“Why do you want to bring that stuff up again?” Lessons learned from one school’s race-conscious education programming

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to share the story of a school district in the Deep South region of the U.S. that created race-conscious educational programming to bring about equity and social justice within its schools and community. The district received three years of funding and additional support for the programming through a significant philanthropic grant. Despite of this support and reports of positive impacts for students, the program has nearly collapsed. Data collection methods included interviews with six educators (three leaders and three teachers) from the district who had direct experience with or knowledge of the race-conscious educational programming as well as multiple visits to the district, observations, and document reviews. Even though the educators reported many positive aspects of the educational programming, there were two main challenges relating to the implementation and sustainability of this race-conscious educational programming: Legacy Issues and Competing Priorities. Working in unison, these challenges chipped away at and contributed to the near demise of the race-conscious educational programming across the district. We discuss implications for leadership alongside the role of philanthropic organizations in supporting race-conscious educational programming.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Here, the Deep South includes the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

2. The CRC Initiative (CRC) refers to the collective educational effort, that is, the PD and the middle school and high school classes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leslie Ann Locke

Leslie Ann Locke is an Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Administration from Texas A&M University. Her research interests include qualitative methodologies as well as school leadership for equity and justice, P-16 school-university partnerships, the schooling experiences of students from systemically marginalized and underserved groups, and equity-oriented education policy.

Jada Phelps-Moultrie

Jada Phelps-Moultrie is an Assistant Professor of Educational Administration at Michigan State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education Studies from Indiana University Indianapolis. Her research interests include family engagement, culturally responsive leadership and equity in education. She takes an intersectional approach to exploring families and communities and their educational pursuits, extending to online education. She often examines the intersection of race and racism with other forms of oppression.

Matthew J. Stier

Matthew J. Stier is a doctoral student in the Department Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa. He is a former high school science teacher. His research interests include K12 education policy specifically related to teacher leadership.