There Goes the Neighborhood: An Analysis of School Leaders' Responses to Gentrification

• In Event: 42.059 - Policy, Politics, Choice, and Geography: How Place Matters Across the Pre-K–20 Spectrum

Abstract

Neoliberal policies are restructuring central cities across the U.S. In part, these policies have given rise to massive gentrification in urban communities of color, rapid demographic shifts, school closures, and a proliferation of charter schools (Lipman, 2013; Pedroni, 2011; Spence, 2015). In addition, this urban restructuring is having profound racial and economic transformations in suburban areas (Frakenberg & Orfield, 2012). Yet, less research has examined the longitudinal relationship between gentrification, demographic shifts, and school performance in urban districts. Given this relationship and shifting context, we know little about how school leaders respond to these changes.

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, we examine the relationship between gentrification, school performance, and demographic shifts across Austin, Texas: a rapidly growing and gentrifying city (Shelby, 2014; Tang, 2014; Weissmann, 2015). Second, we analyze how school leaders respond to the impacts of gentrification. We address the following questions: (a) How and in what ways has school performance and demographics (i.e., race and SES) changed in schools located in gentrifying census tracts between 2000-2015? (b) How do school leaders make sense of and respond to the impacts of gentrification in their school-communities?

To address these questions, we employ a mixed-methods approach that includes geospatial analysis to identify schools within Austin’s gentrified census tracts. Gentrified census tracts met the following criteria: (a) tract had over 500 residents at the start and end of a decade, (b) tract is located in a central city, (c) tract’s median household income was in the bottom 40th percentile when compared to all tracts in the metro area at the beginning of the decade, and (d) tract’s median home value was at the bottom 40th percentile when compared to all tracts in the metro area at the beginning of the decade (governing.com). Additionally, we draw on demographic, academic, and geographic data from the Austin Independent School District (AISD), documents, archival data, and in-depth interviews with leaders from schools in these tracts to understand their responses to gentrification.

Preliminary findings suggest that 25 out of 63 (39.7%) census tracts have gentrified in Austin since 2000, compared to 9 out of 55 (16.4.%) between 1990-2000: an 142% increase. Findings also indicate that school leaders are responding to gentrification by implementing new systems to account for high student mobility rates and retraining teachers to work with a diversity of learners. We conclude with implications for leader practice and policy.

Authors

• Terrance Green, The University of Texas - Austin

• Emily Germain, The University of Texas - Austin

• Joanna Dolores Sanchez, Howard University