University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Race talk and “structural displacement” of African American students in a small urban school district in the Midwest

Koissaba, Serena M.

Content Files
KOISSABA-DISSERTATION-2019.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/105015

Description

Title
Race talk and “structural displacement” of African American students in a small urban school district in the Midwest
Author(s)
Koissaba, Serena M.
Issue Date
2019-04-18
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Pak, Yoon
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Pak, Yoon
Committee Member(s)
  • Dyson, Anne H.
  • Trent, William T.
  • Span, Christopher
Department of Study
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Discipline
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2019-08-23T20:35:51Z
Keyword(s)
race, education, education policy, African American Students
Abstract
I examine the race talk dilemmas of school officials in public school meetings over a 20 year period to attempt to understand why racialized policies and practices still persist against African American students at Blakesdale School District. The research provides insight into the inner workings of beliefs and values of educational leaders at Blakesdale regarding issues of desegregation, equity, and diversity with a hope that the findings in this study could offer empirical strategies for school improvement through racial harmony. The study also seeks to contribute to the body of literature on the value of integration in public schools and how it can enhance the experiences of marginalized groups within the education system in the United States. My analysis is a structural approach that calls for more progressive way of thinking about public schooling from the bottom up. This study is a critical ethnography used to investigate the impact of race talk on education policymaking structurally at the local school district level. I examine the ways in which structural intersectionality and race talk dilemmas reveal the systemic operationalization of whiteness in education policy and the ways in which education policies are used to carry out social injustices discursively among vulnerable groups in public school systems. This study is situated at the intersection of education policy and society. The three questions that guide this study are 1) What ways did school officials’ public discourse about student achievement and disciplinary disparities suggest the need for changes in the school culture and building equity in Blakesdale school district?; 2) What systems of meaning about low-income and minority students are revealed through public discourses at school and district public meetings?; and 3) How did the race talk of school officials preserve disparate disciplinary and academic practices at Blakesdale?
Graduation Semester
2019-05
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105015
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2019 Serena Koissaba

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