Browsing by Subject "Racial bias"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Junctions podcast
(2018-05-04) Craig, Andrew Michael; Schatz, Thomas, 1948-; Kumar, Shanti
This report outlines the development process for Junctions, an original, mini-drama podcast that explores racial bias in the context of everyday interaction. The report consists of three sections – The Podcast, Pilot Episode, and Future Episodes – each of which speaks to a different aspect of the program’s framework. It also includes nearly all of the planning documents I created during pre-production, production, and post-production.
Race, socioeconomic status, and autonomy support in the classroom
(2021-09-02) Gonzalez, Melanie Shanae; Yeager, David S.; Henderson, Marlone D; Tillman, Katherine; Crosnoe, Robert; Patall, Erika A
Autonomy-supportive teaching practices are effective at improving the quality of students’ motivation and engagement. However, little is known about whether teachers employ autonomy-supportive practices equitably with students from different social groups. Through three national studies, this dissertation aims to investigate whether and why U.S. teachers might be biased against offering autonomy support to Black students and low-socioeconomic status (SES) students. The first study examines the joint causal effect that student race and SES have on adults’ likelihood of offering autonomy-supportive rationales for completing class activities. The second study examines how teachers’ likelihood of self-generating autonomy-supportive rationales covaries with their own students’ racial and socioeconomic composition. The third study extends the first by a) investigating the unique causal effects of student race and student SES, and b) exploring psychological mediators of these effects. Together, these three studies aim to highlight potentially consequential group disparities in students’ receipt of support for autonomy and provide an account of why biases in autonomy-supportive teaching might emerge.
Uncovering the black box : the hiring of Black educators for principalship positions in suburban contexts
(2024-05) Clarida, Kimberly Danielle ; DeMatthews, David; Jabbar , Huriya; Green, Terrance L; Williams, Sheneka; Reyes, Pedro
Researchers have long recognized that common hiring practices are racially biased (Avery, 1979; Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2003). However, in education, few studies examine the hiring and placement policies and practices for school principals at the district level (Palmer & Mullooly, 2015). Equitable hiring practices are essential for ensuring equal opportunity for Black educators, who are underrepresented in the principalship despite the increasing number of Black students in K-12 (Williams & Loeb, 2012). The principal representation gap is especially alarming when Black students are consistently disenfranchised within U.S. public schools (Lomotey, 2019). Better educational opportunities for Black students are achievable and tied to hiring racially diverse and equity-focused principals (Bartanen & Grissom, 2019) - specifically Black principals (Kelley, 2012; Lomotey, 2019; Williams & Loeb, 2012). This dissertation uses a mixed method multiple case study design to analyze hiring practices within two suburban school districts through the lens of racialized organizational theory (Ray, 2020). The study starts with investigating the “black box” of districts’ hiring policies and practices using document analysis, hiring observations, and interviews with district officials and employees who participate in principal selection committees. Then, application data is analyzed to identify the rate at which Black candidates apply for principal positions compared to the rates at which they are hired and the demographics of schools where they are placed. Finally, interviews with Black educators in each district were used to understand how hiring policies and practices can improve for principals based on their experiences. This study allows researchers to conceptualize what is happening within the application pool process at the district level and provide school districts with insights on how equitable hiring structures and practices can further promote the hiring of Black principals.