Principals As Social-Justice Leaders

From the Marshall Memo #429

In this article in Principal’s Research Review, Rhonda Barton and Rob Larson of Education Northwest focus on what principals can do to meet the moral challenge faced by U.S. schools: raising the achievement of all students while narrowing the gap between the lowest- and the highest-achieving. Barton and Larson identify four areas in which principals can have an impact:

• Curriculum interpretation – Principals need to:

• Encourage colleagues to talk about issues of diversity, values, and social justice – This means developing a shared mission and having potentially uncomfortable discussions about diversity and fairness.
• Model equity beliefs in daily interactions with colleagues, students, and parents, confronting racist language and stereotypes.
• Clarify misconceptions about equity – “Principals must expose and refute misconceptions and take a moral stand that all students have the fundamental right to participate in all school activities,” say Barton and Larson.
• Create a safe, affirming school environment – All students must feel welcomed and valued, and there need to be support networks for students who may be subject to harassment.

• Instructional practices – Principals need to:

• Hire with social justice in mind.
• Help teachers provide the support students need – This includes culturally relevant lessons, partnerships among teachers to provide extra scaffolding for students in need, and opportunities for teachers to visit other schools and access helpful resources.
• Provide all students with access to the whole curriculum – This includes higher-order conceptual understanding and access to computers and cultural activities.
• Recognize the potential for bias in special-education identification – “Principals can help teachers be aware of the potential for – and dangers of – placing racial and cultural minority students in low curricular tracks,” say Barton and Larson.
• Support research-based instructional practices – This includes access to effective comprehensive school reform models, lesson study, and instruction that addresses disparities in student performance.

• Assessment and evaluation – Principals need to:

• Monitor progress toward achievement-gap reduction – Looking at evidence of student learning during the year is the key to continuously improving classroom instruction so all students are achieving.
• Use appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities – Principals can help teachers match students to the right accommodations so they can do their best work on tests.
• Discourage strategies that involve gaming the accountability system – “The practice of manipulating test procedures to inflate scores works against reducing achievement gaps,” say Barton and Larson. “Principals should guard against excluding certain types of students in reporting results and engaging in inappropriate test preparation.”
• Celebrate all achievement gains – Principals should avoid focusing on the “bubble kids” and recognize the efforts of students who make progress but don’t meet state standards.
• Increase the reliability of assessments – Tests and test procedures should ensure that the true achievement of all students is measured.
• Avoid cultural, linguistic, and gender bias in tests – “Students should not be penalized by test items that call for background knowledge that may be lacking in certain groups,” say Barton and Larson. 

• Community involvement – Principals need to:

• Recognize the expertise of parents and community members – This includes tapping their experience and encouraging teachers to learn about students’ home culture and religion and find ways to use that knowledge to scaffold instruction.
• Create partnerships with parents to support learning – This means getting parents involved in home activities that support learning, as well as working with social service agencies to maximize service learning in the community. 

“Leadership for Equity” by Rhonda Barton and Rob Larson in Principal’s Research Review, March 2012 (Vol. 7, #2, p. 1-7); the authors can be reached at 

Rhonda.barton@educationnorthwest.org and rob.larson@educationnorthwest.org.