benefits every student.

 

"The authors have ensured that the use of cultural proficiency by educators provides the Common Core State Standards with the 'step towards the place where equity and access are realized for all learners.' Equity and access, two of the pillars of equity in education, are essential if meeting individual student needs are truly to occur."

—Dr. Kenneth R. Magdaleno, Associate Professor

Kremen School of Education, Fresno State, CA

 

“This resource gives not only theory and rationale for this important change in thinking, but also the guided steps to collaborate and reflect as part of the change process."

—Dr. Carol Van Vooren, Assistant Professor

California State University, San Marcos

 

Create inclusive educational environments that benefit ALL learners!

 

As schools become more diverse with students of differing abilities and needs, this self-reflective and action-oriented guide helps you create and support more inclusive schools and classrooms that intentionally educate all students. Using the Five Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency as a roadmap, this book presents: 

Students’ learning differences as just that – differences rather than deficits Strategies that show you how to break though the common barriers to culturally proficient and inclusive schooling Assessments that gauge your awareness and show you how to best serve every student’s needs

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 is a book for everyone who teaches.  Whether you are responsible for your organization’s training and development, you are providing basic education in an elementary school, or you are creating workshops for professional development, this book will help you manage the dynamics of difference necessary to create an environment where all students can learn.  Use this book as a workbook for small groups, or as a guide for improving the cultural competence of your teaching. “This book is a riveting and unparalleled resource for all educational merchants of hope. . . . The insights, learning strategies, and professional development structures in this edition illuminate a path for all leaders to successfully commit to the journey of being equity champions!” --Dr. Erick E. Witherspoon, National Director of Equity Professional Development Services Generation Ready  “There is no greater honor than to have one’s professional work become the inspiration for a new way of thinking, and transformative literature and action that change the world for schools and the children and youth they serve. I am grateful that the ideas have been so skillfully brought to scale by these authors.” --Dr. Terry L. Cross, MSW, Founder and Senior Advisor National Indian Child Welfare Association