Providing Equitable Access to Education for African American Students: The Journey of One Administrative Team

This study explored the journey of one administrative team in a Midwestern suburban high school in their efforts to provide equitable access to education for African American students. It examined the high school administrative processes, and the perceived impacts of these processes in identifying, addressing and removing the institutional barriers to academic success for African American students. I focused on an initiative developed by members of this administrative team that is an intervention designed specifically for African American students and articulated as such. As both an insider to this school’s administrative team and a veteran administrator, and as an outsider to the design of this intervention, I used grounded theory to develop administrative models for other administrators working to even the playing field for all students. By deconstruction of this initiative through in-depth interviews and observations, I mapped the varied successes and challenges encountered in administrative processes