"I don't think the two coexist": a critical policy analysis of the relationship between equity and school improvement planning
Date
2024
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Redressing inequities has become a fundamental aspect of policy efforts to improve schools (Gutiérrez & Dixon-Román, 2011; Noguera, 2008). Yet, inequities have largely remained in education (Welton et al., 2018). While education policies position redressing inequities as something school improvement efforts can accomplish (e.g., Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994), scholars argue for the need to beyond this notion by instead arguing redressing inequities as an essential part of school improvement efforts (Ladson-Billings, 2006; Welsh et al., 2019). This study interrogates the school improvement planning (SIP) process as one policy lever for organizing and motivating school improvement efforts (Duke, 2015). More specifically, the SIP process is the requirement that schools identify the challenges they face and make purposeful decisions regarding how to address those challenges (Beach & Lindahl, 2004; Duke et al., 2013). Applying a critical policy analysis lens, this work consists of two papers that leverage a case study design to understand the role of the SIP process in reinforcing or redressing inequities. More specifically, I examine two critical dimensions of the SIP process and its relationship to equity: how educational leaders (i.e., state, district, and school leaders) understand the relationship between equity and the SIP process, and the extent to which school leaders engage in equitable practices within the SIP process. I find that, as currently understood and organized, the SIP process likely reinforces rather than redresses inequities in this educational context.
Description
Keywords
School improvement planning, School leaders