This is NOT About Critical Race Theory (But We Discuss It)
[CLICK HERE for the Full Blog Version of this Discussion]
Dear Colleagues,
Introduction
In some states, the beginning of the new school year is now weeks—not months—away. And with COVID-19 cases increasing virtually across the country, and most school-aged students still not vaccinated (for different reasons), how the school year opens (i.e., full in-person, full virtual, or hybrid) will probably vary from state to state, and even community to community.
Historically, the past 16 months or so has included pandemic and political, scientific and sociological, economic and educational, and other important events. Many of these events have been reported both in the media and across social media. And while some of these historical events are open to interpretation, others have been grossly misinterpreted by some. Still other events have, appropriately or inappropriately, been connected or “stacked” on top of each other.
As noted, some of this stacking has inaccurately linked truly separate events together—resulting in policy and practice confusion that directly affect curriculum and instruction at the classroom level.
A significant example here involves the stacking of events related to the presence of institutional racism in America and our nation’s schools. Among the events that some have stacked together are:
- The disproportionate medical, economic, educational, and other effects of the Pandemic on African American (as well as poor and other individuals of color) families and students;
- The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and countless other Black citizens at the hands of the police;
- The Black Lives Matter response to these murders, as well as the related protests and riots across the country during the Summer of 2020;
- The 400th anniversary of the “beginning” of slavery in the United States—when The White Lion brought 20 African slaves ashore in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619;
- The 1619 Project, a ten-essay August 14, 2019 issue of the New York Times Magazine that was published to commemorate the 400th anniversary noted above, to re-examine the legacy of slavery in the United States, and “to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative;"
- The move to use American Rescue Plan funds to help address the historic and long-standing funding inequities between schools that are majority white versus those that are majority students of color; and
- The recent controversy—and legislation to control—the “instruction” of Critical Race Theory in schools.
Critically, and first, we must recognize that our schools are a microcosm of our society and our communities at different historical points in time. But we also must recognize that when education becomes overly politicized, its potential as a vehicle to bring communities together—changing beliefs and behavior over time—becomes derailed.
And this is occurring right now as (at least) 28 states have tried to restrict schools’ treatment and instruction of racism, bias, and the history of different racial and ethnic groups in the United States—many in the name of controlling the teaching of Critical Race Theory.
Relative to the Critical Race Theory legislation, it appears that many of our state politicians are spending vast amounts of tax-payer time and money on a factual illusion. Indeed, a July 15, 2021 Education Week article reported on a nationally representative K-12 survey of 262 district leaders, 247 principals, and 251 teachers to determine the presence of Critical Race Theory in our nation’s classrooms.
The results indicated that just 8% of teachers say they have taught or even discussed Critical Race Theory with their K-12 students—20% of the urban teachers in the sample, and just 6% of the suburban or rural teachers, respectively.
And one can guess that the teachers who are discussing Critical Race Theory are presenting it objectively as a theory that students should be aware of so they can critically analyze its message and intent.
At this point, while it might be interesting to analyze our politicians’ motivation behind all of this legislation, quite frankly, this seems like an additional waste of time. Although there are grave concerns with the sanctions that some states are proposing for educators found teaching Critical Race Theory, and how teachers will be “policed” relative to their instruction of race, racism, equity, and Black history.
Concurrent with these concerns is how much time will be wasted—still in the midst of a Pandemic—on discussion, debate, professional development, lesson plan analysis, and administrative supervision—to ensure that teachers understand and do not include Critical Race Theory in their classrooms.
And then, there is the whole issue of the distrust that these interactions may breed—both within schools and out in the community.
Finally, will this decrease, sanitize, or eliminate legitimate classroom instruction—on the recent and historical impact of race, racism, equity, and Black history—because teachers are afraid to be unjustly accused of teaching Critical Race Theory, or to trigger students’ “emotional reactions” when, for example, they realize the White privilege they have always lived with?
Given all of this, this two-part Blog Series is not about Critical Race Theory.
This Series is about the need for educators to avoid wasting their time by looking past the politics and illusions—focusing, instead, directly on the present and its realties.
This Series is about how to change the long-standing impact of racial bias in our schools— effects that have existed long before any of us ever heard about Critical Race Theory.
We need to focus on what we can change right now.
And so, this Series will re-visit how to decrease and eliminate the disproportionate teacher-related office discipline referrals of students of color, and the resulting disproportionate decisions by administrators relative to student suspensions, expulsions, law enforcement involvement, and referrals to alternative school programs.
But before moving to this important issue, I want to share three recent resources that I read as part of my own self-education on Critical Race Theory. I believe that these resources are factual and objective, and they explain my concerns with how this issue has been forced on education.
July 22, 2021
Efforts to restrict teaching about racism and bias have multiplied across the U.S.; Chalkbeat
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June 24, 2021
What Is (and Isn’t) Critical Race Theory? A Closer Look at the Discipline Texas’ Governor Wants to ‘Abolish’; The74 Million
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July 19, 2021
Who’s Really Driving Critical Race Theory Legislation? An Investigation; Education Week
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Racism and Disproportionality
In this Series Part I, we will discuss different approaches that have been implemented in the past to address school-level disciplinary disproportionality—explaining why they have not worked and, hence, why they should be avoided in the future.
In doing this, we will not reiterate the well-known data and statistical analyses that validate the historical presence of disproportionality between White students and students of color, nor the fact that many students of color are given office discipline referrals for classroom “offenses” that, when exhibited by White students, are either ignored or addressed by the teacher in the classroom.
In Part II of this Series, we will discuss specific multi-tiered strategies and solutions that schools can use right now to address this issue.
