Research Report

A Culturally Responsive School Leadership Approach to Developing Equity-Centered Principals: Considerations for Principal Pipelines

Mark Anthony Gooden, Muhammad Khalifa, Noelle W. Arnold, Keffrelyn D. Brown, Coby V. Meyers, and Richard O. Welsh
July 2023 | Wallace Foundation

In this report from the Wallace Foundation, the authors explore research relevant to building comprehensive, aligned principal pipelines that could produce and support equity-centered school leaders. The report outlines key takeaways across seven domains, incorporating insights from the Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) framework developed by scholars Muhammad Khalifa, Mark Gooden, and James Earl Davis in 2016. It illustrates the application of this equity-centered framework to the processes of building and sustaining effective principal pipelines. The report defines culturally responsive instruction, detailing its application to principal pipelines. It further covers CRSL approaches related to leadership standards, principal preparation programs, hiring, placement, on-the-job support, evaluation, supervision, leader tracking systems, sustainability, and district infrastructure.