None of Us Are Free: Researching Race in the Era of Education Reform

• In Event: 18.043 - Using Critical Race Theory to Extend Methodological Inquiry in the Field of Education Research

Abstract

Drawing on data from an on-going study of education reform in post-Katrina New Orleans, in this paper I theorize on the challenges of researching the racialized impact of education reform on people of color, specifically African Americans. I argue that although education reform advocates appropriate the rhetoric of equity and racial and social justice, key decision-makers and funders, many of whom are white, appear to be resistant to explicit discussions about racial justice and/or the absence of racial justice and equity in terms of the outcomes of education reform in specific communities (Dixson, 2015). Moreover, I argue that within this current moment of education reform is politically polarizing for many community members, families and educators, has considerable bi-partisan support and is overwhelmingly multi-racial relative to the advocates of reforms, researchers have to reconsider traditional research practices relative to sampling, methods, and reporting of data (Cook & Dixson, 2013). I close with attempting to conceptualize a way to research race in education that takes into consideration the epistemologies of CRT.

Author

• Adrienne D. Dixson, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign