Growing Into Equity
Professional Learning and Personalization in High-Achieving Schools
- Sonia Caus Gleason - Success at the Core, Founding Developer
- Nancy Gerzon - WestEd, Learning Innovations
Foreword by Stephanie Hirsh and Joellen Killion
This book sets out to answer two questions:
- what does professional learning look like at school communities that are seeking to meet the needs of each learner?
- what leadership and systems enable professional learning that advances equity and personalization?
It helps educational leaders visualize, understand, guide, and sustain professional learning that helps educators attend to a range of unique student gifts and needs, and navigate the shift to providing individualized learning for all students. It provides an analysis of how leaders can support professional learning of teachers, a range of school teams, and the school community as a whole, in service of deepening equity-focused, individualized learning at every level.
Supplements
The purpose of this website is to provide you with additional information, links, templates, and tools that accompany Growing Into Equity. The authors have provided many tools here to support your success!
"The authors capture stories of caring, committed practitioners who challenge their students' thinking and excite their imagination."
"Many schools across this country are 'doing' PLCs or data walls or walkthroughs, but adult learning activities have not translated into significant improvements in student learning. Growing Into Equity provides real examples, from real schools where equity, personalization and leadership are enacted in every classroom in a variety of ways every day."
"The book is an amazing compilation of real stories of high level practice in schools focused on the belief that all students can achieve and the extraordinary work of educators to ensure that the school accomplishes that task. This is a book written for the heart and mind of every educator. It is long, long, long overdue. It is not preachy – it is action oriented! I truly hope those that lead innovation and reform at the federal, state and local level will read this book to consider how real transformation takes place. Perhaps this should become a mandatory read for those dealing with reform."
"This book provides concrete evidence through in-depth case studies of successful schools from different walks of life that the needs of all learners, students and educators alike, can be met with an unwavering focus on equity and professional learning."
"'Every child is a complex and compelling story, and part of educators’ work is to uncover their gifts,' the authors write. With robust case studies, thoughtful analysis, and practical tools, the authors inspire and equip us to bring that statement to life. By examining professional learning that is tightly linked to equity and personalization, the authors offer their unique perspective on how to uncover teachers’ gifts to serve each of their students."
"We find in these pages sensitive approaches for creating a culture of 'high achievement, appreciation of individuality, and encouragement of lifelong learning' for both teachers and students. The inspiring examples of these four schools demonstrate what is possible when teachers and administrators collaborate in order to personalize instruction for every child."
"Growing into Equity provides four vivid pictures of schools that have successfully responded to the elusive excellence with equity challenge that faces our public schools and society today. The four school descriptions that lie at the heart of this book bring to life those common elements – democratic leadership, focused professional learning, continuous improvement for individuals and schools, and a thoughtful and intentional approach to whole school quality – that are critical for successful personalized learning for all students and teachers. The pictures of the four exemplar schools and the synthesis of the critical work by the authors has the power to provide both inspiration and concrete guidance in supporting our work to achieve equity and excellence for our student and teachers very, very soon."
"The authors offer a rare view into the practices of the principal and teachers at Social Justice Humanitas that serves as an example to districts and schools seeking to increase school accountability as an outcome of district-wide reform: A continuous cycle of instructional improvement and personal reflection under girds deep levels of personalization for students and staff alike. The process is intentional, methodical and uncompromising. As principal Navarro notes, 'There are no short cuts to equity.'"
"This book shows a global need for rethinking the professional growth needs for educators and the leadership in schools to breed success for our students to be ready for the 21st century."
"For years, we’ve celebrated the power of focused collaboration. The authors share wonderful examples of effective practice that are accessible, inspirational and most importantly actionable in our own schools… Each of the chapters is great! Really well presented."
