A Case Study of Anti-Bias Education at East Charter Middle

• In Event: How State and Local Policy Can Help Shape Students’ Civic Development

Abstract

This paper draws on a school-based case study to highlight the school-level systems and supports that facilitate the high-quality implementation of anti-bias education (ABE). ABE is an approach to education that emphasizes the development of students’ positive social identities, fosters their respect for different dimensions of diversity, and promotes their capacity to act against bias and injustice (Learning for Justice, 2016).
A body of research demonstrates that elements of ABE can lead to positive academic and behavioral student outcomes. For example, a more-positive sense of racial identity was associated with greater engagement with schooling and indicators of educational attainment (Chavous, et al, 2003). Explicit instruction around issues related to oppression, equity, and activism can also increase students’ appreciation for diversity, regard for racial fairness, sense of belonging, and sense of confidence about their academic skills (Aronson and Laughter, 2016; Dover, 2009; Hughes et al., 2007). Collectively, this existing research base suggests that taking an anti-bias approach to teaching holds promise and that the high-quality implementation of ABE warrants greater attention.
Prior research has shown that a high proportion of teachers nationally report that they provide ABE to some extent and in some form. Yet, many teachers lack the professional learning that adequately addresses anti-bias topics and are left feeling unprepared to engage in ABE (Authors, 2022). Consequently, school systems may benefit from examples of how they can improve support for teachers.
As such, this paper seeks to understand how schools can build systems to support the provision of ABE and educators’ perceptions about the supports and barriers that may influence the implementation of ABE.
We draw on semi-structured interviews and focus groups conducted with administrators, teachers, families, and students at “East Charter Middle,” a charter school that prioritizes the tenets of ABE. A case study approach is well-suited for understanding processes and mechanisms that have the potential to lead to improved implementation (Yin, 2018). Interview and focus group data were analyzed using qualitative methods, wherein we employed techniques identified in the literature, including cutting and sorting, which involves identifying important excerpts, arranging them into piles of similar excerpts, and looking for repetitions and themes within the data (Bernard and Ryan, 2010).
Using this approach, we identified various school-level factors that supported the implementation of ABE at East Charter Middle. These factors included the explicit focus and prioritization of ABE within the school’s mission, strong leadership support for ABE, the intentional hiring of staff aligned to the school’s vision, and the weaving of social and emotional learning, academic learning, and ABE. However, interviewees also identified challenges to strong ABE implementation, like leadership turnover and the complexities of developing an ABE curriculum that students find engaging and accessible.
Altogether, these data paint a picture of how ABE is operationalized at the school level and highlight lessons learned about implementation from those closest to the ground. This case study provides an illustrative example and potential roadmap for how schools can support high-quality instruction about topics related to identity, diversity, equity, and social justice.

Author

• Ashley Woo, RAND Corporation