Making the case for the outlier: researcher reflections of an African-American female deputy superintendent who decided to close the achievement gap

Abstract

This article presents researcher reflections of a case study of a Black female deputy superintendent who made the value-driven decision to close the achievement gap in her district. I posit that she is an outlier because she is Black and female in a predominantly white male field of practice, she effectively closed the achievement gap through her knowledge of curriculum and teacher quality, and she allowed her standpoint, life experiences, and ethic of care to inform her decision-making, yielding unique success resolving an all too common problem in education – the inequity of educational opportunity. Using Black feminist theory and the ethic of care as a theoretical framework, I examine her positionality, values, and decision-making as a Black female educational leader. This reflective essay aims to advance Black feminist theory, while emphasizing the ethic of care, and contributing to the qualitative research literature on Black female superintendents.

Keywords:

• Black female superintendent
• achievement gap
• Black feminist theory
• ethic of care
• decision-making

Notes

1. The terms Black and African-American are used interchangeably.

2. Dr. S. is a pseudonym used to ensure anonymity of the study participant.