Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in partnership with Public Impact released “Identity and Charter School Leadership: Profiles of Leaders of Color Engaging Families,” addressing how the experiences of three leaders of color influence how they interact with and invite families to participate in their children’s schools. The report is the second in a series of three reports profiling charter school leaders of color to show some of the ways their experiences and perspectives shape how they lead schools with excellence.
“Our goal for this research is to feature leaders of color in charter schools—which are all public schools—who are making a clear positive difference in their communities across the country,” said Amy Wilkins, senior vice president of advocacy at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “Through these reports, we hope to shed light on some of the unique values leaders of color bring to their schools, and the thoughtful and effective practices that other leaders—regardless of their race or ethnicity—would be wise to adopt.”
The leaders profiled in this report all stand out for the ways they engage families as genuine partners:
Maquita Alexander is the executive director and head of school for Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. Alexander looked to parents to play a leading role when she wanted to create a more inviting campus for students of all backgrounds and income levels.
Freddy Delgado is superintendent/principal at Amigos Por Vida Charter School in Houston, TX. Delgado has built on the school’s family-centered culture and reset expectations for parental involvement to focus on what students need to succeed.
Kriste Dragon is CEO and co-founder of Citizens of the World Charter Schools, a national network of charter schools in Los Angeles, CA, and Kansas City, MO. Dragon’s teams are constantly considering the systems and structures that make it more difficult for some families to engage at the same levels as others and adjusting how they involve and what they ask of parents.
The report also spotlights some of the unique challenges—and opportunities—of engaging diverse families. Two of the profiled leaders who serve students from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds found that all families are not equally positioned to learn about their schools or to participate in the schools once they arrive. This is in part because of their own experiences as people of color, however, the leaders at both schools have prioritized efforts to level the playing field.
The report highlights common themes that ran across all eight profiles in the report series related to leaders’ experiences as people of color:
Addressing holes and creating opportunities based on personal experience. Based on holes in their own academic experiences as a person of color or as a child from a low-income family, several school leaders reported taking nontraditional steps to address those same challenges in their own schools.
Emphasizing value over deficits. Many of the leaders in this series emphasized the value students and their families offer rather than seeing their primary roles as compensating for or working around perceived deficits.
Providing an equitable educational experience to produce equitable student outcomes. The leaders of color included in this series work hard to provide students an educational experience like that of their more advantaged peers—an experience full of art, sport, travel, and extracurriculars—as well as opportunities to learn from their mistakes. In some cases, they have even built their schools around themes and curricula seldom available in low-income districts.
“The practices that we explore in this report are consistent with decades of research showing that students whose families are engaged in their education tend to perform better in school, regardless of family income, parent education, or racial background,” said Daniela Doyle, vice president for policy and management research at Public Impact. “Moreover, we find that the ways these three leaders choose to engage families reflect their own, very personal experiences as people of color.”
The full report is now available online at: www.publiccharters.org/our-work/publications/profiles-leaders-color-engaging-families
For more information about the report, the National Alliance or Public Impact, please contact: Shaelyn Macedonio at shaelyn@publiccharters.org.
