Organizational Shocks and the Push and Pull of Equity Work

• In Event: Understanding and Enacting Equitable Practices: Developing a Shared Understanding of Equity-Centered Work

Abstract

Public schooling across the United States experienced significant shocks amid the COVID-19 pandemic and racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd in the Spring of 2020. Some districts had already begun to focus greater attention and resources on promoting equity, but it is unclear how these “shocks” impacted the progress of such reforms. Drawing on research focused on organizational shock, we examine how a school district made sense of its equity agenda amid the pandemic and racial reckoning. This study’s findings provide unique insights for district improvement, crisis leadership, and equity-oriented planning and reform.

Authors

• Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides, Hunter College - CUNY
  Presenting Author

• David E. DeMatthews, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author