Parents and Teachers as Policy Actors: Implications for a District Retention and Promotion Policy

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: Notes From the Field: Community-Based Perspectives on Race and Opportunity (Table 12)

Abstract

Nationwide, states and districts are implementing policies that retain or promote early elementary students based on literacy test scores, even as research documents the disproportionate impact on Black students and students living in poverty. This qualitative study frames parents and teachers as policy actors and explores their understandings of a particular promotion/retention policy revision in a large public school district. Our findings make visible their valuable insight that has been disregarded in the policy revision and implementation. Without these considerations, we situate our findings as a missed opportunity to include voices that present a critical examination of the root causes of low literacy scores or understandings of the influence of race on the lived experiences of students and families.

Authors

• Aixa D. Marchand, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Laura A Taylor, Rhodes College
  Presenting Author

• Maggie Emmendorfer, Rhodes College
  Presenting Author