We examine how the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd influenced how a mid-sized urban school district in the northeastern U.S. pursued organizational improvement for educational equity. We frame the global pandemic and the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd as organizational shocks that disrupted school and…

This case study illustrates how leadership for learning and cultural competence could be used as theories of action during times of disruption to lead and transform urban teachers' sense of self, sense of others, and motivation for change. The case study focuses on educators from a large urban charter school whose response to the pandemic and the…

The abrupt onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced a dramatic shift in higher education. Over time, the prolonged and cyclical nature of public-health restrictions conditioned students, faculty, and staff to adopt a crisis mindset as their baseline. Moving from crisis to recovery therefore posed unique obstacles at both individual (e.g. anxiety,…