How Black Principals Employ Culturally Responsive School Leadership Practices in the Washington, DC Area to Attempt to Reduce Racial Bias Against Black Children

Abstract

Black principals who lead predominantly Black urban schools serve students who experience poverty, community violence, and racial trauma. Before the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, Black educators worked as a community to create culturally centered and affirmed school environments. Principals who apply principles of culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) attempt to reduce racial bias against Black children by developing strategies, policies, and practices that are conducive to Black children’s academic and social development. Black principals who employ CRSL in urban schools offer a unique perspective when applying CRSL principles across multiple academic and school culture systems. Moreover, urban principals who lead Title I schools are at risk for increased secondary trauma, which leads to leader burnout and high staff turnover in urban schools that serve Black children. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore the leadership strategies, school policies, and instructional practices of Black principals using CRSL to reduce racial bias against Black children in Title I, predominantly Black, urban public schools. This qualitative study presents findings from interviews with six Black principals who employ CRSL strategies, school policies, and instructional practices with regards to eradicating racial bias against Black children. Using a narrative case study approach, three major themes developed: relationship with Black students, responsibility for Black students, and resistance to systemic anti-Black racism in K-12 education. The study concludes with implications for practice and a proposed ethno-cultural leadership framework.