Leadership magazine Sept/Oct 2015 V45 No 1 | Page 20

1. Best education possible:
• All classes meet A-G requirements or
technical pathway.
• Students are prepared for college/technical trade school/military acceptance.
• High CAHSEE pass rates .
• High English Language Learner success: Re-designation and CAHSEE pass
rates.

2. Best school community
• Shared input and balance of power
among all stakeholders.
• Cultural proficiency partnership focused
on what is best for ALL students.
• Cohesive, positive working relationship
to obtain the best results and resources.

3. Best results
• Demonstrated positive improvement
each year in school climate, instruction, and
academic and athletic success.
• Educators accept primary responsibility
and accountability for student learning.
• School and district comparisons that are

favorable to others in the city, county and
state.
Eventually, the PCIC platform evolved to
become the Alliance for School Professionalism and Inspiration to Reach Educational
Excellence (ASPIRE). The new organization included additional partners to form a
P-14 school community model, including
Hancock Community College administrators and counselors; Santa Maria Joint
Union High School District Board Members, administrators and staff; and Santa
Maria Bonita Elementary School District
Board Members, administrators, and staff.
The ASPIRE motto became “Change is
Occurring – Embrace it and Support it with
Pride, No to Excuses – Yes to Solutions.”
A positive relationship began to develop
between the parents and the California
Teachers Association representatives at
each school. Continued support for shifting
the conversation from blaming the kids for
their circumstances to focusing on the educational environment came from the use of
the Four Tools of Cultural Proficiency.

Overcoming barriers through cultural
proficiency
Every narrative has a back-story. The
back-story for Santa Maria High School is
about the parallel worlds that existed for a
few years. While the parents were struggling
to find answers to their questions about how
their students were being served, two school
administrators, co-authors of this article,
were finding their way on their leadership
journeys using the Four Tools of Cultural
Proficiency.

Peter Flores, assistant principal at SMHS,
had been introduced to cultural proficiency
several years before his arrival at SMHS and
had shared the early stages of his journey
with Joseph Domingues, SMHS principal.
Together, they researched the work of Delores and Randall Lindsey and invited us,
also co-authors of this article, to join them
on their journey of moving toward culturally
proficient leadership practices.
Their first steps were to do their own “personal” work of self-assessing their cultural
knowledge and their core values for equity,
diversity and inclusion (Lindsey, Jungwirth,
Pahl, & Lindsey, 2009). At that point they
asked themselves: Are we who we say we are,
and what does the data show? After analyzing the school-wide data, they could not
deny the evidence. The data did not align
with their core values or with the mission of
SMHS or the district. They were compelled
by a deep sense of professional and moral responsibility that inspired and solidified their
courage to change. The message became
clear to them: We must engage the entire
school community in becoming a culturally
proficient school!

As leaders of the school community, they
knew they needed to take the initiative to
move forward with the parent group to
meet the needs of the students. They used
the lens of cultural proficiency to examine
the school-wide data and engage in professional learning conversations with educators
and the community to focus on the needs of
SMHS students.
Concomitantly, the parent group was
examining similar data and was equally
unhappy. They were organizing to move
forward and needed a solid framework on
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Leadership