1. Toward A New Educational
Framework
of Critical Race Theory
By John Michael Lee, Jr., Doctoral Candidate
New York University & The College Board
Presented at the ASHE Annual Conference
Louisville, Kentucky
November 9, 2008

2. Introduction
 Critical Race Theory (CRT) extends from Law
and Legal Studies.
 CRT is an emergent tool in the field of
education.
 CRT has not yet realized its full potential
(DeCuir & Dixson, 2004)
 CRT has found many critics who dismiss the
findings of studies that use the framework.
(Darder & Torres, 2004)

3. Purpose
 It is the purpose of this scholarly paper
to extend the uses of CRT in the field of
education.
 It is further the purpose to increase the
interdisciplinary methods used by
Critical Race Theorists.
 This paper is a meta-analysis of the use
of CRT in the field of Education.

4. Guiding Questions
 The Guiding Questions are:
 What are the Central Tenets of Critical Race
Theory?
 How is CRT Currently Used by Scholars in
Education?
 How can CRT be expanded to further enrich
research in education?
 How can CRT be used by scholars in the future?

5. Central Tenets of CRT
 The Centrality of Race and Racism in
Society
 CRT asserts that Racism is a permanent
component of American life
 The Challenge to Dominant Ideology
 CRT challenges the claims of neutrality,
objectivity, colorblindness, and meritocracy
in society
 The Centrality of Experiential Knowledge
 Critical Race Theory asserts that the
experiential knowledge of people of color is
appropriate, legitimate, and an integral part to
analyzing and understanding racial inequality

6. Central Tenets of CRT
(Continued)
 The Interdisciplinary Perspective
 CRT challenges ahistoricism and the
unidisciplinary focuses of most analyses and
insists that race and racism be placed in
both a contemporary and historical context
using interdisciplinary methods
 The Commitment to Social Justice
 CRT is a framework that is committed to a
social justice agenda to eliminate all forms
of subordination of people

7. Current Uses of CRT

8. Current Uses of CRT
Scholar (s) Year Use
Laid Foundation for CRT in Education. Used
G. Ladson-Billings as analytic tool for understanding school
and W. F. Tate 1995 inequity.
Used CRT to address racial micro-
aggressions and campus racial climate.
D. Solorzano 1998
Examines the curriculum, instruction,
assessment, school funding and
G. Ladson-Billings 1999 desegregation using CRT as a lens.
Explores connection between research and
M. Lynn 1999 theories of African-Americans with CRT.

9. Current Uses of CRT
Scholar (s) Year Use
D. Solorzano; M.
Ceja; T. Yosso Used CRT to address racial micro-
2000 aggressions and campus racial climate.
D. Solorzano; D. CRT used as framework to examine student
Delgado Bernal resistance through story telling and other
2001 qualitative methods.
D. Solorzano; O.
Villalpando; L. CRT used as framework to analyze the
Oseguera educational inequities and barriers for
2002 Latino(a) college students.
CRT used to examine the racial climate for
Teranishi 2002 Asian Pacific Americans

10. Findings
 Scholars who used CRT from 1993-2007 added
to the uses of this framework in education.
 Scholars used CRT to account for the role of
race and racism in U.S. Higher Education.
 Scholars commonly used methods of
storytelling to show the permanence of race.

11. Findings
 A few Scholars use CRT as an undeniable
fact
 Scholars usually cite all central tenets,
but do not provide support for each of
the central tenets.

12. Toward a New Educational
Framework of CRT
TABLE 1: CRITICAL RACE THEORY CORE PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS
CRT Core Principles Components of CRT What To Look For
1. The Centrality of Race and Race and Racism
Race and racism are a i. Macro and Micro
Racism in defining Components.
ii. Takes on Institutional
Society characterist
and individual forms.
ic of iii. Has conscious and
American unconscious elements
Society iv. Has a cumulative impact
on both the individual
and group
• Disparate Impact
• Microaggressions

13. Toward a New Educational
Framework of CRT
TABLE 1: CRITICAL RACE THEORY CORE PRINCIPLES AND COMPONENTS
(CONTINUED)
CRT Core Components of CRT What To Look For
Principles
2. The Reveals how Interest Convergence
Challenge to these claims Disparate Impact
Dominant serve as a cover
Ideology for self interest,
power, and
privilege of
dominant groups
in American
Society

14. Toward a New Educational
Framework of CRT
TABLE 1: CRITICAL RACE THEORY CORE PRINCIPLES AND
COMPONENTS (CONTINUED)
CRT Core Components of CRT What To Look For
Principles
3. The Centrality Asserts that the Deficit Thinking
of Experiential experiential Cultural Deficit
Knowledge knowledge of people Models
of color is Genetic
appropriate, Determinist
legitimate, and an Models
integral part to Whiteness
analyzing and
understanding racial
inequality

15. Toward a New Educational
Framework of CRT
TABLE 1: CRITICAL RACE THEORY CORE PRINCIPLES AND
COMPONENTS (CONTINUED)
CRT Core Components of CRT What To Look For
Principles
4. The Challenges ahistoricism Lack of historical
Interdisciplinar and the uni- analysis
y Perspective disciplinary focuses of Lack of
most analyses and interdisciplinary
insists that race and perspectives
racism be placed in
both a contemporary
and historical context
using interdisciplinary
methods

16. Toward a New Educational
Framework of CRT
TABLE 1: CRITICAL RACE THEORY CORE PRINCIPLES AND
COMPONENTS (CONTINUED)
CRT Core Components of CRT What To Look For
Principles
5. The CRT is a Lack of Social Justice
Commitmen framework that Interest Convergence
t to Social is committed to
Justice a social justice
agenda to
eliminate all
forms of
subordination
of people

17. Toward a New Educational
Framework of CRT
 The chart shows how researchers in
education can begin to think about
what to look for as we use Critical
Race Theory as an analysis tool.
 This gives a uniform process to inquire
if the principles of CRT are indeed
present in the literature, case study,
or other environments being studied.

18. Implications for the Future
 CRT will be used as a tool of analysis
in education that will be able to assert
and support each of the central
tenants of CRT in a study.
 This will help lead toward the
standardization of CRT to ensure the
quality and richness of the research
that is presented using this
framework.

19. Implications for the Future
 This will also lead toward the
quantization of the components of
CRT, so that this framework can be
quantitatively be applied to studies to
show the numerical impact that race
and racism have on people of color.
 Creation of new interdisciplinary
methods applied to the field of
education

20. Toward A New Educational
Framework
of Critical Race Theory
THE END!!!
By
John Michael Lee, Jr., Doctoral Candidate
New York University
Presented at the ASHE Annual Conference
Louisville, Kentucky
November 9, 2008