The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Education A CURRICULAR POLICY FORTY YEARS IN THE MAKING: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY COURSE IN THE PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT A Dissertation in Education Theory and Policy by Felicia C. Sanders Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2009 The thesis of Felicia C. Sanders was reviewed and approved* by the following: Dana L. Mitra Assistant Professor of Education Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee David Gamson Associate Professor of Education Professor-in-Charge, Education Theory and Policy Program Kimberly Griffin Assistant Professor of Education Emilie Smith Professor of Health and Human Development *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School.
ii ABSTRACT African American students are among the lowest achieving minority groups in the United States public school system. Multicultural education literature argues that such a curriculum could help increase the academic achievement of Black students; however, there is very little evidence of this claim. In 2005, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission mandated that all high school students take a newly developed African American history (AAH) course as graduation requirement beginning with class of 2009, after 40 years of community request for such a course. Through a qualitative case study research approach, and using the theory of social construction of target populations (Schneider & Ingram, 1993) and a framework that explains common impediments to educational policy implementation (Shulman, 1983), this study seeks to examine why the District implemented the AAH course as a graduate requirement, how the District designed the course, and how the course was implemented by social studies teachers.
The use of the theory of social construction of target populations provided a framework for understanding the decisions District administrators made in regards to requiring the course and how they designed the course. The findings from this portion of the study suggest that the District administrators’ goals for requiring the course focused on their social construction of Black youth, but the design of the course focused on the perceptions of teachers’ strengths and weaknesses. The administrators’ assessment of teachers’ capacities contributed to a disconnect between what teachers needed to teach the course and what they were provided. Lee Shulman’s (1983) impediments to policy implementation provided a framework to examine and explain the challenges teachers experienced in implementing the curricular policy.
This dissertation concludes that the Philadelphia community won a political victory in terms of the inclusion of the AAH course in the District’s curriculum. However, as a result of the disconnect between the administrators and teachers, the course was implemented poorly and cannot be considered an educational victory. i Table of Contents ABSTRACT. i LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.
vi CHAPTER ONE: Introduction. 2 Purpose of the Study and Research Questions. 7 Organization of the Study. 8 CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review.
13 Intended Effects of Multicultural Education. 25 Will to Implement Policy. 26 Capacity to Implement Policy. 30 Variation is the Norm.
38 CHAPTER THREE: Theoretical Framework. 40 Social Construction of Target Populations. 40 Core Principles of Social Construction of Target Populations. 43 Education Research & Social Construction Theory.
46 Impediments to the Simple Solution. 52 Applications to Current Study. 56 CHAPTER FOUR: Methodology. 59 Research Design and Rationale.
60 Sample Selection and Access. 65 ii Participation Selection and Recruitment. 66 Data Collection and Protocol. 73 Threats to Validity.
79 Significance of the Study and Methods. 80 Presentation of Findings. 81 CHAPTER FIVE: Historical, Political, & Educational Context of AAH Policy. 83 Community Control in Philadelphia: 1960s.
92 The Policy Window is Open: 2001-2005. 94 Community and National Response to the Reform. 104 CHAPTER SIX: AAH Course: The Purpose, Design, and Vision. 106 Social Construction of Black Youth in Philadelphia.
106 Social Construction of Black Youth in Philadelphia. 107 Positive Personal Development. 109 Decreasing the Achievement Gap. 112 Providing youth with the best quality education.
115 Development of AAH Course and Social Construction of Teachers. 117 Administrators’ Perception of Teachers. 125 Professional Development and Student Learning Outcomes. 134 CHAPTER SEVEN: Policy Implementation from the Perspective of Teachers.
138 Inconsistencies among Mandates: Teachers’ Perceptions of the Purpose of the AAH Course. 139 Positive personal development. 142 iii Inconsistencies in Purpose. 143 Limits on Resources, Time and Energy.
144 Limits on Teacher Expertise. 148 Limitations of Working Conditions. 153 Self-Defeating Mandate. 154 Policy in Action: African American History Classrooms.
171 CHAPTER EIGHT: Discusion and Implications. 173 Discussion and Summary of Key Findings. 176 Policy Goals, Design, and Implementation. 176 The Intersection of Curriculum and Instruction.
182 Building Capacity: Professional Development. 183 Implementation on the Ground Level: AAH Classes. 185 Policy Recommendations and Future Research. 189 Conclusion: Political Victory versus Educational Victory.
195 Appendix A: Timeline of AAH course in the Philadelphia School District. 207 Appendix B: Topical Table of Contents of African-American History Textbook. 209 Appendix C: Interview Protocol for District Officials. 212 Appendix D: Interview Protocol for Teachers.
213 Appendix E: Interview and Observational Codes. 214 Appendix F: Recruitment Materials. 218 Appendix G: Consent Form. 219 iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figures Figure 3.
Social Construction and Power to Impact Policy………………………. Conceptualization of Data Analysis…………………. Contextual layers of African American history course………. Race/Ethnicity of Students in Philadelphia School District……………….
