Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
Department
Transformative Action in Education
First Advisor
Dr. Linda Skrla, Ph.D.
First Committee Member
Dr. Thomas Nelson, Ph.D.
Second Committee Member
Dr. John Cassell, Ed.D.
Third Committee Member
Dr. Laura Aguada-Hallberg, Ed.D.
Abstract
Attempts to frame the causes of and efforts to close racial achievement gaps have been major goals of education policymakers for decades. Historically, education reform efforts over the past 5 decades have produced notable legislation and landmark Supreme Court decisions aimed at closing achievement gaps among African American and Latino students and their White counterparts. While much effort has been invested in closing academic achievement gaps, some scholars have posited that the real issue lies in a lack of opportunity. These opportunity disparities are manifested in the ways race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, community wealth, familial situations, and other factors contribute to or perpetuate lower educational aspirations, achievement, and attainment for certain groups of students. Responses to narrowing the divide between the two gaps, achievement, and opportunity, have positioned attempted reforms primarily within insulated private and public organizations, as well as state and federal legislation that has asserted schools alone can close these gaps. However, over half a half-century of isolated legislation resulting in marginal improvement suggests otherwise. These fragmented educational reform approaches have sufficiently addressed the contributing factors, such as the effects of generational poverty, family mobility, community wealth, and parental education status, nor have they seriously considered alternative strategies. One such alternative is a collective impact approach involving community multi-sector partnerships that coalesce around a common agenda to address and close achievement and opportunity gaps. The purpose of this single case study was to examine and understand a community multi-sector organization’s structural design that operationalized and sustained, beyond 5 years, a collective impact initiative focused on closing opportunity and achievement gaps for underrepresented students, primarily African American and Latino. A collective impact conceptual framework guided this analysis, combined with an interpretivist epistemology that emphasized understanding and meaning making through the lived experiences and interpretations of interview participants. This framework highlighted the importance of context in shaping knowledge, rather than attempting to establish universal or objective truths. Data sources primarily included semi-structured interviews, supplemented by reports, planning documents, and media. Data analysis involved both descriptive and process coding, using NVivo qualitative research analysis software to identify emergent themes.
Pages
226
Recommended Citation
Shaw Elium, Nancy. (2025). Design and Sustainability of a Collective Impact Model for Closing Opportunity and Achievement Gaps for African American and Latino Students. University of the Pacific, Dissertation. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/4317
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