Equitable School Leadership

A major effort to reshape the direction of the practice and professional preparation of school leadership was manifested in 1996 with the creation of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The Consortium established 200 indicators desired of school leaders placed within six standards—1) vision of learning, 2) culture of teaching and learning, 3) management of learning, 4) relationship with the broader community, 5) integrity, fairness, and ethical responsibility, and 6) political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context (Murphy, 2003; Murphy & Shipman, 1999). Moreover, within the six standards the CCSSO perceived that indicators be situated under headings

Researchers have since then, taken on the task to examine the significance and influence dispositions have in school leaders engagement with the practice to ensure that all students are provided the opportunities to succeed; especially those students who have historically been marginalized. Research has demonstrated the positive influence dispositions have on school leadership that engages in equitable practices (Johnson, 2007; Brooks, Jean-Marie, Normone, & Hodgins, 2007) and literature reviews have also revealed equitable school leadership practices influenced by dispositions (Capper, Theoharis, & Sebastian, 2006; Brown, 2004a; Johnson & Uline, 2005; Leithwood & Riehl, 2003). In addition, studies have examined dispositions development at the school administration preparation programs (Brown, 2004b, Jackson & Kelley, 2002; Theoharis & Causton-Theoharis,

As a result, Capper et al., established a framework with both three horizontal (critical consciousness, knowledge, and skills) and three vertical (curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment) domains that generate nine aspects they believe are critical for social justice leadership preparation. Although, in this framework, Capper et al., replace the disposition terminology with what they prefer to call as critical consciousness because they “argue that school leaders need to embody a social justice consciousness within their belief systems or values” (p. 213); the principle disposition of believing all students can succeed remains germane. In short, school preparation programs must develop dispositions and/or critical consciousness across the curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in order to introduce a social justice foundation for school leaders in the course. In fact, Theoharis and Causton-Theoharis (2008), using Capper and her colleagues (2006) theoretical framework, found disposition critical in their study of a purposeful sampling with three professors who are recognized to inculcate their school leadership preparation courses with social justice. Theoharis and Causton-Theoharis found their study suggests the three experts “purposefully select curriculum ad pedagogical techniques to foster