Exploring the preliminary development of the Community Equity Literacy Leadership Assessment (CELLA) for school leaders

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the ongoing, iterative and empirical work to develop, test and revise the Community Equity Literacy Leadership Assessment (CELLA) for principals through several studies: a sorting study and expert panel survey review. Design/methodology/approach This study employs several survey development methods, including a sorting study and expert panel survey review. Findings The findings suggest that each study improved the CELLA’s items and provided useful learning for future testing cycles of inquiry. Originality/value Research suggests that principal leadership is a significant aspect of equitable and authentic school–family–community engagement. However, there is a paucity of theoretically grounded and psychometrically sound instruments to assess principals’ knowledge and skills in this area. To address this gap, the authors developed the CELLA for school leaders and their leadership teams.

Listening, Engaging, Advocating and Partnering (L.E.A.P): A Model for Responsible Community Engagement for Educational Leaders

“…Hence, school leaders graduate often ill-prepared to lead their communities (Bertrand & Rodela, 2018; Ishimaru, 2014). Some scholars have begun to explore community-centered preparation through an assessment of Community Equity Literacy (Green & Rodgers, 2019). This important scholarship is one of a few studies which examine aspects of leadership preparation for community engagement; there is much more room for additional scholarship and frameworks.…”

Betwixt and Between Justice and Inaction: Full-Service Community School Principals and Community Equity Literacy

“…In doing so, they also recognize the need to facilitate coalition building amongst school, community, and neighborhood leaders who collectively share the goal of creating authentic and equitable partnerships between the local school and community (Green et al, 2019). CEL accounts for “what school leaders (and their teams) know and do in the context of equitable school-family-community engagement” (Green & Rodgers, 2019, p. 38), and therefore takes a critical perspective that in many ways overlaps with notions of Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework.…”