PK–12 District Leadership for Equity: An Exploration of Director Role Configurations and Vulnerabilities

The Rise of the School District Chief Equity Officer: Moving Beyond Mimetic Isomorphism and Promoting Anti-Racist Systemic Change

“…In the K-12 context, research could examine the role of the chief equity officer within the broader organizational structure and the district's overall commitment to equity and diversity. Irby et al (2022) identified obstacles and supports that chief equity offers experience and provided preliminary insight into organizational structure of the chief equity officer position. Informed by the literature presented in this article, future scholarship could expand upon this work and include additional interviews with chief equity officers and other key stakeholders in systemic, anti-racist change efforts throughout the district.…”

“…In the words of one chief equity officer, “institutional racism manifests itself in districts articulating the desire to address equity, but there aren’t resources attached to the work, nor is there staff…Districts have equity officers with a small number of staff, and they’re expected to implement these enormous changes” (Samuels, 2019). Early research on the chief equity officer similarly reveals the importance of the “configuration of the role” and the “vulnerability” associated with the associated expectations (Irby et al, 2022, p. 419, 428). In October of 2020, Round Rock School District in Texas hired Dwayne Street to serve as its first chief equity officer.…”

“…Informed by the literature presented in this article, future scholarship could expand upon this work and include additional interviews with chief equity officers and other key stakeholders in systemic, anti-racist change efforts throughout the district. Moreover, future research should acknowledge the role of intersectional (race and gender) oppression in the work of chief equity officers (Irby et al, 2022). Future research studies should also examine the impact of having a chief equity officer on desirable outcomes such as school climate, safety, and cross-racial interactions and relationships among students in comparison to schools without one.…”

“…While the chief equity officer position was initially developed, adopted, and adapted in response to historic and systemic inequities in the organizations and institutions that engage in this work, over time, as this position becomes standardized through a process scholars call mimetic isomorphism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983), it runs the risk of becoming symbolic, only serving to signal or perform an organization's commitment to equity-oriented work without meaningfully attending to its structures, policies, or practices. Unfortunately, there is limited empirical research in this area; in fact, we are only aware of one published study on the role of the school district chief equity officer (Irby et al, 2022).…”

Countering the Conspiracy of Silence: Leveraging Race Talk and Data Dialogues as Equity Leaders Challenge Whiteness in Schools

“…School leaders committed to anti-racist change must understand the difficult nature of this work while anticipating strong resistance, uncertainty, and discomfort (Irby et al, 2022). Although recent research and practice in the field underscore how race-explicit conversations are a necessary foundation for equity work and addressing issues of marginalization and structural inequities in education.…”