The Courageous Leadership Institute: Race, the Achievement Gap, and Equity is a bold national venture for school leadership teams who have demonstrated readiness to design and deliver racism-free, equitable school systems. The goal of this summer Institute is to engage with other leadership teams from across the country to narrow the racial achievement gap in public education.

District teams will:
• Clarify their own equity challenges
• Analyze their own district data, policy, and practices
• Design and develop action plans for improving performance

Spirited and committed educational leaders will meet at the Fluno Center for Executive Education in Madison, Wisconsin, to consider the implications of racism, exclusion and prejudice on student learning. Leaders from across the country who vary in race. role, gender, ethnicity, professional experience, age, geography and program tenure encourage a rich interchange of fresh, new ideas. During the week-long program, participants will engage in thoughtful, compassionate exploration of racism and the profound impact racism has today on the culture of schools and districts in which participants live and work.

The Courageous Leadership Institute participants will come together and create their own learning community during the Institute. Participants will live at the Fluno Center, will eat meals together, will listen to intellectually stimulating and thought provoking speakers, and engage in active dialogue in smaller collegial learning groups. These small groups allow Institute participants to build personal networks that they can draw on throughout the week-long institute and the year. The collegial learning groups promote reflection and focus participant attention on action. Members of the group clarify issues, share experiences, analyze their district's current practices, and use these insights to draw an informed picture of what might be possible in their school district.

Opportunities for reflection, collegiality, and renewal of spirit will be a part of the Institute. Participants will also develop plans for the implementation of Institute learning within their own work environments and will engage in coaching activities with Institute staff upon their return home.

An Institute coach (educators who are currently or have previously worked on equity issues in schools and/or universities), will be assigned to each district’s Equity Team (E-Team) and will engage the team toward the creation of an equity action plan at the Institute. Pacific Educational Group staff members will be available to assist districts beyond the Institute for local implementation of action plans.