Terrenda White

• Doctor of Philosophy
• University of Colorado Boulder

This article examines the paradox of Teach For America’s diversity gains and its support for policies that contribute to Black teacher decline in urban communities. TFA has countered claims that its expansion is connected to teacher displacement, but its two-pronged structure—as an alternative certification program and an influential policy actor v...

This article examines teacher self-efficacy in social and emotional learning (SEL), particularly by teachers of color, and the conditions that shaped their efficacy beliefs. Data are drawn from surveys with two teacher groups, one comprised of teachers of color and a comparative group that was predominantly white. Surveys were followed by interview...

This article centers a group of teachers who participated in a multi-day strike and a statewide walkout in Colorado. We examine whether their experience with contention signaled important shifts in views of market-based educational policies, teacher professionalism and the role of unions. Qualitative methods and critical theories of educational pol...

In this essay, Terrenda White examines distinct forms of activism by two influential organizations: the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Teach for America (TFA). Despite differences between these groups, both have created new discourses and alliances among teachers in the public sphere-what White calls "teacher publics." These new alliances, White...

This article features interview excerpts from 10 Black women who worked as educators in marketized cities and schools, including urban charter schools operated by charter management organizations, and independent schools, known as standalone charter schools. Using a critical race policy framework, the article considers the practical implications of...

This article examines interview responses from prominent education researchers who were asked to consider the role of major educational policies in the underrepresentation of Black teachers in public schools. Participants considered policies related to accountability and market reforms including testing, school choice and charter schools, and alter...

This article explores working conditions in charter schools with varying rates of teacher turnover. Ethnographic data with 28 racially diverse teachers explores teachers’ experiences, their explanations for moving charter schools, and patterns of movement when teachers leave a charter school for another school. A brief conceptual framework was used...

This research study examines the learning experiences of 11th- and 12th-grade Black girls participating in a precollegiate program committed to increasing the number of Teachers of Color entering the profession by viewing a teaching career as an act of social justice committed to educational equity. The pipeline functions as an education reform str...

Charter schools focused on culture, language, and student identity are richly presented in Proud to be Different: Ethnocentric Niche Charter Schools in America (edited by Robert Fox & Nina Buchanan, 2014). These schools represent an often forgotten segment of schools in the nation's growing charter sector. These schools have missions of serving dis...

Essay review; Sheila Macrine (Editor)

This chapter explores the experiences of graduates of integrated high schools and why they believe these experiences change them. Results from qualitative research suggest that most graduates of desegregation say their experiences in racially diverse schools made them more comfortable in their interactions with people of other racial and ethnic bac...

Background/Context In light of the June 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Louisville and Seattle voluntary school desegregation cases, making it more difficult for district officials to racially balance their schools, this article presents an analysis of prior research on the long-term effects of attending racially diverse schools on their ad...