Balance of power: new ideas about challenging the status quo provided this group of educators with inspiring possibilities for themselves and others to act in service of all children.

The Tao Te Ching, one of China's best-loved books of wisdom, was originally addressed to wise government leaders in ancient China. More than 2,500 years later, nine Southern California superintendents found the Tao's wisdom still applicable as they discovered the significance of merging their approach to leadership with their way of life to create culturally proficient educational communities.

When two proponents of the benefits of diversity collaborated on constructive approaches to student success, an unexpected benefit arose. Three years ago, Ron Hockwalt, superintendent of the Walnut Valley Unified School District, and Stephanie Graham, consultant for equity and achievement for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, wondered how to best bring the benefits of diversity training to administrators. They lamented the general lack of enthusiasm for diversity training among many educators in the nation's most diverse state.

Hockwalt and Graham, both well-known advocates for the benefits of diversity, were committed to finding a way to bring the best resources and information to other educational leaders in Los Angeles County so that they might become renewed and enlightened leaders.

The vision

In the fall of 1999, stalwart in their commitment, clear in their vision but unsure of the path, they initiated the Superintendents Collaborative for School Equity and Achievement, a series of three-hour sessions held at six-week intervals over the next two years.

They envisioned that school leaders would:

* see that issues of cultural power were central, not ancillary, to student success;

* develop a protocol for changing personal and organizational paradigms for school equity and achievement; and

* renew their commitment to the moral purposes of education, which are to "make a positive difference in the lives of all citizens" (Fullan, 1999) and to show individuals how they can function together in society (Saul, 1995).

Coinciding with this collaborative was the publication of "Cultural Proficiency: a Manual for School Leaders" and the involvement of its co-author, Randall B. Lindsey, in other Los Angeles County Office of Education initiatives to introduce educational leaders to cultural proficiency. As committed to the vision for the Superintendents Collaborative -- but more practical in his approach -- Lindsey became an early and essential collaborator on the project.

Essential agreements

The three collaborators decided on six essential agreements that would respect the experience, status and integrity of the participants and make this effort different from previous efforts to develop cultural competence among leaders.

The agreements were as follows:

1. The participants would be superintendents.

2. The group would be intentionally small -- eight to 10 superintendents -- in order to foster focused discussion of relevant topics, deep understanding of issues, interdependent problem-solving and reciprocal coaching.

3. The agendas would be shaped by participants' interests and needs.

4. Discussions would stay focused on systemwide transformation for equity, not on tolerance for diversity. Although improved human relations would be a valuable outcome, the more desirous and measurable outcome would be the improved and equitable achievement of all students.

5. There would be no outside experts called in to present, and the facilitators would not train. Rather, participants would question, provoke, catalyze and facilitate dialogue. Their approach would solicit personal inquiry, deepened awareness of participants' cultural identities and assessment of their cultural competence; not guilt, anger, blame or defensiveness.

6. The only ongoing norms were honesty, personal and professional inquiry and mutual respect for their colleagues' perspectives.

The seminar series

The initial meeting was held at the Museum of Tolerance in West Los Angeles. The museum program would be the springboard upon which to build the agenda for the seminar series. Though many of the superintendents had toured the museum before, none had taken advantage of its expanded resources, nor had they used the experience as a kind of cultural common denominator upon which to build understanding about the educational significance of these issues in a forum specifically for superintendents.

The two-day retreat at the Museum of Tolerance had a significant impact on all in attendance. It included the Holocaust tour, a first-hand account from a Holocaust survivor, facilitated discussions, and time for reflection. The museum arranged for several special presentations from its speakers network. The superintendent participants shared their insights and identified topics that they wanted to pursue in future sessions.

In follow-up sessions, they engaged in discussions after reading articles and reviewing resources on topics they identified as important. Authors such as Michael Fullan, Peter Senge and Douglas Reeves were important resources for the participants' inquiry about organizational change, systems theory, transformational leadership and standards-based accountability.

