Purpose: In this mixed methods study, we delve into the complex realm of perceptions of critical race theory (CRT) in the United States. The public perspective of CRT has implications for K12 education, particularly as it relates to teaching literature and social studies. In our investigation, we focus on school district superintendents’ perception of the impact on schools and education. Research Approach: Using quantitative (a Likert-type survey with open-ended items) and qualitative instruments (a semi-structured interview protocol), the study aims to unravel superintendents’ awareness, views, and understanding of CRT. Findings: Data revealed a range of superintendent perceived familiarity levels, with some leaders possessing an in-depth understanding of CRT while others are less acquainted. Concerns surrounding the potential divisiveness, politicization, and suitability for CRT in K12 settings emerged as significant themes. Implications: The research underscores the need for professional development and reliable information to enhance educational leaders’ comprehension of CRT. It also highlights the importance of approaching CRT cautiously in light of its complex and contested nature. The study advocates for inclusive and accurate history education and recommends effective integration of CRT, leader preparation, and policy implications. The recommendations consider the intricate landscape of CRT in K-12 educational leadership. It emphasizes the significance of promoting inclusive environments to address racial disparities and promote equitable learning.
AuW. (2013). High-stakes testing and curricular control: A qualitative metasynthesis. Educational Researcher, 42(5), 258–267. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X07306523
5.
Author 1 et al. (2023).
6.
Authors (2023).
7.
Authors et al. (2017).
8.
BanksJ. A. (2006). Race, culture, and education: The selected works of James A. Banks. Routledge.
9.
BarnesM. L. (2016). Empirical methods and critical race theory: A discourse on possibilities for a hybrid methodology. Wisconsin Law Review, 443(1), 444–476.
10.
BellD. (1973). Race, racism, and American law. Little, Brown & Co.
11.
BellD. (1980). Brown v. Board of Education and the interest-convergence dilemma. Harvard Law Review, 93(3), 518–533. https://doi.org/10.2307/1340546
12.
BellD. (1995). Who’s afraid of critical race theory?University of Illinois Law Review, 4(3), 893–910.
13.
BjörkL. G.Browne-FerrignoT.KowalskiT. J. (2014). The superintendent and educational reform in the United States of America. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 13(4), 444–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2014.945656
BohonosJ. W. (2019). Including critical whiteness studies in the critical human resource development family: A proposed theoretical framework. Adult Education Quarterly, 69(4), 315–337.
BuseyC. L.DuncanK. E.Dowie-ChinT. (2023). Critical what what? A theoretical systematic review of 15 years of critical race theory research in social studies education, 2004–2019. Review of Educational Research, 93(3), 412–453. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543221105551
18.
ButlerJ.IIIFryerC. S.GarzaM. A.QuinnS. C.ThomasS. B. (2018). Commentary: Critical race theory training to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities: The public health critical race praxis institute. Ethnicity & Disease, 28(1), 279. https://doi.org/10.18865/ed.28.S1.279
CapperC. A. (2015). The 20th-year anniversary of critical race theory in education: Implications for leading to eliminate racism. Educational Administration Quarterly, 51(5), 791–833. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X15607616
21.
CarbadoD. W. (2010). Critical what what?Connecticut Law Review, 43(5), 1593–1643.
ConoverW. J.ImanR. L. (1981). Rank transformations as a bridge between parametric and nonparametric statistics. The American Statistician, 35(3), 124–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.1981.10479327
24.
CrenshawK. (1988). Race, reform, and retrenchment: Transformation and legitimation in antidiscrimination law. Harvard Law Review, 101(7), 1331–1387. https://doi.org/10.2307/1341398
25.
CrenshawK. W. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167.
26.
CrenshawK. W. (1990). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039
27.
CrenshawK. (2011). Twenty years of critical race theory: Looking back to move forward. Connecticut Law Review, 43(5), 1253–1353.
28.
CrenshawK. W. (Ed.). (2019). Seeing race again: Countering colorblindness across the disciplines. University of California.
29.
CreswellJ. W.ClarkV. L. P. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage.
30.
CrichlowW. (2015). Critical race theory: A strategy for framing discussions around social justice and democratic education [Paper presentation]. Higher Education in Transformation Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
31.
DaftaryA. (2020). Critical race theory: An effective framework for social work research. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 29(6), 439–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2018.1534223
32.
DavidsonF. D.SchwanenbergerM.WiggallR. (2019). What matters most in superintendent evaluation?Education Leadership Review, 20(1), 217–233.
33.
