Continuous Improvement Research and Critical Theoretical Perspectives: Bridging Two Conversations With a Common Goal

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium aims to bring two together two important communities –– the Continuous Improvement and Critical Theory communities. In several places, researchers and practitioners working together have seen significant progress in improving youth outcomes, and often the most significant progress has been among the most disadvantaged youth. For example, Chicago has continuously advanced high school graduation to levels that a few decades ago were thought to impossible. The Continuous Improvement approach is encouraging. Would the work be more effective if more closely tied to some of the questions and sensibilities associated with critical theory? The symposium will offer an orienting presentation that introduces the critical questions, two presentations describing Continuous Improvement work, with two responses from scholars engaged in critical analysis.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Division G - Section 4: Policies, Mattering, and Praxis

Chairs

• Charles Payne, Rutgers University - Newark

• Louis M. Gomez, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• More Than the Numbers: Rooting the Work of Continuous Improvement in the Work of Social Justice - Charles Payne, Rutgers University - Newark

• Why Continuous Improvement Is Important to Achieving Educational Equity: Two Empirical Examples - Louis M. Gomez, University of California - Los Angeles

• Continuous Improvement Research and High School Outcomes - Sarah J. Duncan, Network for College Success

Discussants

• John B. Diamond, Brown University

• David O. Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago