A Study of a District Reform Rationale and Response

Abstract

The mandates of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965 and 2015, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001, and the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 are reminders that educational organizations must ensure all students meet academic achievement requirements. These mandates and the changing demographics at Creekpoint School District (CSD) caused district leaders to look at school reform plans that would address their concerns of shifting demographics, low student achievement particularly for their students of color), and isolated radial pockets throughout the eleven elementary buildings in the district. This study examined the district’s approach to justifying the reform and the stakeholder response to this approach. The research found that district leavers approached the district reform in line with Rorrer, Skrla, & Scheurich’s (2008), characteristics of institutional actors in educational reform, centering issues of equality and increasing segregation. Stakeholder input revealed that those were in fact problematic, as resisters to the proposed redesign employed arguments aligned with DiAngelo’s description of White Fragility (DiAngelo, 2011), arguing they were being victimized, that their children’s schools would deteriorate in quality and that they should be entitled to remind in the single elite magnet program.