Voices from the Other Side: Leadership Practices Teachers Value for Equity Systems Change

A growing body of scholarship has explored leadership for equity through frameworks such as social justice leadership (Theoharis, 2010), culturally responsive leadership (Khalifa et al., 2016), and equity audits (Skrla & Scheurich, 2004). Yet, these efforts often target isolated symptoms of inequity—achievement, discipline, or inclusion—rather than engaging in systemic reform that addresses both the ostensive and performative routines sustaining racialized practices. This study centers the Integrated Comprehensive Systems (ICS) for Equity framework (Capper & Frattura, 2017) to examine teachers’ perspectives on leadership practices that support organizational equity systems change. Using a qualitative multi-case study design (Stake, 1995), two Midwestern schools were purposefully selected for their implementation of ICS-based equity reform. Participants included principals, assistant principals, and ten teachers representing general and special education. Data sources included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and equity audit artifacts. NVivo-supported coding employed constant comparative analysis aligned with the ICS framework and social justice leadership theory to identify themes across cases. Findings revealed that teachers valued leadership practices characterized by transparency, collaboration, permanence of purpose, and language that framed inequities as systemic rather than individual deficits. Teachers emphasized the need for leaders to build staff capacity in culturally relevant and inclusive practices and to define equity collectively with staff and community members. These findings underscore the central role of teachers in advancing systemic equity reform and the necessity of leadership that invites shared ownership and dialogue. Implications extend to leadership preparation and policy, highlighting the importance of building leaders’ epistemological flexibility, fostering organizational learning cultures, and developing policies that position equity not as an initiative but as the core mission of schooling.