Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders

Our students’ futures depend upon it: If we’re to guarantee equitable access and improved academic outcomes for our historically underserved students, then we must first confront the deeply rooted biases and practices that for far too long have limited them. That’s where Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders has already benefited tens of thousands of schools leaders--and the students, teachers, and communities they serve.  



Cultural Proficiency helps us all establish a mindset and worldview for effectively describing and responding to inequities. Its inside-outside approach to leadership is grounded in the assumption that honest introspection is a requirement to leading equity-driven change. And now, with updated content, new case studies, expanded vignettes, new activities and study guides, and an updated matrix, this fourth edition is more urgently needed than ever.  



What leaders love most is the way Cultural Proficiency lays the groundwork for powerful organizational growth with resources to: 

• Engage colleagues in collaborative dialogue about creating powerful teaching and learning environments


• Recognize and respond to both individual and group differences to break down barriers


• Use the Cultural Proficiency Continuum to assess the limitations of school practices and identify opportunities to shift the culture 

Take this first step on the Cultural Proficiency journey and soon enough you, too, can create equitable educational opportunities and more inclusive environments in which differences are embraced. 

“This book is a riveting and unparalleled resource for all educational merchants of hope. . . . The insights, learning strategies, and professional development structures in this edition illuminate a path for all leaders to successfully commit to the journey of being equity champions!”

--Dr. Erick E. Witherspoon, National Director of Equity Professional Development Services

Generation Ready 



“There is no greater honor than to have one’s professional work become the inspiration for a new way of thinking, and transformative literature and action that change the world for schools and the children and youth they serve. I am grateful that the ideas have been so skillfully brought to scale by these authors.”

--Dr. Terry L. Cross, MSW, Founder and Senior Advisor

National Indian Child Welfare Association