Applied critical race theory: educational leadership actions for student equity

Critical race theory (CRT) in education has been used to expose and analyze racism in K-12 schooling and higher education. However, the theory has been underutilized as an inventory lens applied to school leadership practice. Our paper takes on this inquiry by highlighting the work done by an administrative leadership team at a majority racially diverse middle school in the Mountain western region of the U.S. Through an examination of the practice of racism as whiteness as property through teacher expectations, classroom instruction and teacher-student and parent interactions and by implementing changes in areas of student discipline, and color-blind teacher perceptions, the leadership team developed racial equity pathways which served as an important implementation of CRT leadership.