ERIC Number: EJ1106206
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0161-956X
EISSN: N/A
Promising or Potentially Harmful? Suburban School Responses to Racial Change
Ayscue, Jennifer B.
Peabody Journal of Education, v91 n3 p326-347 2016
Over the last several decades, suburban schools have become increasingly more diverse and now must respond to racial change, so that they can successfully educate an increasingly more diverse and multiracial student body. This article analyzes interview responses of administrators, teachers, and staff at 19 schools in six diversifying suburban school districts across the United States to explore how they adapt their policies and practices in response to racial change. Findings indicate that school responses are mixed, with each school adapting some policies that demonstrate promise for creating inclusive, enriching, and academically rigorous environments and other responses that are potentially harmful. Promising responses include facilitating diverse student groupings, modifying curriculum and instruction, developing an inclusive school climate, and implementing diversity efforts with teachers and staff. Potentially harmful responses include isolating English Language Learners, narrowing curriculum to focus on test preparation, developing an exclusionary school climate, and failing to respond at all. Schools with the greatest degree of racial change, strong school leadership, and district support often adopt the most promising responses.
Descriptors: Suburban Schools, School Districts, Student Diversity, Racial Composition, Semi Structured Interviews, Administrator Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Educational Policy, Educational Practices, Racial Attitudes, Curriculum Development, Inclusion, Educational Environment, Program Implementation, English Language Learners, Test Preparation, Metropolitan Areas, Racial Distribution, Heterogeneous Grouping, Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, High Schools
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California (Los Angeles); Florida; Georgia (Atlanta); Illinois (Chicago); Massachusetts (Boston); Minnesota (Minneapolis); Texas (San Antonio)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A