The Push for Equity and Access Inside a Charter Management Organization

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Marginalized Students and Families in School Choice Research (Table 24)

Abstract

In this paper I explore what happens when Eclipse, a “no-excuses” CMO, located in a competitive education market tries to operate in more equitable ways (specifically by increasing access). Drawing on organizational theory, I ask: What does a "no excuses" charter mean when it makes a public commitment to take steps to expand accessibility? How do school leaders and teachers negotiate what may be competing goals: competing in the market and expanding access? The ways in which Eclipse understands equity, how those within the CMO enact that commitment and how the schooling experiences of high-poverty students of color may be changing is crucially important in local and national contexts.

Author

• Wagma S. Mommandi, University of Colorado - Boulder