Systemic Inequity and Urban Education Reform: The "Radical Possibilities" of Teachers as Policy Actors

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Education: Where Have We Already Been? Where Do We Go From Here?

Abstract

We present analyses of data from focus group interviews with a geographically diverse set of experienced, urban teachers who point to systemic inequity as a contributing factor to the problems they face in their schools and communities. To begin, we outline the theoretical underpinnings of our analyses, which draw from Dumas and Anyon (2006), who theorize a cultural political economy, and Anyon (2014), who describes the systemic nature of inequity that impacts the viability of urban education reform. Using this scholarship to guide our analyses, we outline our findings, highlighting how the participants perceived their positions, how they described the systemic nature of inequality, and the policy solutions that they identified as potential avenues by which to address these inequalities.

Authors

• Ashlee Anderson, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

• Brittany A. Aronson, Miami University

• Scott Ellison, University of Northern Iowa