Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed. D.

Department

Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development

Degree Program

Educational Leadership and Organizational Development, EDD

Committee Chair

Brydon-Miller, Mary

Committee Member

Fulk, Rob

Committee Member

Marshall, John

Committee Member

Rivers, Ishwanzya

Author's Keywords

education; equity; racial educational equity; racial equity; racial equity policy; racial equity policy enactment

Abstract

This autoethnographic study investigates the enactment and impact of racial equity policies within Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), a large urban school district in Louisville, Kentucky. The research is motivated by the ongoing challenges of achieving true educational equity for Black and Brown students, a struggle rooted in historical injustices such as redlining. Despite over seven years of policy implementation aimed at promoting racial equity, academic and behavioral disparities between Black and Brown students and their White counterparts have shown little improvement. Utilizing a qualitative methodology, this study employs autoethnography to intertwine personal narrative with scholarly analysis, exploring the lived experiences of the researcher – an educator, Resource Teacher, and Anti-Racist Specialist – within the content of JCPS. Data is drawn from significant personal narratives, field notes, creative writing, and external documentation, allowing for thematic analysis of the conditions conducive to, and the barriers presently obstructing, effective policy implementation. Findings reveal complex dynamics influencing the enactment of racial equity initiatives. Three primary research questions guided this exploration: the conditions that facilitated the JCPS racial equity policy enactment, the policy's multifaceted impacts on the researcher, and the accountability roles within Central Office personnel. Results indicate that personal and institutional contradictions affect both educators' roles and the experiential realities of policy impact. The study also highlights a persistent gap between policy intentions and educational equity outcomes, revealing that without genuine accountability and deeper ideological changes, initiatives may fail to achieve their stated goals. Ultimately, these findings underscore the necessity for a critical reassessment of how racial equity policies are designed, implemented, and evaluated, advocating for a more robust framework that prioritizes the lived experiences of educators and students alike. By centering these narratives, this research contributes to a broader discourse on educational equity, offering insights for future reforms in public education.

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