Collective Equity

Sonja Hollins-Alexander is the associate vice president, content advisor, and scholar for Corwin Publishing. She has been in the field of education and publishing for thirty years with sixteen of those being in educational leadership at the school, district, and higher education levels, and eight of those being in educational consulting and publishing. During this time, she has served as a school social worker, teacher, assistant principal, principal, coordinator, director of professional learning, and chief of staff, serving in two Metro Atlanta, Georgia, school districts. She continued her profession beyond K-12 as a senior consultant for professional development firms and independently. She has also served on numerous United Way nonprofit boards and served as the board president for Learning Forward Georgia and as a member of the National Affiliate Leadership Council for Learning Forward. Through her professional journey, she has had experiences in strategic planning, policy development, stakeholder communication and engagement, instructional and curriculum design, facilitation of adult learning strategy, executive leadership coaching, and conference fFacilitation and design, and has served on numerous quality assurance teams with Cognia school accreditation and certification organization. She is a Corwin author of Online Professional Development Through Virtual Learning Communities and coauthor of Collective Equity. Sonja holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's degree in social work, a teaching certificate in middle grades language arts, a specialist's degree in educational administration and leadership, and a doctorate degree in curriculum and instruction. She is committed to partner engagement and implementation of evidence-informed sustained professional learning services that positively impact teaching and learning-not by chance but by design. Nicole Law, PhD, author consultant presents in the areas of leadership, professional learning communities, culturally responsive pedagogy, educating multilingual learners, and multidimensional aspects for Visible Learning. In addition, she has served as a curriculum coordinator for English language learners, cultural responsivity, AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination), district equity, and mathematics and science instruction in the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this position, Nicole created multilayered and multifaceted professional learning for teachers and administrators covering all aspects of directed programs and curricular areas. In 2008, Nicole received the National Milken Award from the state of Indiana. Prior to her leadership role, Nicole was a science teacher, administrator, and a building principal. She has an MEd in elementary administration and supervision from Butler University and a PhD from Indiana State University. Nicole is the coauthor of Collective Equity: A Movement for Creating Communities Where We Can All Breathe and Comprehension: The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading. She is also the coauthor of The Reflective Leader: Implementing a Multidimensional Leadership Performance System.

Foreword Acknowledgments Publisher's Acknowledgments About the Authors Introduction Chapter 1: Coming Together Coming Together Through Our Shared Truth Working Together Coming Together to Work Together Connecting Dimensions of Identity Community Agreements and Equity Fatigue Coming Together Using a Collective Equity Framework Equity Pathways and Equity Pavers Understanding the Three Levels of Culture From Culturally Conscious to Culturally Humble (An Equity Pathway) Chapter 2: Cultivating an Environment of Collective Equity From Deficit Thinking to Asset-Based Actions Shared Truths and Purpose Vision and Mission Development Essential Components of Collective Equitable Cultures Collective Engagement by Design Process Chapter 3: Enacting Motivation and Relational Trust for the Collective Equity Movement Relational Trust The Circle of Trust Approach The Art of the Heart The Stimuli of Building Relational Trust Motivation to Nurture the Collective Can We Breathe? Chapter 4: Culturally Fortifying Practices From Equity Moves to Culturally Fortifying Transformational Practices Culturally Fortifying Classroom Strategies Chapter 5: Equity Dispositions for The Collective Cultural Sustainability From Systems to Classrooms Collective Efficacy Collective Equity Dispositions Chapter 6: Realizing the Promise of Collective Equity Leading for Collective Equity Collective Equity Leadership Attributes Disrupting Systems of Oppression and Inequity Engaging the Collective Equity Pathways Equity Pavers Final Words From the Authors Glossary References

"Sonja Hollins-Alexander and Nicole Law use a highly interactive and practical approach to conveying the theories and best practices of realizing the imperative of collective equity." -- James McKay "Collective Equity is timely at any stage of professional development. It will help to set the stage for prospective educators and challenge them to think deeply about the importance of collectively and authentically providing instruction. It will help to strengthen their capacity to engage and commit to consistent proven practices that best meet the varied needs of students. This book charges us to be lifelong learners." -- Dr. Theresa W. Yeldell, Ed.D "Successful implementation of educational equity requires joining forces with all school stakeholders to build brave spaces where all voices and perspectives are acknowledged, affirmed, and validated. This is the key to unlock creativity, innovation, and sustained commitment. Collective Equity provides a blueprint of the essential dispositions, components, structures, and reflection tools for engagement in this never-ending equity journey. Collective equity brings the plane down to earth so that we can close the knowing and doing gap." -- Waldo V. Alvarado, M.S.Ed. "Sonja Hollins-Alexander and Nicole Law eloquently illustrate the synergy that can happen in a collective learning community to address inequities and make a real impact in schools. Send a copy of this book to every school administrator, classroom teacher, and policymaker you can find and urge them to read it." -- Ron Wahlen