This instructional module is designed for an introductory quantitative methods or statistics class tailored for school and instructional leaders. The assignment borrows statistical tools traditionally used in the field of school finance to measure and discuss equity within a school setting. These tools are designed to stimulate conversation among a school-based data analysis or leadership team about issues of inequity in student performance outcomes. Attention is focused on underachieving students, as well as students with disabilities. The module includes a case, an assignment, a datafile, guiding questions for the instructor, and a PowerPoint presentation. Students will analyze a datafile and compile a professional memorandum prior to a second class session where the findings are discussed and linked back to issues of equity reviewed in the assigned readings. The module assumes knowledge of Microsoft Excel and includes criteria for assessing the student-work.

This module explores the utility of conducting an equity audit as a way to examine whether a school and/or district supports social justice via equity in academic achievement. At a time when accountability is being framed as a tool to ensure justice-- evidenced in such policies as the landmark No Child Left Behind Act --the module provides practical tools for examining the degree to which schools are supporting equity. Equity audits directly address the issue of "achievement gaps" (inequitable academic achievement due to discrimination such as learning disabilities, poverty, racism, and/or sexism) which are related to structural forms of inequity (e.g., the link between social class and achievement) in schools.

This module introduces school administrators to concepts and practices associated with family-centered community schools. The module is designed around three principles of community schools including: (1) a commitment to family and community centered practice; (2) cultivating competence; and (3) collaborative learning. The module is comprised of three sections: a rationale and literature base for family centered community schools, (PowerPoints 1 and 2), and a student field activity.

This module draws from literature on high reliability organizations, school reform, and leadership to present an overview of how administrators can make their schools more effective for all students. Applying lessons from high reliability organizations, the module discusses factors that enable administrators to enable their schools to improve continuously so that learning improves for all students. Students are guided through the process of identifying, explaining, and applying to their own schools the qualities of high performance, low fault-tolerant organizations through a series of readings; an interactive, structured lecture delivered via PowerPoint; and suggested individual and group activities. Notes on the PowerPoint slideshow provide instructors with suggestions for formative assessments and ways to increase the interactivity of the lecture. The module is appropriate for use in educational leadership courses and school administrator preparation programs where students seek to understand how to design schools where the needs of all students are met.

Deeply held beliefs and assumptions about students and families impact how school leaders engage in their work. In order to facilitate a genuine appreciation for the strengths each child and family brings to the school community, educational leaders must first recognize how "deficit thinking" (Valencia, 1997) influences their attitudes and beliefs about students and families, particularly students with disability labels and students placed at risk of academic failure. Once cognizant of how these assumptions influence family-school relationships we can move our thinking from a "deficit thinking" perspective to an "assets-oriented" view (Scheurich & Skrla, 2003). To this end, the Moving Our Thinking curriculum module provides participants the opportunity to: 1) recognize patterns of "deficit thinking" within family-school relationships; 2) identify an "assets-oriented" view of family-school relationships; 3) distinguish between parent involvement and parent-school collaboration; and 4) demonstrate specific leadership strategies to increase collaboration between families and school personnel.

Barth (1990) indicates that he would like to work in a school "characterized by a profound respect for and encouragement of diversity, where important differences among children and adults were celebrated rather than seen as problems to remedy" (p. 10). To that end, this module introduces the understanding necessary to lead schools in a reculturing process leading to the development of genuinely inclusive learning communities. An inclusive, participatory leadership model is built into the module, reflecting distributed leadership, analogous to the inclusion of all constituents as valued members of the learning community. Current research on practices which support authentic learning in the preparation of innovative instructional leaders supports the hands-on, interactive, inquiry-based processes. The scenarios included build in opportunities to individually and collectively reflect on both past and current practice and to purposefully develop a systemic process to shift their cultural paradigms to support inclusion, both philosophically and pragmatically.

The foundations of social justice are predicated on a set of values and beliefs that ensure that school environments, curriculum, and instruction are based on respect for all students and are grounded in their inclusion and full participation in their community and school settings. Educational leaders need an opportunity to explore this foundation of values and beliefs regarding students and families and their participation in schools and their communities. This module examines the historical, contextual, and philosophical meanings of disability and what it means to be placed at risk. Central to the module are underlying assumptions and contemporary examples that promote positive values and beliefs toward inclusion, integration, and social justice. The module is comprised of four sections -- Historical Perspectives on Disability, The Federal Role in Serving School-Age Children with Disabilities, Inclusion: Values, Perspectives and Practices, and Leadership for Inclusive Schooling. A case study with questions, reading assignments, and PowerPoint file, including instructor's notes, reflective questions, and references are also included.

This module introduces administrators and educational leaders to the extensive scientific knowledge base in beginning reading with the goal of providing every child with the opportunity and the support to become a successful reader by third grade. The module consists of content and learning activities focused on understanding why reading is essential to success in our society; identifying major sources of scientific knowledge in beginning reading; describing important conclusions from the extensive scientific knowledge base in beginning reading including why teaching reading is urgent, why teaching reading is complex, and how schools can teach almost all children how to read; and specifying ways that administrators can serve as instructional leaders for beginning reading improvement.