Cultural Proficiency

"The 4th edition of Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders provides a structure for educators to reflect on their leadership, the students, faculty, and community they serve, and to consider whether their practices create a school environment where all students achieve and each stakeholder feels valued. With updated ideas, learning strategies, and case studies, Randall, Kikanza, Raymond, and Delores masterfully guide readers in the process of self-reflection and the necessity for school leaders to be culturally proficient leaders. This manual is a must read for all leaders in education!"

-- Toby W. Heusser, Equity Teacher Specialist, and Eric Louérs Phillips, Supervisor Accelerating Achievement & Equity
"This book is a riveting and unparalleled resource for all educational merchants of hope.  Cultural proficiency is the conduit of fortified relationships built to garner the greatest awareness of our individual and collective differences and similarities.  The insights, learning strategies, and professional development structures in this edition illuminate a path for all leaders to successfully commit to the journey of being equity champions!" -- Dr. Erick E. Witherspoon, National Director of Equity Professional Development Services
"There is no greater honor than to have one’s professional work become the inspiration for a new way of thinking and transformative literature and action that changes the world for schools and the children and youth they serve. I am grateful that the ideas first presented in 1989 have been so skillfully brought to scale by the authors of Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders, 4^th Edition." -- Dr. Terry L. Cross, MSW, Founder and Senior Advisor
"One of the most relevant books that provide not only the foundation for culturally proficient leadership but also, the tools and resources to assist our educational leadership candidates on an inside-out reflective journey. The case stories, provide appropriate learning context for dialogue on confronting individual and institutional biases and assumptions, analysis for diversity and inclusion, and action planning for altering educational policies and practices." -- Dr. Becky G. Sumbera
"The handbook offers a well-thought out and carefully structured program that can alter the world-view of participants and tilt them toward understanding what it means to become a truly inclusive society. It provides tools for specific skills training so that each person may develop competent interactions within their own social world. I am pleased to see this wonderful handbook entering into its fourth iteration, updated in ways that maintain and move the ever-essential mission of training culturally proficient individuals." -- Dr. Michele Daniel, Jungian Analyst

"Cultural Proficiency is an invaluable resource to anyone working to create equity and inclusion in the world. Rather than just theory, this book is deeply practical and can be immediately applied to your life and profession.  Now more than ever, this updated edition is a transformative resource for everyone."

-- Tom Earl, Social Justice Consultant, Founder
"Cultural Proficiency offers effective tools for those who truly want to achieve what public education envisions: an authentically democratic society. There are often ′two schools′ within on high achieving school: one for the dominant culture and one for others. Nuri-Robins and Lindsey have a solution for well-intentioned school districts. I will give this book to the many good people I know who serve on our local elected school boards." -- Abby Arnold, Non-profit Consultant
"The book is an invaluable and engaging resource for those involved in the transformative work of cultural proficiency.  While aimed at school leadership, the lessons are useful for a variety of institutions.  The Third Edition was so helpful to me in my work with legal education; I look forward to implementing all of the resources in the Fourth Edition!" -- Anastasia Boles, Law Professor, University of Arkansas Little Rock

"Cultural Proficiency – A Manual for School Leaders has been instrumental in equipping our organization with the necessary tools and skills needed to serve our diverse population.   This manual is a must-read for anyone wishing to provide culturally relevant services to participants from various cultures.  The lessons learned by our staff have been invaluable!"

-- Donna Derden, Director of Operations and Compliance
"Striving to be a culturally proficient institution requires that leaders have an unwavering commitment to learn about and from others. This manual sets the stage for this important work and is an invaluable resource for anyone who is committed to fostering work and learning environments that are grounded in respect, inclusion, and diversity." -- Jane Kirschling, Dean and Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing

"Informed by the latest literature and grounded in their ongoing work in the real world, the authors bring Cultural Proficiency right up to date and right into our current controversies. Our schools need this book on every level: from K-5 to college and from classroom to boardroom. Having worked toward diversity in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school settings, I can tell you that all of them need this book."

