Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Leadership and Policies

First Advisor

Kathleen Cunningham

Abstract

School takeover is a reform strategy where a school or district is placed into the control of a state or municipal government agency. Takeover has become increasingly popular in many states as an attempt to improve schools and district that are struggling either academically or financially. Takeover, however, is more likely to be implemented in districts serving a higher proportion of Black students. Due to the racialized nature of this policy this study uses a Critical Race Theory (CRT) methodology to engage in a critical policy analysis of school takeover in one rural school district in South Carolina. This study aims to further understand the differences between the policy rhetoric and the lived experiences of community members, specifically parents. This exploratory, CRT counternarrative, qualitative study centers the experiences of parents in the school district. Through a qualitative analysis of state documents, community meetings, and semi-structured interviews with parents from the district seven overall themes emerged including three dominant narratives, three counternarratives, and one final theme. The dominant narratives are: state takeover is collaborative, parents in the district are not actively involved, and the state has the children’s best interests in mind. The counternarratives are: collaboration was performative, parents are their children’s advocates, and there is a disconnect between the takeover and the interests of students. The final theme, too little too late, emerged from the parents’ overall sentiment toward the takeover.

Rights

© 2024, David Osworth

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