Purpose Of The Study

African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all

How should society handle the perceived differences between races when it comes to education? The goal of both researchers is to narrow the academic gap between white and black students. Both authors attribute the gap between the academic scores of black and white students from opposite sides of racial identity. As Dr. Beverly Daniels Tatum, President of Spelman College and clinical psychologist has written an article entitled “Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Her approach is from the perspective of the student and how they perceive their role and upper limits while maintaining their place in their peer group's expectations of their race. Dr. Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University, has written an article entitled "The Facts about the Achievement Gap.” Her approach is from the perspective of how schools and society implicitly or explicitly cast students into achievement tracks based on their race. Both approach the same idea about racial identity, but they have different solutions, such as peer groups, the school board, and who is right about the solution.

Who school leaders are – what they do, attend to, or seem to appreciate is constantly watched by students, teachers, parents, and members of the community. Their interests and actions send powerful messages. They signal the values they hold. Above all else, leaders are cultural “teachers” in the best sense of the word. (Deal & Peterson, 1990, p. 201)

I chose to read the article “Leveraging Conflict for Social Justice: How “Leadable” Moments Can Transform School Culture” by Enrique Aleman, Jr. The article discusses how an elementary school principle implements her vision of success within a school district that has a diverse group of students with low socioeconomical status. She envisions an environment where faculty, staff, students and parents are working together to create an idyllic school atmosphere. Whenever conflict manifests itself between key stakeholders the principle capitalizes on the instances as “leadable” moments associated with social justice. This case describes how a principle is tested by a teacher’s response to racist and bigoted language, and the implications surrounding the parents and district concerns regarding diversity and equal education opportunities for all students involved (Aleman, 2009).

As minority students increased in urban public schools, they have now become the majority of the school population and have brought difficult topics to the surface; race and ethnicity. In Another Inconvenient Truth: Race and Ethnicity Matter, Hawley and Nieto published their beliefs on how cultural differences are not to be tucked away and hidden in an educational setting, but embraced and celebrated to promote education by the teacher in an academic journal: Educational Leadership. Their appeals and claims provide various instruction to guide professional educators to overcome the achievement gap.

In the schools and also the community we need more leaders. Being a freshman of Lower Richland High school, I want to see students demonstrating more leadership. Often, I see student afraid to say no to peer pressure from other students. I want to see students leading by example. We need more leaders in this community, and less followers. In this essay I will discuss characteristic that describe a good leader, and what I want to see change in my community. .

I attended a majority white high school, in respect to the student population. Afterward, I attended a historically black, all-male institution in Morehouse College. Continuing, I earned my Masters in Teaching at Bellarmine University, and lastly, I earned my doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Liberty University. After high school, each school I attended had a religious affiliation: Morehouse – Baptist; Bellarmine – Catholic; and Liberty – Evangelical. Aside from Morehouse College, each school was a predominantly white academic institution. And while attending these schools, I found a apparent lack of attention that addressed the issues or perspective that African Americans may have in respect to leadership principles. Still, I enjoyed being in the minority because it afforded me an

There’s a growing body of literature on race-conscious school leadership, colorblind ideology, and social justice practices

According to author John C. Maxwell, “Good leadership isn’t about advancing yourself;it’s about advancing your team.” Much like Maxwell’s quote, I strive to advance my peers and my fellow students at South Florence High School. In my years at South Florence I’ve done my best to lead and be an example at this school by not only participating in clubs, but by doing my best academically. One thing that coincides with great leadership skills is a strong sense and acceptance of diversity in our school environment. Attending a school with a diverse student body helps prepare students for the culturally and ethnically diverse nation which we will be entering after we graduate and begin our lives.

Since stepping foot into Georgia State University, ingratiating myself within the school campus was my way of evolving my student leadership abilities. I always had the feeling that I underperformed in my high school years and that I had little to almost no involvement in social issues or extracurricular activities. That really was the engine starter that propelled me to finally come out of my comfort zone and be something of a positive force that can touch not just me but everyone else. I believe to categorize myself as an underrepresented student because not only am I Nigerian-American, I also come from an underrepresented economical background. I was already coming into a public university with a chip on my shoulder. It is this chip that

Servant leadership is key- Educational leaders must have the interests of the children as their main concern. Hall’s use of fear to achieve results created a bigger problem within the school district rather than solving it. Listening to teachers’ difficulties and working directly with those inside individual schools will help leaders identify and solve problems, as Errol and Castarphen have done and will continue doing.

Bill Roberts, the CEO of an urban charter high school, reveals a school leader that holds to one “lack.” School leader Roberts demonstrates having a quality of not only having experience in working with students of color but also thinking about and having the language for talking about race and race-conscious practices. Robert stated that the school he has led for several years “mirrors the city” and the student demographic is around 50% African American and about 65-75% students on free and/or reduce lunch. Roberts recognizes a discrepancy between the cultural background between his teachers and students. Roberts makes the following comment about the discrepancy,

There’s a growing body of literature on race-conscious school leadership, colorblind ideology, and social justice practices that intersect to inform this study. Recent research can be found on school leadership theories for social justice (Blackmore, 2002; Brown, 2004; Donmoyer, 2014; Johnson & Campbell-Stephens, 2014; Khalifa, Dunbar, & Douglas, 2013; Madsen & Mabokela, 2002; Marshall, 2004; Riehl, 2000; Rusch & Douglass Horsford) and school leader preparation for more inclusive schools (Cambron-McCabe & McCarthy, 2005; Gooden & O’Doherty, 2014; Gooden & Dantley, 2012; Lopez, 2003). There remains a lack of actions and strategies school leadership preparation programs can use (Diem & Carpenter, 2012) to prepare the school leaders needed to push beyond

The argument proposed by researchers is that an alternative theoretical perspective centered on racial analysis could better inform leadership practices that improve the educational outcome for students of color (Brown, 2005; Gooden, 2012; Gooden & Dantley, 2012; Gooden & O’Doherty; Lopez, 2003; Young & Laible, 2000; Young & Lopez, 2011). Gooden and Dantley (2012) suggest that the use of CRT by school leaders can provide a prophetic voice that self-reflects to create agenda’s to change racist practices and policies. A prophetic voice is underscored by identification of injustices based on race and culture and the engendering of creating an agenda to change recognized injustices. Moreover, other scholars believe CRT can help identify and challenge majoritarian educational politics (Lopez, 2003; Aleman, 2009); help school leaders develop a praxis to confront issues of race and racism (Stovall, 2004); challenge the prevalent race neutral (Brown, 2005) issue of colorblindness that influences discrimination, bias, and inequity (Beachum, Dentith, McCray, and Boyle, 2008). Given these points, then, the discussion and use of CRT in school leadership needs to permeate all levels to be seen as a viable alternative and useful lens to provide equity for students of color and of low-SES.

Student leaders come in all shapes and sizes. They choose to lead based on their skills and preferences. Whether in social groups, athletics, or within the classroom, student leaders demonstrate certain traits that benefit both themselves and those they are leading. Generally speaking, leaders are classified as role models within the student body. They are the students who challenge the status quo, who ask questions and demand answers. They inspire athletic teams and social organizations alike; they bring to light the issues that an organization or club faces and work toward a solution. The traits and skills that these leaders exhibit socially, athletically, and academically can be both inherit and learned. The