This powerful third edition offers fresh approaches that enable school leaders to engage in effective interactions with students, educators, and the communities they serve.

Embark on a journey toward cultural proficiency that results in professional growth and organizational change! This powerful third edition offers fresh approaches, a revised organization, and new activities that enable leaders to engage in effective interactions with students, educators, and the communities they serve. The authors meticulously provide information gathered from their experiences working with schools, educational agencies, and organizations across the United States and Canada and show how school leaders can: Gain a personal understanding of what cultural proficiency means in practice Use collaborative activities to effect change in a school Lead a learning community toward becoming a culturally proficient organization

This powerful third edition offers fresh approaches that enable school leaders to engage in effective interactions with students, educators, and the communities they serve.

Cultural Competency/Vulnerable Populations

"Cultural Competence: A Lifelong Journey to Cultural Proficiency provides a comprehensive, theoretical and practical approach to increasing knowledge and awareness, improving attitudes, and providing the necessary skills for practicing cultural competence each day." "Dr. Ronnie Leavitt, along with a group of contributors with a range of backgrounds, both in physical therapy and the social sciences, provides an evidencebased text looking to explore practical applications in a wide array of settings. Cultural Competence addresses cultural competence by discussing the special considerations one needs to learn about rather than specific population groups. Also discussed is how different theorists describe cultural competence, as well as methods of measuring cultural competence and government policies regarding cultural competence."BOOK JACKET

Becoming a culturally proficient leader requires the kind of courage, clarity, and insight that can only come from looking inward first. It’s a personal learning journey of will and skill, and if you’re up to the challenge, one that will change how you see your school, your students, and yourself as you build your own cultural competence. Consider this second edition of Culturally Proficient Leadershipyour personal road map for navigating that journey. Each chapter of Culturally Proficient Leadership invites you to put your experiences up front and challenges you to reframe your story based on multiple viewpoints—now, notably, with the addition of new coauthors Delores Lindsey and Eloise Kemp Terrell, who have their own remarkable stories and insight to share. Overall, all four authors will help you answer the critical question “Is what we say what we do?” utilizing the tools of Cultural Proficiency to engage in Reflections and Cultural Interviews to explore what you learn about those who are culturally different from you develop a Cultural Autobiography to provide a picture of the cultural memberships that have influenced who you are as a person use the Cultural Proficiency Continuum to examine your progress as a leader in serving your students and communities prepare an intentional Leadership Plan that summarizes your journey from Cultural Precompetence to Cultural Proficiency The central “inside-out” premise of Cultural Proficiency is that engaging in deep introspection around one’s personal beliefs, values, and behaviors in response to human differences is the first step toward systemic educational reform. We invite you to embark on this journey of self-awareness, of moral courage, and of the life-affirming power of human diversity. “I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together—unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and may not come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction: toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren.” —Barack Obama, Los Angeles Times, 2008

Create inclusive educational environments that benefit ALL learners! As schools become more diverse with students of differing abilities and needs, this self-reflective and action-oriented guide helps you create and support more inclusive schools and classrooms that intentionally educate all students. Using the Five Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiency as a roadmap, this book presents: Students’ learning differences as just that – differences rather than deficits Strategies that show you how to break though the common barriers to culturally proficient and inclusive schooling Assessments that gauge your awareness and show you how to best serve every student’s needs