Robin Avelar La Salle earned her Ph.D. in education from Stanford University and is the Founder and President; a technical assistance organization with a 25 years history partnering with schools and districts that serve historically lower achieving. Her career as an “equity warrior” is captured in her 2018 book, “Shattering Inequities: Real World Wisdom for School and District Leaders,” written with Ruth S. Johnson. Ruth Johnson, is a nationally known expert in the use of data to promote equity. She is the author of several books including ''Data Strategies to Uncover and Eliminate Hidden Inequities: The Wallpaper Effect'' (with co-author Dr. Avelar La Salle), and ''Using Data to Close the Achievement Gap,'' a bestselling book published by Corwin Press.
"""By moving from theory to action, Where Equity Lives is the book we need. For any leader looking for practical and transformative ways to bring equity to life in schools and districts, this is the book which does just that. Avelar LaSalle and Johnson do a thorough job of providing readers with an essential set of knowledge, skills, and strategies to eliminate inequities, and imagine robust learning for all students. "" --Dr. Tyrone C. Howard, Named Top 30 Influential Scholars in the Nation Informing Education Policy, Practice and Reform, Education Week. Professor of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA, Director of the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families ""This is a must read for any educational leader who wants to understand how equity becomes action. The practical aspects of this 'study of studies' will enable readers to have key takeaways to improve their own equity journey in improving education systems for all students. This is an invaluable resource that will help support those working to change the inequities that have historically marginalized some students in our school systems for generations."" --Gustavo Balderas, Ed. D., President of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, 2023 Superintendent of the Year, National Association of Bilingual Educators ""Too often our education system is looking for a quick fix to a deep rooted problem. The strategies proposed here will guarantee better outcomes for those who have the courage to implement them. My personal experience with the philosophy shared in this book resulted in tremendous gains for historically lower achieving students, not just academically but also with students flourishing past graduation."" --Paul Gothold, Ed.D., Superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education and recipient of the 2021 Justus A. Prentice Award, National Association of Educational Services Agencies ""Where Equity Lives eloquently lays out an achievable path for equity leaders to detect and address inequities in schools and districts. This book is written in a style that deepens a reader's knowledge and understanding on how to accelerate achievement for historically, struggling students. Avelar LaSalle and Johnson offer educational leaders their real world strategies on how to implement a razor sharp focus on structures, policies and practices that result in closing the current achievement gaps among ALL student groups. The authors identify and describe how to create conditions that get to the root and shatter the five most common systemic inequity traps impeding the achievement of historically struggling students. Where Equity Lives uncovers the answer to questions like: 'What is at the root of all systemic inequity traps?' --Vicki Rice, Executive Director of Coalition for Education Partnerships An awesome book about the persistent inequity problem in our schools! Dr. Avelar La Salle and Dr. Ruth Johnson present research-based insights and practical examples in Where Equity Lives to help educators understand and address one of the most significant problems in our education systems. --Dr. Yong Zhao, coauthor of ""Duck and Cover: Confronting and Correcting Dubious Practices in Education"""