Communicating Racial Theory in Effectiveness Work: A QuantCrit Imperative

Abstract

The inclusion of race in models that estimate the effectiveness of educational interventions presupposes a relationship between race and other variables of interest. However, we make the argument in this paper that left unexplained, this presupposition may contribute to the maintenance of essentialist theories that uphold racism. To rectify this problem, we outline an argument for more thorough engagement with racial theory to enact the imperative in QuantCrit to take responsibility for dismantling harmful ideologies. Supporting this argument is our empirical assessment of existing quantitative effectiveness research, in which we find that across the field, there is a dearth of racial theory that would justify the inclusion of race and work to combat essentialist assumptions about race. We conclude with recommendations for reflective practice with a primary focus on communicating racial theory explicitly in quantitative work. In other words, we emphasize that explaining why race would matter for inclusion in a model is important for both doing sound quantitative work and actively contributing to changing racial narratives in our current sociopolitical context.