IN PURSUIT OF EQUITY: AN EXAMINATION OF CENTRAL OFFICE LEADERSHIP

Abstract

Equity issues in urban K-12 educational settings are challenging because of ongoing achievement gaps, rising poverty, and increasing racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. Given these challenges, scholars have increasingly focused on the practices of senior district leaders, including superintendents, and the actions they take to introduce, promote, and scale a vision for equity. This qualitative case study explores the leadership practices of one senior leadership team located in a large urban Midwest school district to understand how members of the senior leadership team support the superintendent’s vision for equity. The study is distinctive in that the district was served by a superintendent with a lengthy tenure. Data collection spanned one school year and included interviews and a review of pertinent district documents. The findings suggest that the senior leadership team operationalizes the superintendent’s vision for equity through organizational processes, cross-functional collaboration, use of research-based best practices, and allocation of resources based on student needs. One can thus conclude that the superintendent is not solely responsible for being a champion of equity but rather shares this responsibility with the senior leadership team. Although this is a single case study, it provides insights into the relatively under-researched role of the senior leadership team as partners in equity work.