Racism, Research, and Educational Reform

The Editors: Joanne Kilgour Dowdy is Associate Professor at Kent State University, Ohio. A graduate of Juilliard School in the theatre division, Dr. Dowdy continues to use her drama training to prepare teachers for the literacy classroom, and as a performer who facilitates writing development through interactive workshops. Her major research interests include documenting the experiences of Black women involved in education from adult basic literacy to higher education. She is the co-editor (with Lisa Delpit) of The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom (2002), and the author of GED Stories: Black Women & Their Struggle for Social Equity (Lang, 2003).Joan T. Wynne, a former Professor at Morehouse College and Georgia State University is now a Professor at Florida State University where she is also Associate Director of the Center for Urban Education & Innovation.

«Sometimes schools work – children learn, teachers teach, and opportunities are created. Too often, this happens in spite of the policy makers and master reformers and not because of them. This book is the account of those in Atlanta who have done the hard work – teachers, parents, organizers. Hearing their voices gives us insight into what it takes to make a difference in the lives of children.» (Pedro Noguera, Professor of Sociology, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University, author of ‘The Skin That I Speak’)«I believe this book contributes to current debates in education in ways that few, if any, other current books do. As urban education gets lost in debates about the No Child Left Behind Act and high stakes testing, it is rare to get a look at the fate of actual efforts to transform urban schools. The interview with Lisa Delpit extends the work she wrote about in ‘Other People’s Children’ and for that alone educators and policy makers will certainly read the book. In addition, the accounts of actual programs and the problems that researchers and reformers face on a concrete level echo many of the education struggles that I have observed throughout the country over the past few years. What I liked most about this book was the toughness and honesty with which such sensitive issues as conflict, racism, internal inefficiencies in the schools, and the very struggle to keep reform efforts going are documented. ‘Racism, Research, and Educational Reform’ does not provide a formula or panacea and, while sharing successes, confronts failures as well. It is an important work that all of us who want to fight racism and develop effective schools that succeed should read.» (Herbert Kohl, Director of the Institute for Social Justice and Education, and Eugene Lang Professor of Education, Swarthmore College)

• Contents: Asa Hilliard III: Preface – Interview with Lisa Delpit – Joan T. Wynne/F. Prescott-Adams: Interview with Folami Prescott-Adams – Betty L. Strickland: Leadership Is Everything: Investing in Professional Development – One Teacher’s Journey with UACC: An Interview with Chinwe Obijiofor – Joan T. Wynne: The Elephant in the Classroom: Racism in School Reform – Barbara Meyers/Joanne Kilgour Dowdy/Patricia Paterson: Finding the Missing Voices: Perspectives of the Least Visible Families and Their Willingness and Capacity for School Involvement – Joanne Kilgour Dowdy (with Martha Abbott-Shim/Lynn Briggs/Florence Hardney-Hinds/Tracy Woodhall): Poetry in the Middle School Classroom.