I am currently
assisting Dr. Katharine Destler with her research regarding School Choice and
Social Capital, specifically if segregation is affecting charter schools within
the United States and why would that be. The tasks I worked on this semester
were finding how many authorizers certain school districts have, if those
authorizers state any diversity plans for the districts, and if there were any
recommended strategies to help diversify public schools and how would it
benefit the schools. Dr. Destler complied a list of about 40 United States cities,
each containing some school districts. From there I searched by state to see
which district has authorizers, how many, and through the authorizers websites
I had to explore if they provided/mentioned any methods to aid their schools.
On a weekly basis I searched through multiple websites, from the authorizers,
and determined whether strategies actually helped their schools within the
districts.
One thing I have
discovered this week was that some school districts do not state a plan to help
make their schools become more diverse because they believe it is unnecessary;
some states do not want to acknowledge that segregation may be present. By
having the opportunity to become an Undergraduate Research Assistant it has
given me the chance to be more aware of certain issues that exist right in
front of us. Through this learning experience I was able to broaden my horizon
and the tasks that I have done during this semester will benefit me. Working on
these projects for Dr. Destler has helped my long-term goals by being able to
expand my knowledge regarding state and local school policies. Although my
goals do not involve public schools, it is still good to know how important a
district can impact a community, and even in a larger scale, how it can affect
an entire state.
