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Getting Into Good Trouble at School
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Getting Into Good Trouble at School
A Guide to Building an Antiracist School System

Foreword by Pedro A. Noguera



June 2022 | 176 pages | Corwin

Turn the promise of equitable education into reality.

This is your guidebook for building an antiracist school. Written by two education leaders with very different life experiences, Getting into Good Trouble At School provides the context, empowerment, and concrete actions needed to dismantle racist policies and practices that for decades have kept students of color from experiencing the same success as their white counterparts.

The journeys of Gregory Hutchings and Douglas Reed – which include systemic racism and white privilege - provide a unique model superintendents, principals, school board members and other educators can use to reimagine educational equity, actively dismantle institutional racism, and implement strategic, methodical policies that benefit the entire school community. In this book you’ll find

  • A detailed case study of antiracist educational transformation
  • What it really means to commit to racial equity
  • Guidance for dismantling tracking and in-school segregation
  • Positive, equitable alternatives to typical disciplinary practices
  • Six steps to building an antiracist school system

Racism isn’t always intentional. Antiracism, on the other hand, must be. Now antiracist education leaders can put their intentions into action—and grant the promise of an equitable and culturally rich education to all students.

 
Foreword by Pedro A. Noguera
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Introduction
 
Chapter 1. ReImagining the Titans
 
Chapter 2. Know Your History to Rewrite Your Future
 
Chapter 3. Commit to Racial Equity
 
Chapter 4. Dismantling Tracking and Within-School Segregation
 
Chapter 5. Making School Discipline Different From Policing
 
Chapter 6. Implement Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning
 
Chapter 7. Choose Good Trouble: Be a Bold and Courageous Antiracist School Leader
 
Chapter 8. Conclusion
 
Appendix
 
References

Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. and Douglas S. Reed have produced a thoughtful, important, and timely book. It is essential reading for school leaders who value racial equity enough to put it into practice and for policymakers and advocates as well.

Jonah Edelman
Stand for Children
Portland, OR

Getting Into Good Trouble at School is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of American education. Drs. Hutchings and Reed identify six essential steps. If absorbed and applied, these steps will serve as waypoints in the pursuit of critical change supporting all students in constructing an antiracist school system.

Robert E. Baker
College of Education and Human Development
Fairfax, VA

This book is a powerful and thoughtful analysis of the enduring impact of institutional racism upon American education. Hutchings and Reed combine deeply personal reflections and anecdotal narratives about how racism has impacted minority students. The book is a strong endorsement for using strategic planning and the continuous improvement process to build a transformed system that is aligned, mission- and vision-driven, culturally responsive, and personalized.

John L. Brown
The School Superintendents Association
Alexandria, VA

This is a book that every educator and every parent should read. It is clear, comprehensive, and tells the unsettling truth about racism in public schools in America. It lays out specific steps to once and for all dismantle the racism that continues to plague our society and deny BIPOC children their right to an equitable education.

Mary-Frances Winters
The Winters Group, Inc,

Hutchings and Reed offer a direct approach to confronting systems of racism. Through sharing personal experiences, a deep knowledge of the existing literature, and data informed practices, the authors offer a call to action that requires assessing current practices, establishing an intentional strategic plan, and being courageous enough to implement the plan.

Tammi Dice
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA

Here, finally, are authors with the courage to lay out concrete steps school leaders can take to encourage antiracist schools to grow and thrive. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. and Douglas S. Reed offer six steps to dismantle systemic racism in American schools while getting into “good trouble” to help Americans live out the full meaning of “all men (and women) are created equal.

James Harvey
National Superintendents Roundtable
Seattle, WA

This courageous text provides testimonies of lived experiences interwoven against a historical backdrop of the impact of racism on our educational system. It takes the reader on a journey to understand how to advance an equity lens and become an antiracist educator. The authors artfully challenge the status quo while the guided questions force you to reflect and act.

Dawn Williams
Howard University School of Education
Washington, DC

As educators are doubling down on efforts to reimagine student- centered, forward-leaning public education, Getting Into Good Trouble at School points out why it’s essential to boldly advocate for the vast number of U.S. children who should be receiving the services that they are entitled to. I congratulate the authors for casting a shining light on the principles of educational equity and social justice.

Daniel A. Domenech
AASA, The School Superintendents Association,
Alexandria, VA

This is a useful book that every classroom can benefit from.

Dr Natasha N. Johnson
Educ Policy Studies Dept, Georgia State University
November 15, 2023

Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr.

Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. is a nationally recognized educational leader, antiracism activist, and adjunct professor who unapologetically advocates for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and racial equity. He has over twenty years of combined educational experience as a teacher, school principal, central office administrator, superintendent, and college professor.Dr. Hutchings is the chief executive officer and founder of an educational consulting firm, Revolutionary Ed, LL C. His life’s work is educational service and dismantling systemic racism in schools across America. Dr. Hutchings was the 2018 recipient of the Joseph E. Hill... More About Author

Douglas S. Reed

Douglas S. Reed is a Professor of Government at Georgetown University, where he is the founding director of the MA Program in Educational Transformation. His research interests center on the politics of education, educational policymaking, federalism, and judicial politics. His current work focuses on legal notions of race, equality, and colorblindness and how educational policy can improve student outcomes by directly addressing the racial contexts and experiences of students.He is the author of Building the Federal Schoolhouse: Localism and the American Education State (Oxford University Press, 2014) and On Equal Terms: The... More About Author

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ISBN: 9781071857014
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