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Principles for Leadership, Equity, and Social Justice in Education for the Inland
Empire and Beyond
1. Equity & Diversity
Educational leaders in the Inland Empire must be committed to equity and
diversity. We serve a very diverse population and need to ensure that we respect
and honor those differences. To that end, we must ensure that we create spaces for
people to learn and speak about these issues without fear.

2. Social Justice/Advocacy
Leaders in the Inland Empire must be committed to social justice and advocacy.
Because we serve a diverse population we must take collective responsibility as we
strive to meet their needs. We cannot sit by idly and be satisfied with maintaining
the status quo. Instead, we must acknowledge that inequality and inequity exist in
our system and consciously work to eliminate them and their negative effects.

3. Results-Driven
Educational leaders in the Inland Empire must be committed to obtaining results.
We are in the business of learning, and the degree to which students learn
determines our success as an institution. As public institutions, we are accountable
to the public and must ensure that we make informed decisions based on data and
research. Our actions should be strategic and focused. Moreover, we must also
ensure that we model transparency and share our results with all stakeholders.

4. Mastery/Excellence
Educational leaders in the Inland Empire must be committed to mastery and
excellence. As leaders, we should strive to be masters of our craft and work to
develop mastery in those we lead and serve. To that end, we must commit to
becoming life-long learners to ensure that we continue to grow and evolve. We
must understand that learning is never done. Further, educational leaders in the
Inland Empire must have higher expectations for what students can do and achieve.
Our focus must be excellence. Too often our actions are deficit-driven. Instead, we
should work towards identifying excellence and replicating practices that lead to
excellence.

5. Relationships
Educational leaders in the Inland Empire must work to cultivate positive
relationships between stakeholders. This includes, but is not limited to: students,
teachers, staff, school leaders, district leaders, and community members. These
relationships should be built on trust and respect. It is through relationships that
we engage people in the work that needs to be done to transform education.
Substantive change initiatives or large-scale reform efforts will fail to be lasting,
meaningful, or comprehensive enough without meaningful relationships.

REFLECTION

The feedback I received varied. Some respondents simply stated that my principles were
good, or that they agreed they were important for leadership. The feedback from my
peers was more informative. It was refreshing to see that people I know, and whose
opinion I respect, shared the same or similar principles. One classmate stated that my
Results-Driven principle helps move people from theory to action. I agree, and feel this is
much needed in education, where action is not always strategic or informed. Another
classmate stated that my Mastery/Excellence and Results-Driven principles are
powerful because they challenge us to be better. I think we should always be working to
get better. Lastly, a colleague pointed out that the themes of trust and hope are present in
all of my principles. I was glad that came across, because I trust and hope are necessary
for the work that remains to be done.

This was a very though-provoking assignment. Initially, I assumed the assignment would
be easy for me to complete, as most of my principles are based on values and beliefs that I
have had since I began my career in education. However, I struggled to provide
descriptions for my principles that were succinct and that accurately captured the essence
of what I think and believe. I dont know if it was because I was tired or just experiencing
writers block, but the words did not flow. I ended up taking a break from the assignment.
After putting some space between the assignment and myself I was able to come back and
complete the task. Ever the analyzer, I will likely continue to revise my principles until I
have the wording just right.

Though the majority of my principles are longstanding, the principles of Results-Driven
and Relationships are newer additions. That is not to say that they were not important to
me, but they definitely were not fully developed. For example, I have always been
committed to results, namely ensuring that students I taught learned at high levels and
performed well on both formative and summative assessments. The issue was that,
initially, I had no systematic way of ensuring students learned. I did not use research and
data to inform or drive my instruction, curriculum choices, or assessment methods early
on in my career. That is not to say I did nothing, because I have always been focused on
Mastery/Excellence, for both myself, and my students. To that end, I read a countless
number of books on education and observed the instruction of both effective and
ineffective teachers. I received very little guidance from my leaders and figured out a lot
through trial and error. I learned a lot in the process and was considered a good teacher,
but I always knew I could be better based on the results I was getting.

Learning the importance of being data-driven had a profound effect on me. It changed my
thoughts about teaching and learning and completely revolutionized the way I taught and
assessed students. I became a more systematic, strategic and focused educator, and
obtained better results as evidenced by my data. I also saw the importance of making
students part of the process so that they could monitor their own learning. By the end of
my teaching career, I felt totally confident about my ability to ensure that kids learned.
Now, as an administrator, I continue to use research and data to drive my decisions. My
classroom experiences taught me the importance of not only collecting data, but

disseminating it as well. Sharing results helps to create transparency and fosters a sense
of accountability. As public institutions, schools should be accountable for student
learning. Transparency and accountability help create a culture of trust.

Cultivating positive and meaningful Relationships also helps create a culture of trust and
is a necessary tool in transforming education. While I always knew the importance of
building strong, productive relationships with students, I often discounted the importance
of building similar relationships with adults. Again, this is an area in which I had to grow
and evolve. I have always been able to build relationships with students. This is actually
an area of strength for me. Adults, on the other hand, are a different story. I am always
polite and respectful, but as a teacher, I only associated with colleagues that shared similar
values, were passionate about education, had high expectations for themselves and
students, and demonstrated a similar work ethic. I had little tolerance for whiners,
complainers, intolerant, deficit-driven people who did not believe our students could learn
at high levels or did not believe that they had the power to elevate students to the next
plateau.

Once I left the classroom, however, I had to change my thinking, because my next job as an
instructional coach required me to work with teachers that possessed the aforementioned
traits. I committed to assuming the best in peoples intentions and actions, being less
judgmental, and becoming a better listener. Focusing on building rapport and being
supportive helped me form productive working relationships with adults. This helps
when I have to have courageous conversations with people or give directives. I do so in a
way that doesnt demean or devalue anyone. I now truly believe that being able to build
productive and meaningful relationships amongst stakeholders is essential to effective
leadership and lasting, transformational school reform.

As for my other principles, I will continue to ensure that Equity & Diversity, Social
Justice/Advocacy and Mastery/Excellence are parts of any endeavor I embark upon. My
principles represent my core values and beliefs. Though I dont expect them to change, I
do expect them to evolve as I grow and increase my knowledge base and life experiences.
The EdD program, will, Im sure, afford me the opportunity to do so.