Investigating the Intersections of Media Discourse, Race, and School Choice

• In Event: 34.095 - MTCC Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 34.095-11 - The Politics of Charters, Choice, and Change: Implications for Inequality and Opportunity

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the discourses revolving a traditional neighborhood public school through a decade (2008-2018) of newspaper reporting and local stakeholders. This empirical research article represents one component of a larger, ongoing case-study investigating the restructuring of public education and the expanding educational marketplace in Washington, DC. The qualitative data collected for this project included of over 50 interviews each lasting 45-90 minutes from multiple stakeholder groups – school staff, parents, community members and district leadership. One finding illuminates that the school’s status and reputation are intertwined with discourses of its surrounding urban space environment. Further, the school’s internal practices, academics and successes have been rendered invisible by the symbolic weight of its urban space.

Author

• DeMarcus A Jenkins, The University of Arizona