Karla Estrada, Ed.D., has worked in the field of education for 20 years as an educator and administrator committed to creating educational opportunities for all students. She is currently serving as the Deputy Superintendent of the Office of Academic and Student Support for Equity Team (ASSET) in Boston Public Schools. Prior to Boston she worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District providing support for 135 schools in the Intensive Support and Innovation Center. Her leadership in working with schools and partnering with staff supported the transformation of systems driven on compliance to those engaged in attaining successful instructional outcomes for all students. Estrada has provided professional development to district leaders, principals, teachers, paraprofessionals and parents for meeting the instructional needs of students grounded in rigor, addressing exclusionary disciplinary practices, and the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education.

The complexity of balancing the rights of an individual student and that of a larger school community requires a leader to also balance leading with her heart and mind. As the Deputy Superintendent of Academic Supports for Educational Equity Team (ASSET) of Boston Public Schools, I am confronted with this dilemma daily. As I listen to the personal experiences and stories of our students, families and staff, I struggle with finding solutions that support these individuals while simultaneously understanding the impact of these decisions on the more than 56,000 students that Boston Public Schools serves.

“There is not a one-size-fits-all answer.”

The only thing I am certain of in answering this question is that there is not a one-size-fits-all answer. Every state, district, school and classroom is unique. I have spent more than 15 years leading system-level work, focused on meeting the needs of students, including those with disabilities and English learners. During that time, I have developed some guiding principles that help me balance individual student needs with the needs of the larger school community. I offer these as one leader’s perspective, not as a road map, to be used for guidance and reflection on the journey to answering this question.

Be aware of the structure of schooling and biases that exist within.

Schools have historically served as the mechanism for preparing young people for the challenges of life and career. However, we must recognize schools are also a system that perpetuate inequalities. When weighing the impact of a decision on individual and community rights, I examine it in the context of both historical and present day systematic biases. At the start, public schools provided skills that allowed some, not all, members of our country to participate equally in civil discourse and gain skills needed for success in the workforce. In the 1950s, desegregation of public schools was a pivotal part of our country’s civil rights movement and a movement toward equal access to education for everyone. However, it has been more than six decades since Brown v. Board of Education. Today, inequities still exist that perpetuate opportunity and achievement gaps for marginalized youth. The school-to prison pipeline is an example of this. Schools that lack safe, healthy and sustaining environments cause disengagement in our youth and contribute to the criminalization of our black and Latino students. This is further perpetuated by the inequitable application of school code of conduct policies and zero-tolerance approaches to school discipline.

Students, families, teachers, principals and other school stakeholders have a community agreement that education has a powerful purpose that can change lives and communities. Decisions that impact individual and school community rights cannot be made with a blind eye to the current day realities and the historical inequities that can and have undermined that purpose. A question regarding students’ rights considered in a silo may have a very different answer than when the question is considered with eyes wide open and an understanding of the historical basis that still impacts our present day.

Be adaptive to the changing needs of students and school communities.

In making and executing decisions that impact student rights, one lesson I have learned is that I do not have all the answers. I am always grateful for the moments when stakeholders, partners and truth tellers have surfaced opportunities and concerns related to balancing individual student rights and those of the larger school community. When a group of diverse perspectives examines an issue, the range of solutions is broader, more innovative and can lead to a balanced decision, or one that you can live with. As a system leader, I have also found that a close circle of truth tellers can also push back on my ideas and ask questions that lead me to a deeper understanding of the issue I am trying to solve. A balanced solution can be attained. And welcoming insight and critique from others will help you find a degree of confidence to act courageously.

Bring others to the table to listen and learn.

It is important to remember that a student who walked in to your school yesterday is not the same as the student that walks in your school today. There are ever-changing conditions that impact a student and how a school must be prepared to respond. For a school system, being this adaptive can be very difficult but necessary. Recently, Boston Public Schools examined the impact of the Temporary Protected Status changes and the proposed changes of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on our individual students and larger school communities. We examined our policies, supports and services and made the necessary changes to support our individual immigrant students and families.

We cannot overlook that school communities and districts must adhere to legal, fiscal and public responsibilities, which can impede the immediacy of their actions. However, I do caution about falling into the trap of what I call “legacy practices.” Multiple times I have found myself in situations where I am functioning from a long-established practice or way of doing business. Legacy practices are established for reasons that once may have been necessary, yet over time become irrelevant or outdated. Being adaptive to the needs of our students and school community has opened up opportunities for me to start doing things that have positive impact, stop doing things that are not helpful and to continue practices that truly are essential to balancing the rights of students and of our school communities.

In the end, I believe we are judged by what we do for those who need us most. This is what equity is about and how I measure my success. When I remember the impact education can have on individuals and society and I embrace the historical, community and present-day influences that surround the difficult decisions I have to make, I am able to see solutions that balance the rights of our individual students and our entire school community.

Sydnee Dickson, has served as Utah State Superintendent of Public Instruction since June of 2016. Her devotion to ensuring access to quality education for each and every student spans a career of nearly 37 years and includes roles in teaching, school counseling, school and district leadership, and state policy work. She holds an Ed.D. in education leadership and policy from the University of Utah along with two masters degrees in leadership and school counseling and a bachelor’s degree in teaching. Her particular areas of expertise and interest are effective professional learning and school leadership.

On the walls and in the halls of our public schools across the country, mission or vision statements focus on making a difference for students. Before the term “students,” a distributive of each, every, or all, is often found.

Our own Utah State Board of Education strategic plan is framed around “excellence for each student” stating, “the foundation of the Utah public education system is to provide an opportunity for educational excellence for each Utah student. This requires advocacy, focus, and prioritization of effort.”

What do these statements really mean, then, when choosing the right term intended to drive school culture and outcomes for students?

Elementary schools find creative opportunities to engage parents who feel disenfranchised, and rural schools use technology effectively in providing advanced college-prep courses, thereby providing access to high-quality education for each student.

Juab School District in rural Utah is improving personalized learning experiences. Superintendent Rick Robins, Ed.D., says “cultivating a culture of relationships” is critical to addressing the competing principles of equity, access and efficiency. As educators balance those principles when working through complex issues with students each day, local policymakers work to complement their efforts by forging positive relationships with all stakeholders and operating from a “servant leadership perspective.”

“If students feel needed, empowered and supported as the main ingredient to their own success, then trust and support of the larger school community will take care of itself,” Robins said.

Iron County School District Superintendent Shannon Dulaney says common commitments drive practices at each level of the system to give students “every opportunity every day to experience success.” Understanding the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of each student is central to the work in the rural southern Utah district.

“The realization that every educator is responsible for every student at their school helps all to feel the urgency to put into place tiered systems of support,” Dulaney says. “Are we perfect at the processes to achieve our vision? No, but the collective vision and concerted effort for continuous improvement and growth helps us to stay focused on our goals. It drives every decision we make, including how we spend the funds entrusted to us.”
 

 
At Innovations Early College High School in Salt Lake City, principal Kenneth Grover aims to bring dignity to students and communities by providing a personalized learning environment for each student.

“In order for students (or any human being) to truly connect with their learning, they must have the control to guide and influence their pursuit,” Grover says.

Grover continues: “The greatest challenge our schools have is embracing the rights of students without the fear, or perceived fear, of lack of control, achievement and success. The focus of individual students and their rights/needs is not mutually exclusive but rather mutually inclusive of the needs and rights of all within the school community.”

Students tell me the most important things they learn, along with content, are characteristics like kindness, creative thinking, and problem solving.