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The purpose of this article is to propose one possible framework for conceptualizing the preparation of leaders for social justice. To this end, three central questions guided this conceptualization: “What are the common themes in the literature and research on preparing leaders for social justice?”; “How can this framework serve as a guide for developing a course, set of courses, or an entire program toward preparing leaders to lead socially just schools?”; and “How can this literature and conceptualization inform future scholarship in administrator preparation?”.

This work included a review of 72 pieces of literature. To address the research questions, the growing body of leadership for social justice literature was reviewed. Each of these articles was analyzed and explicit recommendations for preparing school leaders noted. These recommendations were then catagorized into the proposed framework.

Three domains: critical consciousness; knowledge; and practical skills focused on social justice are positioned on the horizontal dimension of the framework. To achieve these ends, requires curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment oriented toward social justice – the vertical dimension of the framework.

It is suggested using this framework to guide the review and development of administration preparation programs whose aim is to prepare socially just leaders. Additionally, this article calls for increased attention to assessing preparation programs and how they prepare leaders for social justice.

Common Core State Standards Initiative mandates increased readings of informational texts within English Language Arts starting in elementary school. Accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content is at the center of effective social studies teaching. Textbooks and children’s literature—both literary and informational—are prominent in elementary classrooms because of the esoteric nature of primary source material. Many research projects have investigated historical accuracy and representation within textbooks, but few have done so with children’s trade books. We examined children’s trade books centered on three historical figures frequently incorporated within elementary school curricula: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller. Findings revealed various forms of historical misrepresentation and differing levels of historicity. Reporting such lacunae is important for those involved in curricular decisions. We believe children’s books, even those with historical omissions and misrepresentations, provide an unique opportunity for students to incorporate and scrutinize diverse perspectives as they actively assemble historical understandings. All secondary narratives, even historically representative children’s books, can benefit from primary source supplementation. We guide teachers interested in employing relevant and rich primary source material.

The purpose of this paper is to present the gap between conceptualizations of social injustices and the desired social transformation that addresses multiple social subsystems and levels on one hand, and social justice leadership that addresses intra-school efforts on the other. The paper aims to expand the conceptualization of social justice leadership and tie it together with concepts of activism and social change.

The paper adopts a socio-ecological perspective. It reviews works about social justice leadership in education, activism, and social change to present the notion that in light of existing social justice barriers educational leaders should serve as activists in schools and in the community and policy areas.

The paper presents a macro framework, focussing on individual leaders in the field and on the consolidation of intentions, actions, and outcomes in a manner necessary for using social justice as an effective socio-political agenda in a socio-ecological system.

The paper presents a conceptual framework which can enable practitioners and researchers to better understand social justice efforts.

This study examined how principals experienced professional learning that asked them to reflect on their own biases and beliefs, as well as to determine where there are systemic issues of inequity in their schools, and what they planned to do to address those challenges.

Through interviews, observations, and documents, the authors explored the building and sustaining of equity mindsets in education.

The authors analysis led to four overarching themes that collectively answered the research questions about how the principals learned individually and in concert with each other. The themes included the power of the personal journey and commitment, the importance of building a network of support, the benefit of practice-oriented activities that disrupt power structures and inequitable practices in schools, and sustainability.

The study focused on a single institute and as such, findings are not generalizable, but may be transferable.

Schools and school districts may use the findings when designing professional learning, especially as it relates to leading with and for equity and in cross-district collaborations.

This contributes to the literature around concrete ways principals learn and reflect on enacting equity in schools.

This study investigated how superintendents lead the process of within-district racial and socioeconomic integration.

The researchers used Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology to analyze interviews with superintendents, documents and videos from four school districts in suburban, southeastern Pennsylvania.

The emergent “Leadership for In-District Integration” theory indicated that superintendents who led redistricting initiatives aligned their systems for organizational equity only after developing culturally competent leadership practices and building trusting relationships within the school community. Despite these efforts, only two of the four districts achieved racial or socioeconomic balance in the targeted grade levels. In all districts the efforts to integrate their schools for equity were ongoing.

The current study's findings indicate that school leaders may face less conflict with constituents about school desegregation if they capitalize on existing needs to redraw district boundaries for other purposes. Superintendents seeking to engage in such work should set clear goals for what constitutes desegregation, view integration as more than demographic balancing and seek support to develop culturally competent leadership practices that build trusting relationships among community members.

The Leadership for In-District Integration theory adds conceptual and practical value to the field of educational administration by effectively illustrating what it meant to superintendents to integrate a school system and revealing insights that may help other school leaders make such a change. This research is significant because it is one of the few studies that focuses primarily on leadership factors associated with integration within suburban school districts.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a university-multi-school district partnership that positively affected the lives of P-12 immigrant, migrant and refugee students and their parents through an iterative collaboration of talent and resources among institutions.

This is a case study describing a university-school partnership grant-funded program detailing the processes, products, and implications for policy and practice.

University faculty and public school educators must work through intentional, contextually informed partnerships. It is through these partnerships that scarce resources of time, talent, and funds can be used wisely to build sustainable systems to educate students in K-12 schools and prepare future leaders for this work.

This is a case study limited to the suburban Chicagoland area. Generalities to other communities cannot be directly made.

This study builds on the extant literature of university-school district partnerships and sustainable leadership theory by exploring the processes for creating iterative and individualized structures that benefit both university and public school districts. This study implores universities to re-examine priorities and purpose, especially within schools and colleges of education, in order to remain viable, relevant institutions for positive school improvement.