A case study of one district’s efforts to enact and sustain a systemic racial equity transformation

Lassiter, Shawn

Item

A case study of one district’s efforts to enact and sustain a systemic racial equity transformation

Lassiter, Shawn

Date

2024-08-05

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore one district’s efforts to enact a systemic racial equity initiative, with a particular focus on the perceived roles, responsibilities, and effectiveness of the district’s leadership. The study involved examining a large urban school district’s systemic racial equity policy implementation from 2017 to 2022. The case study design ensured in-depth data collection via artifacts and interviews with persons closely involved with the initiative. The first research question addressed to the five practices for equity-focused school leadership framework with three themes representing prioritizing equity leadership of (a) self-awareness, (b) understanding systemic inequities, and (c) adopting a systemic transformation approach; three themes about preparing for equity practice of (a) shared language, (b) culturally responsive leadership, and (c) paradigm shift; three themes for development of equity leadership teams of (a) an equity team and tools, (b) a systemic professional development plan, and (c) learning communities; four themes for equity-focused systems of (a) equity leadership teams, (b) equity focused systems, (c) equity and community collaboration, and (d) successes and critiques of district structures; and for the fifth practice of equity sustainability, one theme of systems erosion threatens sustainability. The themes for the perceptions of stakeholders in a systemic racial equity initiative explored the following: (a) centralized leadership versus distributed responsibility, (b) influence and impact on systemic change, (c) perceptions of the superintendent’s leadership roles as messenger and symbolic actor, and (d) challenges and criticisms centered on superintendent’s political inconsistencies. Only the influence and impact on systemic change theme produced subthemes for this research question, which were (a) influence of the superintendent and (b) impact on systemic change by stakeholders. Finally, the third research question exploring community perceptions of the initiative and district leadership yielded (a) the polarization of community opinions theme with subthemes of support for racial equity efforts and opposition to racial equity efforts and (b) theme of political influences reflecting the district’s racial equity initiatives as shaped by the political landscape of the state’s larger political tensions.