Chasing Down the Educational Debt by Centering Race in Educational Supervision

Abstract

Educational professional development is ubiquitous; yet the gains on student learning are minimal as measured by local, state, and federal assessment measures. Although there is widespread agreement that assessment data alone does not tell the story of what students are learning and teachers are teaching, the data is still alarming. Why is there a gap between the billions of dollars spent on professional learning and student learning outcomes? In this article, the author seeks to shed light on this disconnect, offering a framework that links deficit perspectives of Black, Brown, and Indigenous students and opportunity gaps associated with inept monitoring of instructional practices contributing to the educational debt in America (Ladson-Billings, 2006).