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Pulling Back the Curtain: A Student Collaborative Case Study of Equity Issues in Colorado’s School Finance System

Item

Title

Pulling Back the Curtain: A Student Collaborative Case Study of Equity Issues in Colorado’s School Finance System

Abstract/Description

After the Great Recession, a seven percent decrease in funding ended decades of academic growth and further widened the achievement gap between White and Black students (Jackson et al., 2020). Colorado’s school-finance system is particularly distorted and inequitable because of a series of tax-limiting policies which, combined, have led Colorado to become one of the lowest-funded per pupil states in the country (Resnick et al., 2015). The purpose of this study is to describe the policymaking context, as it relates to equity within Colorado’s school-finance system and explore policy alternatives to improve equity within the system. The study was designed as a qualitative case study, conducted in partnership with three youth co-researchers in a modified youth participatory action research methodology. Data analysis was informed by critical policy analysis and critical theory. Study findings were visualized in a policy roadmap, designed for wide distribution across various state stakeholders and decisionmakers. This collaborative study contributes to the nationally emerging youth-led movement that interrupts dominant relationships, repositions power, and charts new territory in youth advocacy (Apple, 2019; Mansfield et al., 2012; Young & Diem, 2017).

Author/creator

Date

Institution

University of Denver

Committee

Hesbol, Kristina
Resnick, Phyllis
Anderson, Erin
Richardson, Jayson W.

Resource type

Research/Scholarly Media

Resource status/form

Thesis/Dissertation

Scholarship genre

Empirical

Open access/full-text available

Yes

Peer reviewed

No

ISBN

9798480644708

Citation

Schwartz, A. J. (2021). Pulling Back the Curtain: A Student Collaborative Case Study of Equity Issues in Colorado’s School Finance System [Ed.D., University of Denver]. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations/docview/2587976565/abstract/B8F006AC8B446CBPQ/20

Num pages

227

Rights

Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.

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