Effective leadership is the necessary ingredient in achieving
educational improvement in schools; everything rises and falls on
leadership. For School Leaders of Color, this leadership imperative is
more difficult than it is for their White counterparts. Concomitantly
with this leadership necessity are the social and academic disparities
of racism, student poverty, lack of resources, just to name a few. Yet
these leaders have courageously accepted their role to disrupt low
performance and thus they have created environments where students learn
and professors teach. These leaders are "purveyors of change." The
purpose of this educational preparation supplemental text is to share
stories of these exceptional leaders in the field and in the academy.
The experiences shared by the various authors cover four important areas
in leadership: Culture & Climate; Student Success; Resilience,
Persistence, & Turnaround; and Social Justice. The authors have shared
some deeply personal issues and triumphs. These are the stories that
resonate more deeply with students and that with these types of stories,
the theory to practice bridge is successfully crossed. While many of the
chapters include narratives of resilience and triumph in the context of
the P-12 education system, the overarching themes and suggestions can be
transmuted to any industry**.**