Bridging the Gap: Creating a Culturally Responsive School - Hardcover

by Hank Gutierrez (Author), Gloria Ladson-Billings (Foreword by)

Given the academic perils facing our Black and historically marginalized students of color in the United States, the need to bridge the gap between classroom-based culturally relevant practices and culturally responsive leadership has never been greater. How is this done? Answering that question is the goal of this book. Explicit tactics are shared for university- and site-level leaders in mobilizing the heavy lifting in creating a transformational base--supporting teachers' enactment of culturally responsive pedagogy. With first-hand testimonies and frameworks from research, this book allows practitioners to regain an understanding of culturally relevant practices, as well as the overlay of culturally responsive transformational leadership (Khalifa et al., 2016; Northouse, 2019), creating an equitable school climate where Black and historically marginalized students thrive academically.

Author Biography

Dr. Hank Gutierrez is president and founder of Culturally Responsive Educators LLC, and a long-time K-12 educator, and motivational speaker for both students and K-16 educational leaders. With over 25 years of experience in culturally responsive teaching and leadership, he continues to create new possibilities within district partnerships, programmatic change, community school development, and instructional expertise. He works daily with teachers, as well as district and university leaders to shape the imagination for teacher pipelines and residency models, safe schools, leadership capacity, and culturally responsive educational spaces in order to bolster the academic achievement of Black and other racially minoritized students.