Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-21-2018

Journal / Book Title

Education Policy Analysis Archives

Abstract

Many national, state, and institutional policies and initiatives advocate for change in higher education through structured forms of data use. The case study of “Old Main University” presented in this article shows how local reformers (n=9) drew on data and data use tools provided by a long-term action research project implemented at the university to advance racial equity goals at their university. The case narrative utilizes practice theory, cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), and narrative inquiry to illustrate how administrative leaders and faculty at Old Main University coordinated their efforts in a sustained manner through two cycles of practitioner inquiry that was responsive to policy goals. The findings show that data use is productive to promote racial equity when data and data use protocols are used iteratively and in interaction among practitioners who use them to identify inequities rooted in their own practices. The findings support the conclusion that, to sustain change efforts as long-term (mesogenetic) projects, policy makers and local reformers should plan to iteratively redesign data tools, practices, and policies to institute changes in everyday (microgenetic) work practices. Such purposeful redesign holds potential to re-structure professional interactions, sustain motivation and organizational learning, and acculturate practitioners to equity as a standard of practice.

Comments

Some Rights Reserved: Readers are free to copy, display, and distribute this article, as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and Education Policy Analysis Archives, it is distributedfor non-commercial purposes only, and no alteration or transformation is made in the work. More detailsof this Creative Commons license are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

DOI

10.14507/epaa.26.3274

Journal ISSN / Book ISBN

65650083 (Orcid)

Published Citation

Dowd, A. C., & Liera, R. (2018). Sustaining change towards racial equity through cycles of inquiry. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26, 65. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.26.3274

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