-- Franz Metcalf, Ph. D, California State University, Los Angeles
"As institutions and organizations become more socially and culturally diverse, leaders will be called to foster inclusive communities in which people can effectively work together. This edition of the Manual for Cultural Proficiency is a must read for leaders who are interested in deepening their understanding of cultural proficiency and learning about the policies, practices and internal structures required to build and maintain healthy organizational cultures. The manual provides a framework and set of tools that can be used in various organizational contexts and applied to both individual behavior and organizational practices. If you care about cultural proficiency, inclusive environments and diversity, you need this manual. Read it, refer to it often and commit to application of its strategies. Your organization will be better for it." -- Angel Roberson Daniels, Vice President, The Angell Foundation
"These are universal lessons: the barriers, guiding principles, continuum of responses, and essential elements of Cultural Proficiency apply to human service non-profits as well as they do in schools.  The authors articulate roles in ending oppression for both the dominant and dominated groups, lay out a clear road-map through the predictable and consistently challenging change process, and provide specific activities that I can use as a facilitator to help groups explore and address these important topics. Cultural Proficiency brings together history, research, and activities that help me continue to do my own work as a white consultant to support and advance racial justice."
-- Elizabeth Sadlon, President, Sadlon & Associates, Inc.

"Cultural Proficiency provides me with the tools to face conflict head on and not stray from my intention of creating and nurturing school spaces that are safe, welcoming and inclusive for students no matter their background, level of ability or way of viewing and experiencing the world. Daily I actively engage with the tools of cultural proficiency. With an understanding of the inside-out approach to becoming a cultural proficient being I walk through the world with knowledge of the lens developed through my background, values, biases and beliefs. As I make decisions that impact students and support the professional learning of educators in my system, I reflect on the ethical tension between the barriers to and principles of cultural proficiency. It is through this critical self-reflection that I am able to prepare our staff to proactively build community and mentally prepare to address conflict when it interrupts the safe, welcoming and inclusive school environments students deserve."

-- Angela Ward, Race Equity Leader, Austin Independent School District
"This book is designed as a manual for school leaders.  However, I have not found a better resource for developing culturally proficient leadership and organizations in any sector. The manual is rich with examples, tools and resources that educate and prepare formal or informal leaders to challenge counter-productive assumptions and biases; acknowledge their role in perpetuating systems of privilege; promote learning and growth from differences; create an inclusive work environment; meet the needs of diverse clientele; and work together in a healthy, productive way. This guide brings culturally naïve or destructive beliefs to light, creating immensely more aware and effective leaders." -- Adena Wright Williams, Organization Development Consultant , CEO
"This manual is needed now more than ever.  When differences are more disparaged, when fears and anxieties are stoked by public haters, when simplistic solutions to social and political problems are founded on ignorance and dreams of uniformity, educators and policy makers need a manual such as this:  practical, multi-faceted, broad in scope, and engaging. Having used it, I know it facilitates meaningful conversation, and fosters self-discovery, mutual understanding, and collective problem solving.  A fourth edition of this work testifies to its enduring value." -- Sidney Morrison, Leadership Coach
"It is hard to believe that our esteemed authors, Lindsey, Robbins, and Terrell, are publishing their 4th edition of what I call the bible for all school administrators: Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders. Just like the bible, this manual has stood the test of time and remains just as apropos as it did when it was first published in 1999. I remember picking up the original black book when I first started in administration in 1999 and the contents of the book completely changed my way of thinking. It has always served as the compass towards improving education opportunities and educating students of color. This manual, this Holy Grail if you will, is a must-have for every administrator." -- Dr. Roberto Núñez, Principal
"Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders provides a framework for aspiring school leaders to practice culturally proficient leadership.   The activities, tools and strategies in this book support both leadership faculty and students to move away from prevailing ′one size fits all′ models of school leadership to one of social justice leadership.    -- Noni Mendoza-Reis, Professor of Educational Leader