Jennifer L. Martin

Talking Back at School: Using the Literacy Classroom as a Site for Resistance to the School-to-Prison Pipeline and Recognition of Students Labeled “At-Risk”:

Teaching writing to students of high need in an urban school is simultaneously pedagogical, curricular, and political. Students labeled “at-risk” for school failure often have lowered expectations placed upon them from without that impact how they feel within. Compounding this problem of perception is the real issue of heightened surveillance on these students, including the disturbing trend of involving the police when students break the rules of the school; in addition, their own history of juvenile incarceration often exacerbates their school failure. This article addresses these issues in an urban context, as well as provides insight into literacy teaching that assists students in the acquisition of knowledge, literacy, and expression.

Broken windows, broken promises: grief, privilege, and hope in the mythical post racial, a call and response

We present our narrative as an exercise in Critical Performance Pedagogy: Culture Jamming. It is our contribution to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Our collective voice, which is framed as a reflexive layered narrative, is offered to both incite introspection and provide a glimpse into the lived understanding of the “Other[ed].” The call and response-inspired exchange represents indigenous method, and is a challenge to the hegemony regarding the narrative voicing of African Americans. It frames the frustration and subsequent activism of stigmatized people and offers a response to their narrative by a White educator poised to institute culturally responsive pedagogy. It is presented as research method, commentary, and call to action, in this not-so-post-racial milieu.

Focus Group Becomes Support Group: Women in Educational Leadership

In this chapter, we seek to share and problematize our own experiences as leaders in education at the university level and the experiences of a diverse group of women leaders holding various administrative roles in K-12 education. We end with strategies and suggestions on how women can navigate the bumpy road of leadership that does not always rise to meet them.

Socioeconomic Status and Student Opportunity: A Case of Disrespect or Teenage Rebellion?:

This case involves inner city students situated within a summer program purported to meet their needs. The administrators charged with creating this program do not necessarily understand the identities of their students or the community needs and desires. This case hinges on the conflict of whether students should be disciplined for using their public transportation bus passes, provided by the summer program and to be used only for that purpose, for other purposes. This case highlights issues of racial spotlighting, racial animus, and cultural mismatch.

The Bathroom Case: Creating a Supportive School Environment for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students:

The recent federal guidance and litigation on transgender students have increased public awareness of the legal rights of transgender students. Title IX regulations have long permitted school districts to segregate male and female students in separate but comparable toilet, shower, and locker room facilities, but the legal issue presented by transgender students is how to gain access to facilities that match their gender identity. This case examines the nuances of accommodating transgender student needs, while examining the legal requirements for schools, and the practical implications of these requirements.

Misrepresenting Brown: Are Ohio Schools Lost in the Free Market? General Implications for Urban Education

The privatization of public funds for education through school choice programs has fueled the expansion of virtual online charter schools. This redirection of funds contributes to the idea that virtual school success is comparable or even superior to the performance of traditional public schools. The schools most adversely affected are the schools with the highest need, those serving children living in poverty and already underserved minority student populations: urban public schools. The purpose of this article is to investigate the performance of virtual schools and the redistribution of public monies from public to online community schools in Ohio.

Girls Talk Back: Changing School Culture through Feminist and Service-Learning Pedagogies

This paper explores the intersection of feminism and service-learning by describing the creation of a women’s studies course for girls attending an alternative high school. In the course participants could critique sexist practices in the media and in the school, as well as establish cultural competence through engaging in service projects that they would lead. The researchers found that course content correlated with students’ identity development regarding sexual harassment awareness and prevention. Furthermore, participants’ increased their internal motivation (locus of control) in general and self-identification with feminism.

Pink Is for Girls: Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice—A Case of Single-Sex Education

Leaders must know how to use evidence to inform district decisions, particularly as decisions related to learning become standard practice, and provide professional development that builds the organizational capacity needed to support continuous and sustainable district improvement. Collaboration and implementation of a shared vision and mission facilitates the change process. In this case, the curriculum director, Mr. Cooper has developed a plan for curriculum changes in which boys and girls would be separated by classroom, and participate in distinct curriculums based on the premise that innate differences between boys and girls should drive educational models and instructional strategies designed to address the needs and strengths of each sex. This case examines the importance of fostering collaboration, passion for achievement, commitment, and trust.

Title IX: Collective Responsibilities for Educators and Administrators

It is imperative that K–12 educational leaders inform themselves and teachers working in their schools of their responsibilities under Title IX. If schools do not follow Title IX guidelines, they subject themselves to lawsuits filed by parents, possible monetary redress, and potential investigations by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. This paper provides information on the requirements of educational leaders under Title IX, as well as the rights of students under the law. Surveying district administrative personnel by phone in a three-county area in Northeast Ohio revealed that 61 percent had Title IX Coordinators, 15 percent were unaware of Title IX’s requirements, and 92 percent assigned Title IX duties to central office personnel. Drawing from best practices identified in literature and court cases, the authors describe five significant and replicable practices that K–12 schools can adopt to meet the requirements of Title IX and protect students’ civil rights.

Sex Discrimination at Willow University The Moral and Legal Consequences of Unethical Behavior

This case was developed for use in a learning-centered course with a focus on administrative leadership and ethical behavior. This case describes the experience of a new faculty member at Willow University, as she discovers a wide range of ethical and management problems in her department. The case unfolds as we track her efforts to deal with these issues. Intertwined throughout the case are challenges pertaining to the dean’s responsibilities, particularly in the area of management oversight. Students must analyze the data, identify the inconsistencies in ethical behavior, and identify the potential moral and legal consequences.