STUCK IMPROVING

An incisive case study of changemaking in action, Stuck Improving analyzes the complex process of racial equity reform within K-12 schools. Scholar Decoteau J. Irby emphasizes that racial equity is dynamic, shifting both as our emerging racial consciousness evolves and as racism asserts itself anew. Those who accept the challenge of reform find themselves "stuck improving," caught in a perpetual dilemma of both making progress and finding ever more progress to make. Rather than seeing it as a failure, Irby embraces being stuck as an inextricable part of the improvement process. Stuck Improving offers a clear-eyed accounting of school-improvement practices, including data-driven instructional approaches, teacher cultural competency, and inquiry-based leadership strategies. This timely work contributes both to the practical efforts of equity-minded school leaders and to a deeper understanding of what the work of racial equity improvement truly entails. "Stuck Improving is a book that is useful to practitioners and scholars alike, and it is just what the field needs: a practical guide for how to grow equity capacity in organizations at every level. We no longer need to guess about what practices will lead to sustainable equity, and Indigenous, Black, and Brown students can finally realize the humanization and quality education in school that they have long deserved. This is a field-shifting book." --Muhammad Khalifa, professor of educational administration, The Ohio State University, and president/CEO, Culturally Responsive School Leadership "I have long been a fan of Decoteau Irby's work in the areas of equity and dignity for communities, families, and students of color. In Stuck Improving, he looks at the other side of equity--that of those who work to ensure it. With tremendous implications on research and practice, Irby offers a useful framework for racial equity improvement for those on the 'frontlines' of equity to become 'unstuck.'" --Noelle W. Arnold, senior associate dean, The Ohio State University Decoteau J. Irby is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. H. Richard Milner IV is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Education at Vanderbilt University, as well as the editor for the Race and Education series.