Mark A. Gooden

Centering Race in a Framework for Leadership Preparation

This article argues that a framework of educational leadership must be so designed as to specifically speak to the transitioning demographics in schools in the United States. Particularly salient is a framework that addresses the issue of race within a broader context of social justice. The article outlines five ingredients of such a framework, including self-reflection, a grounding in a critical theoretical construction, a prophetic and pragmatic edge, praxis, and the inclusion of race language. Furthermore, the article outlines pragmatic ways in which educational leadership preparation programs can address the failures of the dominant system to embrace and struggle with the American issue of race in education. The impact of racism and the efficacy of the blending of self-reflection, introspection, as well as intellectual work are discussed as viable vehicles to deal with the matters of race in preparing prospective school leaders. The article concludes with the presentation of a proposed curriculum module, a project undertaken by the University Council for Educational Administration, to assist leadership preparation programs in addressing, through innovative instruction, the notions of privilege and race in their programs.

Do You See What I See? Fostering Aspiring Leaders’ Racial Awareness

Programs preparing culturally responsive school leaders must address how race, power, and individual, institutional, and cultural racism impact beliefs, structures, and outcomes for students of color. To develop greater awareness of race, instructors in a principal preparation program assigned students in a primarily White cohort to compose racial autobiographies. Analysis of these racial autobiographies revealed early racial identity development impacted by racial isolation and family influence. The autobiographies included evidence of growing racial awareness and movement away from racial unconsciousness and colorblindness toward acknowledgment of privilege and commitment to future action. Racial autobiography serves as a useful tool to have students examine their own racial identity—a necessary first step toward building an awareness of race, privilege, and institutional and societal systems of racism and other forms of oppression. Further study will determine what changes in leadership practice, if any, might be attributed to this increased awareness.

Transforming Out-of-School Challenges Into Opportunities: Community Schools Reform in the Urban Midwest

For more than three decades, community schools have aimed to improve education and neighborhood outcomes in low-income, urban communities of color. In this article, we position community schools as a place-based reform strategy that pushes back on top-down accountability systems. While most research on urban school reform focuses on improving in-school factors, this study shifts the research lens to out-of-school factors that shape low-income, urban school-community contexts. The purpose of this study is to examine the out-of-school challenges that instigated a neighborhood-driven community school implementation in a racially diverse and low- to working-class community in the urban Midwest. Drawing on interviews and archival data, critical urban theory is used to guide our analysis. This case study details the political and socioeconomic out-of-school forces that preceded a community schools implementation. In doing so, we consider how school leaders can confront out-of-school challenges across similar urban contexts, and conclude with implications for future research.

Color-Blind Leadership: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of the ISLLC and ELCC Standards

Purpose: Working from the driving research question—is the explicit consideration of race present in the ISLLC and ELCC standards?—this article explores the implications of a school leadership landscape reliant on a collection of color-blind leadership standards to guide the preparation and practice of school leaders. In doing so, we analyze the language of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) and the Educational Leaders Constituent Council (ELCC) standards and their accompanying reports using a critical race theory framework. Research Methods: In our analysis of the ISLLC and ELCC standards, we performed a multistep review of these standards’ leadership domains and their components. Our hybrid methodology employs empirical and theoretical elements of content and textual analysis. Drawing on the tenets of critical race theory, we provide an analysis of the extent to which the standards’ language address, or fail to address, issues of race, racism, and culture. Findings: The words race, ethnicity, and color do not appear in either the primary or substandards of the ISLLC and ELCC standards. Despite this fact, the bibliography for the ELCC standards includes works that boldly discuss issues of race and racism in education. Additionally, three key findings emerged from the textual analysis: (1) a conflation of culture, climate, and school culture; (2) a sidestepping of race and race language; and (3) an underdeveloped conceptualization of social justice. Implications for Research and Practice: We present our case citing the importance of a color-conscious educational leadership paradigm supported by inclusive leadership standards. We conclude with proposals for the improvement of leadership policy and preparation program standards.

Pathways to the Principalship: An Event History Analysis of the Careers of Teachers with Principal Certification.

Utilizing rich data on nearly 11,000 educators over 17 academic years in a highly diverse context, we examine the career paths of teachers to determine whether and when they transition into the principalship. We utilize a variety of event history analyses, including discrete-time hazard modeling, to determine how an individual’s race, gender, and their combination—among other characteristics—contribute to their likelihood of making this transition. We found that inequitable pathways to the principalship are not explained by systematic differences in personal and contextual characteristics along lines of race and gender but rather that the selection of school leaders may be a process influenced by systemic bias.

