AWSP is committed to ensuring all school leaders have the support needed to create environments where each and every student is seen, where each and every student can thrive and, most importantly, where each and every student feels a deep sense of belonging.
We’ve all admired leaders who are willing to ask the tough questions, challenge the status quo when it isn’t working, and call out long-standing biases, even when it’s uncomfortable. In November of 2021, AWSP was able to put its equity statement into practice with help from a generous grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. AWSP gathered a select group of elementary principals and assistant principals who are making strides in their knowledge and implementation of racially literate, equity-centered leadership. The AWSP Equity-Centered Leadership Network gathered monthly in 2022. The Network provided an opportunity for these leaders to share best practices and learn from peers outside of their districts.
The network was created around the following goals:
- Create a dynamic professional learning network of elementary principals and assistant principals committed to increasing their knowledge and implementation of racially literate, equity-centered leadership.
- Identify and infuse equity-centered school leadership and share current best practices from each of the schools and districts involved in the Equity-Centered Leadership Network.
- Recognize systems that perpetuate gaps and rebuild with an anti-racist, equity-centered focused vision.
This resource for new elementary leaders is a product of the work done by this network and is designed as a means to support new elementary leaders in their equity work.