Educational leadership is a critical component of creating and sustaining a school culture that promotes the inclusion and success of students in any program.  This case study aims to examine how school leaders at one mid-sized urban district in Southern California utilized transformative leadership practices that helped enact and sustain a reformed Advanced Placement culture designed to increase participation and success of students of color. Building on existing work of Transformative Leadership, this study describes the experience and challenges of educational leaders to understand how transformative leadership practices have changed the culture of the district's AP program. Data collection for the case study included fifteen open-ended interviews with educational leaders in a variety of capacities (i.e. district leadership, school administrators, counselors, and teacher leaders), observations of AP meetings with parents and teachers, and district AP documentation. A focus of the study was on the role of the district leaders in fostering an open-access AP culture.

Analyses of responses demonstrated critical components that lead to deep and meaningful cultural change in AP. The results indicate that educational leaders in this district, who sought equity, were driven to create meaningful change and were grounded in the community. Groundedness in the community had a great impact in promoting a transformed culture at the classroom, site and district level. Additionally, the role of the district was found to be of particular importance in regards to building synergy and being committed to improvement. On these bases, it is recommended that educational leaders revisit their vision throughout the school year, and are mindful of financial commitment for the success of their vision. Lastly, it is also recommended that the College Board and higher education institutions refocus the purpose of Advanced Placement and rethink current practices.