Targeted Populations: How the Social Construction of Race Determines Means and Ends in Charter Schools

• In Event: Race, Policy, Justice, and School Choice

Abstract

In this paper we utilize charter applications to explore how charter school founders construct the racial identities of students they intend to serve through how they describe the educational needs of their students and plans to meet those needs. We find that CMOs were hyper-focused on the underachievement of certain racial groups, often using achievement gaps to substantiate rigid structures. Parents and community groups had more holistic views of students’ needs, but varied in approaches to addressing these needs. Our findings point to the ways in which school practice is a product of racialization and also reinforces the racialization of schooling. By identifying “target populations”, charter schools are contributing to certain communities of color being targeted for intervention and remediation.

Authors

• Amanda Lu, Stanford University

• Kate Marilu Meza Fernandez, Montclair State University

• Katy Bulkley, Montclair State University

• Alica Gerry