District administrator participants and data…………………. Teacher Participant Information……………………………………. History of AAH course in Philadelphia………………………………………69 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Those who have earned a Ph. know that this great feat cannot be achieved without the support of family, friends, colleagues, mentors and of course committee members.
I would first like to thank Dana Mitra, my dissertation committee chair and my advisor for the past four years. She believed in me when I sometimes doubted myself. She has provided me with so many opportunities to grow as a scholar, from working with her on research projects to nominating me to participate in numerous national professional development experiences. She has read this thesis many times and each time has provided me with sound advice on how to “bump it up a level.” The rest of my committee has also been invaluable in this journey.
I would like to thank David Gamson for holding me to such a high standard. It takes time and energy to provide the quality instruction and feedback he has provided me over the course my graduate experience. Kimberly Griffin has commented on almost every page of the thesis, and thus helped me improve it tremendously. I’m very appreciative of Emilie Smith’s meticulous feedback and guidance.
She has also presented me with many opportunities to grow as an academic. Shaun Harper also challenged me to defend my work during the proposal defense, and in doing so, helped me believe in my work. I’d also like to acknowledge the College of Education at Penn State and the African Research Center for providing funding to conduct this research. I would also like to acknowledge my Department, for I have received so much support from so many faculty members.
David Baker, Gerry LeTendre, Mindy Kornhaber, and Suet-Ling Pong for all of their advice and for taking the time out of their busy schedules to write letters of recommendation, make phone calls, and forward opportunities my way. To my EDTHP colleagues, I literally wouldn’t have been able to do this without them. CindyAnn Rampersad, has been with me from the beginning—in the TA office. David Perez II has also served as a great source of inspiration and support.
I’ve benefited their friendship and their mentorship. My writing group—Talat Ahzar, Larry Boggess, John Collins, and Hilary Knipe—have provided me with a safe place to take chances with my work and to have meaningful intellectual conversations about my research to push it to the next level. I’ve developed a family in Happy Valley. Ellis’ mentorship is unmatched.
I think I’ve learned more from her actions than I have from our conversations (and I’ve learned a lot from our conversations) .Words can’t express how she has contributed to my life. Joyce Hopson-King, I probably wouldn’t be here without her and SROP (summer 2003). She has continued to support me over the years and has brightened my day on so many different occasions. Catherine Lyons’ presence alone or a simple smile has conveyed to me her level of support and encouragement and for that I am truly thankful.
I owe a great deal to my friends who provided me with a place to stay while I traveled back and forth to Philadelphia collecting data. Thank you to Tiffany Allen, Maria Finger, Aunt Peggy, and Uncle Lue. They made data collection possible and fun. Kristin Nickens and Virginia Quiambao have supported me along the way and have been my dear friends for the past 16 years.
Mark Henderson has proofread many papers at the eleventh hour, so thank you. I owe the greatest debt to my parents and family. They’ve been patient when I’ve had to grade papers or work on my dissertation during holidays, and tolerated my inability to travel home as much as I’d like. Thank you Mom and Rita for reading and editing this entire thesis and thank you Dad for keeping them on track.
Most of all, thank you for being my parents and supporting me every step of the way. My brother Tony served as my inspiration to go to graduate school and my sister Akeisha has been my best friend. I can’t wait to call her Dr. Sanders in a few years.
I’m so lucky to have shared a childhood with both of them and I look forward to our futures. Finally, I’d like to dedicate this dissertation to my grandparents, Leonard and Marie Sanders and Coleman and Claries Royal. I know I’ve made them proud and it means the world to me vi CHAPTER ONE Introduction No challenge has been more daunting than that of improving the academic achievement of African American students. Burdened with a history that includes denial of education, separate and unequal education, and relegation to unsafe, substandard inner-city schools, the quest for quality education remains an elusive dream for the African American community.
ix) All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for developing their individual powers of mind and spirit to the utmost. This promise means that all children by virtue of their own efforts, competently guided, can hope to attain the mature and informed judgment needed to secure gainful employment, and to manage their own lives, thereby serving not only their own interests but also the progress of society itself. —A Nation at Risk, (1983) Federal, state, and local policymakers and educators have long sought solutions to increase the quality of education and educational opportunities for minority children in the US. In this study, I examined the implementation of a curricular policy that aims to achieve that very goal.
The Philadelphia School District passed a resolution in 2005 that requires all high school students to take an African American history course. In this introductory chapter, I provide a framework for the purpose of this study in the “problem statement” section, and then I discuss the purpose of this study, including the presentation of my research questions. Lastly, I provide an outline for the organization of the dissertation. 1 Problem Statement African American students are among the lowest achieving minority groups in the United States public school system, and an achievement gap between Black and White students is present at the beginning of their educational careers—in kindergarten (Fryer, R.
The noticeable achievement gap between Black students and their White counterparts has persisted since the 1950s.