Disrupting inequity
through collaboration,
engagement and mindset
Working together in
teams to cultivate an
equity mindset, and
to create lessons that
resonate with and
equalize the experiences
of low-income students
of color, unites
administrators and
teachers to meet the
learning needs of all
students.
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Leadership
Too many public schools in Califor-
nia’s low-income communities of color are
under-performing. This both reflects and re-
inforces economic and social inequality. To
disrupt this inequity, we must transform our
struggling schools into high-performing or-
ganizations that prepare all students for col-
lege and careers.
For these transformations to occur, strug-
gling schools must establish structures
that foster collaboration among educators,
implement instructional strategies known
to engage students, and cultivate an equity
mindset among their staff.
Those three elements strengthen each
other. Establishing certain structures – in-
structional leadership teams and teacher
teams organized by grade or department –
promotes collaboration and helps educators
strengthen their instruction so that it is cul-
turally responsive. This type of instruction
uses the cultural characteristics and expe-
riences of students as conduits for teaching
more effectively. It is based on the assump-
tion that when lessons are situated within
the experiences of students, they are learned
more easily and thoroughly (Gay, 2000).
Instructional leadership teams and grade
or department teams also help staff mem-
bers develop an equity mindset in ways that
working in isolation never would. Such
a mindset includes a sense of urgency to
equalize opportunity for low-income stu-
dents of color. This mindset animates the
efforts of teams to work together to improve
their instruction.
At Partners in School Innovation, we
help struggling urban schools develop these
structures, strategies and mindsets. Imple-
menting these three elements builds the ca-
pacity of educators to become change agents
and transform their schools.
Structures that foster collaboration
among educators
Despite the widespread agreement that
schools benefit from establishing an instruc-
tional leadership team, as well as grade or
department teams, not all schools have ad-
opted such structures. This is unfortunate
because such teams bolster schools’ data
analysis, internal communication and col-
By Brian Edwards