Entry Planning for Equity-Focused Leaders: Empowering Schools and Communities

by Jennifer Perry Cheatham, Rodney Thomas, Adam Parrott-Sheffer

A vital resource for educational leaders, Entry Planning for Equity-Focused Leaders introduces an equity-minded process for intentional entry planning that sets the stage for sustainable change within organizations. In this practitioner-focused and action-oriented work, Jennifer Perry Cheatham, Rodney Thomas, and Adam Parrott-Sheffer consolidate their extensive experience centering equity in leadership. They affirm that the entry of a new leader, or the pivot of an established one, affords an unparalleled opportunity to garner the insight, trust, and commitment that will establish a basis for positive, equitable transformation within a system. This essential work provides a flexible framework for leadership entry that is customized to fit the complex social, political, and economic demands of a given organization and the community it serves. It highlights how such an approach prepares leaders to begin addressing one of the most entrenched and persistent issues in structural and systemic racism. Appealing to community and school leadership at all levels—superintendents, principals, project managers, and nonprofit partners, among others—the book presents seven components needed to enact an entry plan, from understanding context, to establishing transparency, to galvanizing partners for action. Through case studies and interviews, the authors explore the key skills necessary for each component. They then offer a wide range of supplementary tools and exercises to help leaders begin or recast their tenures and advance their agendas successfully. The process outlined here encourages readers to reflect, take calculated risks, and chart new paths. This book gives leaders the means to make necessary, meaningful progress.

264 pages, Paperback

Published October 25, 2022

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a principal I opted to read this book in an effort to think about how I would enter a new school if I had to do an entry plan over again. This book -- obviously, given the title -- focuses on how to ensure that that entry plan is focused on equity and how to be transparent about that with your staff. Each chapter focuses on a different individual leader and how they were able to accomplish this in their unique school or school district's environment. Also because it is such a new book it focuses on several individuals who did this during the pandemic. As a result, and because I became principal in school year 20-21 it allowed me to reflect upon what I did during that time period and what I may have done differently. Excellent read and a quick read with lots of protocols to use and documents to help work through what it is that you would do as a leader and to plan as such.