With Care and Love: Affective Policy Making at the District Level

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Investigating District-Led Change

Abstract

This study investigates institutional care in K-12 education. Caring policies are on the rise and can be found in most school districts. Policies of care—also known as school climate or whole child initiatives—include social-emotional learning programming, anti-bullying campaigns, and implicit bias trainings, among others. While the last two decades have seen a proliferation in the study of accountability and standards policies, we know little about polices of care. How do district decisions shape institutionalized care? How do school districts enable or constrain care, especially for minoritized students? These questions are explored in a collective case study of two districts that adopted various care policies through the voices of district leaders.

Author

• Kate Kennedy, University of Southern California