In response to the superintendents' inquiry, Lindsey and Graham facilitated progressively deeper analysis of cultural proficiency, entitlement and privilege, the dynamics of power and the development of cultural identity.

The outcomes

The superintendents discovered that most school change literature and approaches to school reform take a neutral stance on the issue of educational equity and cultural power. For schools to serve the needs of diverse student populations, school leaders must confront the inequitable power distribution that makes the present system of schooling work better for some students than for others.

Perhaps the hardest part of this discovery, both for the superintendents in this project as well as for others, is that most educational leaders must accept personal responsibility for contributing to the current power imbalance. Those who have successfully mastered a system might be reluctant to deconstruct and rebuild it so that it works better for others, but perhaps not as well for the original masters.

But if educational leaders can stand before each other, as these superintendents did, to accept responsibility for contributing to the power imbalance, then they have no other honest option but to take personal responsibility for fixing the system so that others can benefit from it as well.

The most important issue to be addressed in education today is rampant inequity. And if victims of misallocated educational resources are students of particular racial/ ethnic and class groups, then educational leaders must assume responsibility for rectifying those inequities. Leaders must collect data about those who are and are not achieving in the current system and use the data to improve conditions for those most in need.

The superintendents in this developing community of practice discovered that school change must be a transformative process in which equity, not diversity, is the goal, and that the transformation of the organization begins with those on the inside. One of the most profound conclusions for the superintendents in this project was their realization that cultural proficiency is an inside-out approach. The expectation for change is not on "others," but on "us."

As participants discussed the various readings, information and resources, the facilitators recorded their comments and observations and arranged them into the Cultural Proficiency frame. What evolved over the remaining sessions is a policy statement developed by the participants, "Transforming Systems for Cultural Proficiency: Changing Personal and Organizational Paradigms for School Equity and Achievement."

The policy statement, organized into a matrix, is designed first to inform school decision-makers about the essential elements that must be leveraged to impact systemic transformation, and second to help school leaders make important shifts from ineffective, reactive paradigms that treat issues of diversity as challenges, to proactive paradigms that embrace diversity as the essential element in a democracy and education as the vehicle that makes democracy possible.

Those who are familiar with the cultural proficiency approach to transformation will note that the main horizontal headings of the matrix correspond to the "Five Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency:" assessing culture; valuing diversity; managing the dynamics of difference; adapting to diversity; and institutionalizing cultural knowledge. As the matrix is read, a shift in core values and beliefs occurs in the five essential elements when moving from the "Tolerance for Diversity" paradigm to the "Transformation for Equity" paradigm.

The matrix can be accessed by going to www.acsa.org, clicking on "Publications," clicking on "Leadership," then selecting "Matrix."

Inspiring possibilities

Perhaps the biggest and best surprise was revealed at the final meeting of the superintendent's collaborative, where the superintendents were discussing their next steps. The most immediate next step was to tell their story and publish the matrix. The ACSA Leadership magazine seemed the best vehicle for this.

In reviewing the magazine's publication themes there were some obvious matches, but one superintendent, after intently studying the topics, asserted "The Joy of Leadership! That's it." Around the table his colleagues stared at him in silence, as if to say, "The Joy of Leadership? Are you crazy?"

Then, one by one, each colleague talked about the impact that this collaborative had on him or her personally and professionally. The superintendents had become, of late, overwhelmed with chaos and disillusionment. This experience of deep inquiry and challenging the status quo introduced more complex ways of thinking about a more complex world; but this was not tedious, limiting or daunting. These new ideas provided the superintendents with liberating and inspiring possibilities for themselves and others to understand better and act more effectively in the service of all children and youth.

