“The Impact of African-American Female Leaders on Creating a Positive School Culture that Results in the Improvement of Student Achievement”
Abstract
Historically, women and minorities have been underrepresented in school leadership positions. Furthermore, African American women faced substantial scrutiny during their professional careers and were obliged to take different routes to acquire administrative positions. This research will explore the journeys of successful African American females who are serving or who have served previously as school and district administrators in 21st century global environments. This research will describe how female African American principals and superintendents define and understand the influence of race and gender on their educational leadership experiences. Three theoretical research frameworks form the basis for this understanding and will be discussed: Critical Race Theory; Racial Identity Development Theory and The Black Epistemology. The theoretical perspectives emerging from studying this research have enabled these women to develop a positive sense of self. These perceptions have impacted their conceptualization of leadership, their ability to deal with barriers they encounter, and to conceive effective strategies to attain a principalship and/or asuperintendency. The paper will discuss the formal and informal educational preparation of these African American women. Through their personal stories, case studies, research, and data from the New York City public school system, the reasons these women were chosen, as leaders will be elucidated. They had a reputation for developing teachers’ instructional ability and were considered to be fair and consistent. Data will demonstrate they improved student outcomes. These leaders fostered distributive leadership and were able to cultivate leaders in their schools and districts. They were able also to communicate effectively with parents, community members and staff and to form community and educational partnerships. Over the past decade, research has been devoted to bridging the gap in academics and opportunity experienced by African-American students. Missing from the dialogue however are the voices of African-American female leaders. Their voices will not only play an instrumental part in mediating cultural misunderstandings that occur in the classroom, but will also facilitate a much needed conversation in understanding gender and race by displaying different views on educational leadership. African-American female school leaders have a multiplicity of positive and challenging experiences.