The Role of Local Media and Board Member Sensemaking in a Demographically Changing School District

• In Event: 56.033 - School Boards in Changing Contexts: An Analysis of Equity and Opportunity in Policy Making Across Missouri

Abstract

Objectives
Despite the steady settlement of immigrants, many school districts haven’t yet successfully incorporated the voice of newcomers in school policymaking (Author, 2011). This case study explores the intersections across school board sensemaking, local media, and community voice, asking: 1) How do board members use local media and other resources for understanding community perspectives? 2) How do local media present and frame newcomers? 3) Into what policies and programs is such sensemaking materialized?

Theoretical Framework
The role of local media is multi-directional. While community members use local media as an outlet to voice opinions and complaints (Holder & Treno, 1995), media also actively shape community involvement and public policies (Stamm, Emig & Hesse, 1997; Crow, 2010). Despite the mediating role between the policy makers and community, however, local media do not reach all community members, particularly immigrants from non-English speaking countries. Newcomers’ stories and perspectives have little to no coverage, and in turn, school board members may have less access to their perspectives (Author, 2011).

Methods and Data
This qualitative case study (Yin, 2014) focuses on “MidTown,” a micro-metropolitan area of over 100,000 in mid-Missouri. It was purposefully sampled as a district undergoing slow but steady demographic change; there are over 50 home languages and the “English Learner” (EL) population increased from 3 to 6% recently (2010-2015). This led to policy discussions in 2014 (but no new policy) about “dual language” programming, where instruction would occur in two languages (English and Spanish) to mixed groups of English-dominant and Spanish-dominant students (Tedick, 2014). MidTown’s board included six Whites and one African-American, all U.S.-born.

Data sources included interviews with four board members and the superintendent, a family survey (2015), and news articles/letters to the editor on policy proposals related to newcomers and dual language programming (September 2013-May 2015). Initial analyses used a constructivist approach to grounded theory (Charmaz, 2010); the next step will employ critical discourse analysis (Rogers, 2011).

Results and Significance
Preliminary analysis demonstrates a lack of immigrant voices in local media and school policy-making. While the district made consistent and significant efforts to collect community input via town-hall meetings and partnering with local media, ELs/newcomers and related programming were rarely discussed. The dual language proposal came up only twice at official school board meetings, once during parent comment and once in a proposal from the assistant superintendent (2014); there have been no public comments from immigrant parents. Moreover, although parents responded in the survey that they were informed of school district issues and events through local newspapers, out of the 70 school board-related articles between 2013 and 2015, only eight addressed EL/newcomer issues.

Despite growing immigrant communities in MidTown and board members’ professed interest in serving diverse students, there has been a lack of media and sensemaking opportunities that could connect newcomers, the community, and educational policymakers. Further analyses will explore the rise and fall of the public discourse about the proposed dual language program and board members’ sensemaking about their newest community members.

Authors

• Jinmyung Choi, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Jason C McKinney, University of Missouri - Columbia