But first, we want to define the term “racism” to, once again, emphasize that the discussion and effects of racism are generic and not synonymous with Critical Race Theory.
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“Racism” is a relatively new word that first appeared in the early 20th Century. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines racism as:
1: a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
also: behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief: racial discrimination or prejudice
2a: the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another specifically: Discriminatory housing practices, redlining neighborhoods, underfunded education, lack of access to healthcare, racial profiling, police brutality and mass incarceration are just a few examples of element that all together contribute to structural racism.
b: a political or social system founded on racism and designed to execute its principles
Significantly, this definition does not differentiate between overt and covert racism, implicit or explicit racism, or intended versus unintended racism.
And relative to disproportionate office discipline referrals and their resulting actions, we would—once again—like to focus on how to change the perceptions, interactions, or decisions of teachers and administrators when interacting with students of color.
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Why Disproportionality Outcomes Haven’t Changed
There are six reasons or flaws that explain why schools have been unable to address disproportionate discipline referrals for students of color over the past 40 or more years.
- Reason/Flaw #1. Educational leaders have tried to change the disproportionate numbers through policy and not practice.
- Reason/Flaw #2. State Departments of Education (and other educational leaders) have promoted whole-school programs that are unproven or have critical scientific flaws.
- Reason/Flaw #3. Districts and schools have implemented frameworks that target conceptual constructs, rather than instruction that teaches social, emotional, and behavioral skills.
- Reason/Flaw #4. Districts and schools have not recognized that classroom management and teacher training, supervision, and evaluation are keys to decreasing disproportionality; and they are depending on Teacher Training Programs to equip their teachers with effective classroom management skills.
- Reason/Flaw #5. Schools and staff have tried to motivate students to change their behavior when they have not learned, mastered, or are unable to apply the social, emotional, and behavioral skills needed to succeed.
- Reason/Flaw #6. Districts, schools, and staff do not have the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to implement the multi-tiered (prevention, strategic intervention, intensive need/crisis management) social, emotional, and/or behavioral services, supports, and interventions needed by some students.
These reasons are discussed in detail in the Full version of this Blog.
[CLICK HERE for this Entire Section in the Full Blog]
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Summary
This is the first Blog in a two-part Blog series on how districts and schools can successfully eliminate disproportionate discipline referrals and actions for students of color.
Beginning with a discussion of Critical Race Theory and a working definition of racism, we reviewed and provided important citations that identified:
- The political nature of the Critical Race Theory legislation in a number of states;
- The fact that most teachers are not teaching this theory in their classrooms;
- Concerns that schools are going to be wasting a lot of time this year, because of the legislation and—on a local school board level—the misinformation in many communities, on Critical Race Theory discussion, debate, professional development, lesson plan analysis, and administrative supervision (to ensure that teachers understand and do not include Critical Race Theory in their classrooms); and
- The additional implications relative to teacher trust, academic freedom, and the potential that legitimate classroom instruction and discussion on issues related to race, racism, equity, and Black history will be reduced, sanitized, or eliminated because teachers are afraid to be unjustly accused of teaching Critical Race Theory, or triggering undue student controversy or emotions.
Based on the information presented, we recommended that educators avoid wasting their time by looking past the Critical Race Theory politics and illusions and, instead, focus directly on how to eliminate the disproportionate disciplinary referrals and actions against students of color—a long-standing outcome of racial bias in our schools.
Relative to this goal, we then discussed the different approaches that have been implemented in the past to address school-level disciplinary disproportionality—explaining why they have not worked and, hence, why they should be avoided in the future.
This was presentation was organized through the following Reasons or Flaws:
- Reason/Flaw #1. Educational leaders have tried to change the disproportionate numbers through policy and not practice.
- Reason/Flaw #2. State Departments of Education (and other educational leaders) have promoted whole-school programs that are unproven or have critical scientific flaws.
- Reason/Flaw #3. Districts and schools have implemented frameworks that target conceptual constructs, rather than instruction that teaches social, emotional, and behavioral skills.
- Reason/Flaw #4. Districts and schools have not recognized that classroom management and teacher training, supervision, and evaluation are keys to decreasing disproportionality; and they are depending on Teacher Training Programs to equip their teachers with effective classroom management skills.
- Reason/Flaw #5. Schools and staff have tried to motivate students to change their behavior when they have not learned, mastered, or are unable to apply the social, emotional, and behavioral skills needed to succeed.
- Reason/Flaw #6. Districts, schools, and staff do not have the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to implement the multi-tiered (prevention, strategic intervention, intensive need/crisis management) social, emotional, and/or behavioral services, supports, and interventions needed by some students.
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In summary, we have been unsuccessful in eliminating disproportionality in our schools because most previous and some current efforts have avoided analyzing the underlying student- and staff-focused reasons for this problem.
Indeed, most districts and schools have not comprehensively and objectively identified the root causes of their students’ challenging behavior, and have not linked these root causes to strategically-applied multi-tiered science-to-practice strategies and interventions that are effectively and equitably used by teachers and administrators.
This will be discussed in Part II of this Series, along with specific multi-tiered strategies and solutions that schools can use right now to address this issue.
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I appreciate everything that you do to support our students and colleagues in the field. My Blog analyses and comments are not designed to emphasize what is not working in our field. Instead, they are designed to critique why some things are not working, and to provide field-tested, science-to-practice alternatives.
Meanwhile, I always look forward to your comments. . . whether on-line or via e-mail.
If I can help you in any of the multi-tiered areas discussed in this message, I am always happy to provide a free one-hour consultation conference call to help you clarify your needs and directions on behalf of your students.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Best,
Howie
[CLICK HERE for the Full Blog Version of this Discussion]
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