POLITICAL CONTEXTS OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

ISLLC STANDARD SIX

Chapter 5: Politics, Culture, Social Conditions

Misconceptions

Vocabulary for Chapter 5

  • English as a Second Language (ESL)
  • Internalized Racism
  • Miranda Rights
  • Pluralism
  • Sazón
  • Sheltered English Instruction
  • Structured English Immersion
  • Undocumented
  • White flight

Pre-Reading Questions

As you read, look for specific quotes (page and paragraph numbers) to answer these questions:

  • How does a community’s history influence current conflicts surrounding schools?
  • How do decisions made by businesses and other economic and political leaders generate politics in education?

Post-Reading Questions

Use evidence from the text or the reference list to support your answers to these questions:

  • How does bias creep into decisions about individual students?
  • What policies might lead to unintended consequences of bias, for groups of students?

Activities to Extend Learning

  • Click the following citation http://jel.sagepub.com/content/9/2/23.full.pdf+html to read the case:

    van Olphen, M., Rios, F., Berube, W., Dexter, R., & McCarthy, R. (2006). The Plains City story. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 9(2), 23–32. doi:10.1177/1555458906287807

  • Review the discipline data in your school by disaggregating it by demographic groups.  Are there certain rules that trap some groups of students more than others?  Why?

Chapter 5 Misconceptions:

Decisions About Individual Students do not Reflect Bias

Many decisions about school policies and rules are aimed at the average student. However, as anyone familiar with statistics will point out, a "mean" might not reflect any particular person in the group. Average and normal are terms with built-in biases against individuals because they do not point to anyone. Instead they non-specifically represent an imaginary composite of everyone.

School leaders need to monitor consistently the unintended consequences of school policies on minorities and individuals. The kind of monitoring necessary includes disaggregating all school data by groups that might be in the minority, and by other demographics that are known to show unintended poor effects. For example, one demographic that points to differences in learning is sex, depending on the subject matter and other social conditions.

Calling attention to unintended consequences for minorities is not popular and is a risky position in many communities. These situations challenge school leaders to find their voices in order to advocate in the best interests of students.