The Distorted Looking Glass: Examining How Housing Identity Privilege Obviates the Goals of Brown v. Board of Education at 60

Background: In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education case involved four states and their school segregation laws and policies. During that period, de jure and de facto segregation were a way of life in America. Sixty years later, as most schools across the country have resegregated, the authors ask the question of whether we should be focused on eradicating segregation? Purpose: The purpose of this article is to propose the concept of housing identity privilege and explore how it impairs our ability to create a new vision for addressing school segregation. Conceptual Argument: Housing identity privilege is defined as a historically supported system of advantages that is based on how much housing one can afford, and it is correlated directly with educational choices. Individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, or color, can attain housing identity privilege, which is a type of economic privilege. The authors argue that despite some progress, schools are essentially still segregated by race and class, and housing identity privilege has worked against the original goals of Brown. Implications: The authors conclude that until we address housing identity privilege directly, we will see a continued system of school resegregation.

Race and School Vouchers: Legal, Historical, and Political Contexts

This article investigates legal and political issues as they relate to school vouchers serving students of color. Specifically, we draw on the empirical, historical, and legal research to examine whether school vouchers will create a more equitable system of education for poor students of color. First, we present a history of vouchers, including how they were used to support segregation. We then discuss how vouchers as a broad opportunity for educational equity for poor children (of color) might present particular challenges in light of, first, the race-neutral approach in contemporary case law and state statutes and, second, the relatively small percentage of U.S. children taking advantage of such programs. Finally, we present empirical results regarding African American families’ support and use of vouchers and a discussion of the racial politics of school vouchers. We argue that unless voucher programs and proponents address race directly, operate on a larger scale, and attend to the broader social justice issues facing urban communities, it will be difficult for such policies to support the greater good for African American children or society as a whole.

Building awareness of race and place: Reflections from a multiracial research group on impactful life experiences

Abstract As a team of eight scholars at the University of Texas, we collaborate to research issues that directly focus on the development, training, and experiences of anti-racist and social justice leaders in urban secondary schools. Each of us considered a personal event, or series of events, that significantly influenced our thinking about social justice. We share experiences of personal and institutional racism, and reflect on how these experiences continue to shape our awareness of race. Our perspectives capture how issues of race and racial discrimination persist in a status quo educational system and how past experiences directly influence our work.

Book Review: Jackson, J. F. L., (Ed.). (2007). Strengthening the African American Educational Pipeline: Informing Research, Policy, and Practice. State University of New York Press: Albany. 220 pp. ISBN 978-0-7914-6987-3

Strengthening the African American Educational Pipeline opens with an interesting story about the journey of the editor, Jerlando Jackson, from the pecan groves of Ashburn, Georgia, to the Ivory Tower of Wisconsin–Madison, where he works as an associate professor. Jackson’s story establishes an interesting parallel to that of the many African American students’ stories described throughout the volume. The stories of the latter are told in this book just as vividly as his but done through the sophisticated use of empirical data. Moreover, as an African American man working as an associate professor at a research university several years after migrating from Albany, Georgia, to attend graduate school in the Midwest, I can certainly identify with several of his experiences. Then it is no surprise that Jackson’s story as a young African American man struggling to navigate the appropriate channels to get an education is a compelling one, as is this book. What might be surprising are the many challenges that he and so many African Americans still must endure to tell their important stories to the world. In the introduction Jackson (2007c) explains what the metaphor “pipeline” means and why he uses it. He shares that the educational pipeline metaphor is used to describe and depict the critical stages in the educational process for African Americans, both as students and as professionals. The metaphor permits key decision makers (researchers, policy makers, and educators) to examine where additional interventions are needed. To his credit, he does present the fact that there are supporters and critics of the metaphor. However, he still prefers the metaphor because it provides clear stages for interventions to improve the educational conditions of African Americans. Those stages of the pipeline are, according to Jackson, pre-K–12 schools and higher education, and two of the book sections address these two stages, with a third section related to social influences that impact the individual as he or she navigates the pipeline. Hence, Strengthening the African American Educational Pipeline, which has 10 chapters, is divided into three sections titled Pre-K–12 Schools, Higher Education, and Social Influences. The first two sections have three chapters and the third section has four, including a Educational Administration Quarterly Volume 45 Number 3 August 2009 495-514