It is uncertain what the ultimate outcome of this experience will be for those involved, but what is certain is that the journey is not over for this group of committed superintendents. They will be reacting wisely to what is happening in their communities rather than explaining things in terms of certain theories. Rather than collecting their own successes, they will be helping others find theirs. They will be able to clarify events for others because they did it for themselves. They will be able hear and speak to the concerned core of another person, because their own conflicts and issues were heard with compassion. They will embrace the work of leadership knowing that the reward for doing the work arises from the work itself.

Members of the Superintendents Collaborative for School Equity and Achievement include:

Arturo Delgado, San Bernardino City SD

Carmella Franco, Whittier City SD

Steve Gocke, Lancaster SD

Ron Hockwalt, Walnut Valley Unified SD

Doug Keeler, Claremont Unified SD

Norm Kirchenbaum, Hacienda-La Puente Unified SD

Robert Nero, Basset Unified SD

Michael Ramos, Cucamonga SD

John Roach, Charter Oak Unified SD

RELATED ARTICLE: ACSA'S design for student success'

By Stephanie Graham

In the last several years ACSA has produced a series of position papers that support California's transition to a standards-based educational system. These papers have helped lawmakers, educators and school communities learn how standards, assessments and accountability should work together to ensure all students succeed. All of ACSA's position papers make clear that the transition to a standards-based system will take time, funding and flexibility to evolve.

One recent ACSA publication, "Standards-based Accountability: A Design for Student Success," touches on California's diverse student population and our role in ensuring all students succeed.

"We face significant challenges in meeting the needs of our diverse student population and addressing the public's demand for improvement," the authors wrote. "While the challenges are considerable, we have a unique opportunity to develop a system that reflects our vision of high achievement for all California students."

Last year ACSA established a task force on equity in a standards-based system. The charge of this task force is to build on ACSA's earlier position papers and to develop a set of guiding principles to promote equity. I'm pleased to co-chair this task force and I'm eager to get a new ACSA position paper on equity and standards out in the field.

Accessibility to statewide testing data has given Californians a glimpse at how schools and students are measuring up to standards. While scores in general continue to increase, a quick look at the data shows that some students achieve at higher levels than others.

The achievement gap for students from identified groups is neither new to California nor new to the nation. For years educators from around the country have recognized, researched and sought to minimize the gap.

The good news for us -- educators, students and school communities in California -- is that there are emerging reports from around the country and within the state about proven ways to minimize these gaps and ensure all students achieve.

As educational leaders we must work together to develop a protocol for educational equity and achievement in a standards-based system. There is perhaps no other educational issue that is more critical for us to address at this time.

Our challenge is obvious. We must reverse the predictable trends of educational access, achievement and success for some students and not others. We must not focus on our efforts on the diversities of our children nor on the challenges of changing demographics, but on the current inability of the system to meet the needs of most of the students it serves.

While our efforts must ultimately reduce the achievement gap, they must do so in a way that ensures all students experience equitable access to the standards, quality learning experiences and freedom from the threat of long-term negative educational consequences.

Our position paper will focus on guiding principles that will leverage key educational components to better meet the needs of children currently being underserved by many schools and districts.

These components are:

* Curriculum, instruction and assessment

* Professional learning

* Recruitment, hiring, coaching and evaluation

* Community involvement

* Support structures

* Allocation of resources 

* Governance

* Relationships

While the guiding principles will be organized around these components, systemic transformation cannot happen unless system components are interrelated and working together toward educational excellence and equity. In addition to promoting guiding principles for educational equity and achievement, we would like to offer examples of how districts and schools are minimizing the achievement gap while maintaining rigorous standards, quality learning and academic achievement for all students. Your stories and evidence will help contextualize our work so that it best meets your needs.

We need to hear from you! Please forward information about the promising practices you are using to close the achievement gap to me no later than April 15, 2002 at [e-mail] or to ACSA's media relations specialist Julie White at [e-mail].

Stephanie Graham is a consultant for equity and achievement for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Randall B. Lindsey is a visiting professor, Graduate School of Education and Psychology, at Pepperdine University.