DawadiS.ShresthaS.GiriR. A. (2021). Mixed-methods research: A discussion on its types, challenges, and criticisms. Journal of Practical Studies in Education, 2(2), 25–36. https://doi.org/10.46809/jpse.v2i2.20
34.
DealT. E.PetersonK. D. (2016). Shaping school culture. John Wiley & Sons.
DeCuirJ. T.DixsonA. D. (2004). So when it comes out, they aren’t that surprised that it is there: Using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 33(5), 26–31. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X033005026
37.
DeeJ. (2022). Do bans on teaching “divisive concepts” interfere with students’ right to know?AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom, 13, 1–15.
de la GarzaA. T.OnoK. A. (2016). Critical race theory. In JensenK. B.CraigR. T.PooleyJ. D.RothenbuhlerE. W. (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of communication theory and philosophy (pp. 1–9). Wiley.
40.
DelgadoR.StefancicJ. (2023). Critical race theory: An introduction (4th ed.). New York University.
DiAngeloR. (2018). White fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon.
43.
DixsonA. D.RousseauC. K. (2005). And we are still not saved: Critical race theory in education ten years later. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 7–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000340971
44.
DixsonA. D.Rousseau AndersonC. (2018). Where are we? Critical race theory in education 20 years later. Peabody Journal of Education, 93(1), 121–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2017.1403194
45.
FarleyA. N.LeonardiB.DonnorJ. K. (2021). Perpetuating inequalities: The role of political distraction in education policy. Educational Policy, 35(2), 163–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904820987992
46.
FarrowR.IniestoF.WellerM.PittR. (2020). GO-GN research methods handbook. Global OER.
GeorgeD.MalleryP. (2021). IBM SPSS statistics 27 step by step: A simple guide and reference. Routledge.
50.
GeraldB.PatsonT. F. (2021). Parametric and nonparametric tests: A brief review. International Journal of Statistical Distributions and Applications, 7(3), 78–82. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsd.20210703.12
51.
GibbsG. R. (2018). Analyzing qualitative data. Sage.
52.
GillbornD. (2005). Education policy as an act of white supremacy: Whiteness, critical race theory and education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 20(4), 485–505. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930500132346
53.
GoldbergD. T. (2023). The war on critical race theory: Or, the remaking of racism. Polity.
GraceJ.LastrapesR. E. (2023). What do school administrators think about race? A critical race mixed-methods study. Journal of School Leadership, 34(2), 177–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/10526846231194349
56.
GrahamL.Brown-JeffyS.AronsonR.StephensC. (2011). Critical race theory as theoretical framework and analysis tool for population health research. Critical Public Health, 21(1), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2010.493173
HoldenT.SmithC. (2024). A systematized review of anti-racist pedagogical strategies. In HuoX.SmithC. (Eds.), Interrogating race and racism in postsecondary language classrooms (pp. 306–324). IGI Global.
59.
HowardT. C.ReynoldsR. (2013). Examining Black male identity through a raced, classed, and gendered lens: Critical race theory and the intersectionality of the Black male experience. In LynnM.DixsonA. D. (Eds.), Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 252–267). Routledge.
60.
Hughes-HassellS.BarkleyH. A.KoehlerE. (2009). Promoting equity in children’s literacy instruction: Using a critical race theory framework to examine transitional books. School Library Media Research, 12(1), 1–18.
61.
HyltonK. (2012). Talk the talk, walk the walk: Defining critical race theory in research. Race Ethnicity and Education, 15(1), 23–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.638862
62.
HyltonK. (2015). ‘Race’ talk! Tensions and contradictions in sport and PE. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 20(5), 503–516.
James-GallawayC. D.DixonA. D. (2023). We have seen this before: The racial status quo and “anti-CRT” discourse. Dialogues in Social Justice: An Adult Education Journal, 8(1), art. A1479.
65.
JochimA.DilibertiM. K.SchwartzH.DestlerK.HillP. (2023). Navigating political tensions over schooling: Findings from the Fall 2022 American School District panel survey. Center on Reinventing Public Education.
KnausC. B. (2009). Shut up and listen: Applied critical race theory in the classroom. Race Ethnicity and Education, 12(2), 133–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320902995426
71.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465
72.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education?International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236863
73.
Ladson-BillingsG. (2004). New directions in multicultural education: Complexities, boundaries, and critical race theory. In BanksJ. A.BanksC. A. M. (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 50–65). Jossey-Bass.
74.
Ladson-BillingsG. (2022). Critical race theory—What it is not!. In LynnM.DixsonA. D. (Eds.), Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 32–43). Routledge.
75.
