Abstract
This mixed-methods multiple case study through a feminist research lens examined Minnesota K-12 school district leaders’ perceptions of the purposes of education, their roles, and measures used to assess student and system success in the wake of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd. The purpose of this study was to examine if and how two of the greatest disruptions to education in Minnesota and American history were likely to lead to lasting changes in: 1) clarifying the purposes of school and K-12 education, 2) aligning measures of accountability and success to those purposes, 3) improving educational equity and social justice in education and society, and 4) reimagining how educational decisions get made and by whom. Research methods included an online survey, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis, with the findings of all methods mixed throughout the analysis. Participants included superintendents, school board chairs, and district assessment coordinators representing diverse geographical regions of Minnesota. Findings illustrated a lack of social justice leadership and democratic decision-making in Minnesota schools, local control systems designed to maintain the status quo, and leader agreement with established purposes of education, but little alignment of leadership action to them. Examining these findings through the lenses of relationships between political economy, ideology, and schooling, critical theory, and feminist theory reveal how Minnesota school district leaders maintain systems that promote dominant ideologies and maintain opportunity and outcome disparities for students and adults, illuminate leverage points for educational reform, and present topics for future research.
Presenters
Marci Levy MaguireAdjunct Faculty, Educational Leadership and Learning, University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Educational Organization and Leadership
KEYWORDS
Educational Leadership, Political Economy, Ideology, Schooling, Feminist Mixed-Methods, Minnesota
