I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Real world tools and practices to make classrooms more inclusive and safe are explored in the book “Doing the Work of Equity Leadership for Justice and Systems Change” by Decoteau J. Irby and Ann M. Ishimaru.

The Synopsis

This book reveals the complex and crucial work of sustaining justice-focused educational systems change in the face of subtle resistance and outright attacks.

Scholars and practitioners, who have worked together in various capacities across different school systems, examine systemic equity leadership in U.S. public schools over the course of nearly a decade and across a time of profound racial and historical change.

This volume weaves together real-world insights, research-based strategies, and practical tools for transforming P–12 education systems into more equitable and just learning spaces. Contributors explore the early days of district equity leadership sparked by the Obama administration’s focus on civil rights in education; Black Lives Matter (beginning with the Million Hoodies Movement for Justice); the proliferation of formal equity director roles, policies, and priorities; and the recent politically driven anti-DEI backlash.

This book is important reading for school leaders, district personnel, policymakers, and everyone who cares about a public education that works for all students.

Book Features:

• Provides bird’s-eye and on-the-ground accounts of equity leadership to address broad questions and map invisible trends that have influenced how equity leadership happens.
• Explores approaches to district-wide equity leadership that emerged on the heels of Trayvon Martin’s death, in what we now understand as the era of Black Lives Matter.
• Uses a frame of mornings, middays, and evenings to account for the cyclical nature of equity leadership and the limits and possibilities of working from within school systems to affect transformative change.
• Goes beyond the experience of any one school leader or team by illuminating organizational conditions, routines, networks, and practices.
• Includes insights on establishing district equity offices and institutionalizing equitable processes; using data to influence change and create accountability; and designing formal and informal networks that support the day-to-day work.

The Review

I loved how this book spoke to both those interested in civil rights and inclusivity and those with an interest in or knowledge of the education system. The authors write each chapter with a balance of passion and knowledge/expertise. The reader could feel the personal nature of the subject matter as the authors delved into these topics, while also gaining scientific and critical information gathered over time on why these practices matter. 

The heart of this book was the variety of groups and movements the writers delved into. Immediately in the first chapter, readers are given a lesson in how LGBTQIA+ protections have seen resistance rise in recent years and how best to navigate those choppy waters when encountering them. The book also does a remarkable job of breaking the chapters into morning, midday, and evening work, mimicking a school schedule for educators and allowing readers to distinguish among the different tools produced by these writers to face equity leadership with complete knowledge. 

The Verdict

Insightful, engaging, and memorable, authors Decoteau J. Irby and Ann M. Ishimaru’s “Doing the Work of Equity Leadership For Justice and Systems Change” is a must-read nonfiction book on education and equity leadership in schools. The practicality of the tools developed in this arena and the variety of experiences paired with the evidence-based knowledge readers were given made this book both enthralling and easy to return to time and time again to develop the skills to face this challenge head-on. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!

Rating: 10/10

About the Author

Decoteau J. Irby is professor of educational policy studies at the University of Illinois Chicago, codirector of the Center for Urban Education Leadership, and coeditor of Dignity-Affirming Education. Ann M. Ishimaru is the Killinger Endowed Chair and professor of educational foundations, leadership and policy at the University of Washington College of Education, and author of Just Schools: Building Equitable Collaborations with Families and Communities.

https://www.instagram.com/decoteaublack

As the Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair of Diversity Studies and Professor of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy, Dr. Ishimaru’s scholarship in P-12 educational organizations and leadership centers on developing the collective leadership of youth, families, communities, and educators in pursuit of dignity, justice and wellbeing in educational systems. Her body of work unfolds from two key premises. First, leadership plays a crucial role in transforming the longstanding racial injustices reproduced by US public schooling policies, practices and everyday interactions. Second, we arrive at better understandings and solutions to systemic inequities when those most affected by these problems influence key processes and decisions. 

Dr. Ishimaru aims to cultivate equitable collaborations between systems-based leaders, community-based leaders, and racially minoritized youth and families. As a community-based researcher, Faculty Research Director of the Leadership for Learning EdD program and Director of the Just Educational Leadership Institute, she seeks to contribute knowledge about the leadership practices, organizational conditions, and systems change processes for realizing cross-racial solidarities and liberatory, community-determined educational futures. In 2020, she published Just Schools: Building Equitable Collaborations with Families & Communities, and in 2025, published Doing the Work of Equity Leadership for Justice and Systems Change, with Dr. Decoteau Irby, both by Teachers College Press.

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