Ladson-BillingsG.TateW. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 97(1), 47–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104
76.
LopezG. R. (2003). The (racially neutral) politics of education: A critical race theory perspective. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(1), 68–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X02239761
77.
LopezI. F. H. (2013). The social construction of race. In DelgadoR.StefancicJ. (Eds.), Critical race theory: The cutting edge (3rd ed., pp. 191–203). Temple University.
LynnM.ParkerL. (2006). Critical race studies in education: Examining a decade of research on U.S. Schools. The Urban Review, 38(4), 257–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-006-0035-5
80.
MaharajS. (2020). From oversight to advocacy: An examination of school-board leadership. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 19(3), 431–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2019.1585548
MatsudaM. J.LawrenceC. R.IIIDelgadoR.CrenshawK. W. (1993). Words that wound: Critical race theory, assaultive speech, and the First Amendment. Routledge.
MitchellA. B.StewartJ. B. (2013). The efficacy of all-male academies: Insights from critical race theory (CRT). Sex Roles, 69(7/8), 382–392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0074-6
88.
MorganD. L. (2014). Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods: A pragmatic approach. Sage.
89.
MurphyJ.HallingerP. (1986). The superintendent as instructional leader: Findings from effective school districts. Journal of Educational Administration, 24(2), 213–236. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009917
90.
MutuaA. D. (2010). Law, critical race theory and related scholarship. In CollinsP. H.SolomosJ. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of race and ethnic studies (pp. 275–305). Sage.
91.
NirA. E.EyalO. (2003). School-based management and the role conflict of the school superintendent. Journal of Educational Administration, 41(5), 547–564. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230310489362
PulliamR. M. (2017). Practical application of critical race theory: A social justice course design. Journal of Social Work Education, 53(3), 414–423. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2016.1275896
SablanJ. R. (2019). Can you really measure that? Combining critical race theory and quantitative methods. American Educational Research Journal, 56(1), 178–203. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218798325
99.
SaldañaJ. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (4th ed.). Sage.
100.
SaldañaJ.OmastaM. (2018). Qualitative research: Analyzing life. Sage.
SmithA. N. (2020). Critical race theory: Disruption in teacher education pedagogy. Journal of Culture and Values in Education, 3(1), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.4
SolórzanoD. G.HuberL. P. (2020). Racial microaggressions: Using critical race theory to respond to everyday racism. Teachers College Press.
107.
SolórzanoD. G.YossoT. J. (2001). Critical race and LatCrit theory and method: Counter-storytelling. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(4), 471–495. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365
108.
SolórzanoD. G.YossoT. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103
109.
SpainA. K. (2016). Situating school district resource decision making in policy context. American Journal of Education, 122(2), 171–197. https://doi.org/10.1086/684553
SueD. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. JWiley & Sons.
113.
SueD. W.CapodilupoC. M.TorinoG. C.BucceriJ. M.HolderA. M. B.NadalK. L.EsquilinM. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271
114.
SungK. K.ColemanN. (2019). Framing critical race theory and methodologies. In StrunkK. K.LockeL. A. (Eds.), Research methods for social justice and equity in education (pp. 45–57). Palgrave MacMillan.
115.
TateW. F. (1997). Critical race theory and education: History, theory, and implications. Review of Research in Education, 22(1), 195–247. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X022001195
TaylorE.GillbornD.Ladson-BillingsG. (Eds.). (2023). Foundations of critical race theory in education. Taylor & Francis.
118.
TurnerS. F.CardinalL. B.BurtonR. M. (2017). Research design for mixed methods: A triangulation-based framework and roadmap. Organizational Research Methods, 20(2), 243–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428115610808
WallsJ.Seashore LouisK. (2023). Moral distress amongst district leaders: Intensity, dilemmas, and coping mechanisms in the context of COVID-19. Educational Administration Quarterly, 59(3), 507–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X231170226
WheelerR. E. (2021). An introduction to “critical legal research: The next wave”. Boston University Law Review Online, 101(1), 1–5.
125.
WilliamsC. C. (2014). Perspectives of school superintendents in school crises [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Virginia Tech.
126.
WiseT. (2010). Colorblind: The rise of post-racial politics and the retreat from racial equity. City Lights Books.
127.
YamamotoE. K. (1997). Critical race praxis: Race theory and political lawyering practice in post-civil rights America. Michigan Law Review, 95(4), 821–900. https://doi.org/10.2307/1290048
128.
YossoT. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006
129.
ZewudeR.SharmaM. (2021). Critical race theory in medicine. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 193(20), E739–E741. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.210178
