2026 Theses Doctoral

Black Studies as the Study of the World: A Case Study of the Conceptualization, Design, and Implementation of a PK–12 Black Studies Curriculum for New York City

Verdiner, Michelle Kate

This qualitative case study examines how key stakeholders conceptualized, designed, and prepared for implementation of a districtwide PK–12 Black Studies curriculum, Black Studies as the Study of the World, in New York City. Although districts increasingly pursue ethnic studies initiatives, research more often emphasizes ideological rationales or student outcomes than the early system-building work required to scale equity-centered curriculum.

Bounded by the initiative’s conceptualization and design period from September 2021 through June 2023, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with nine stakeholders involved in executive sponsorship, curriculum development, coalition partnership, professional learning, and pilot support, alongside document analysis of planning artifacts, curricular materials, and professional learning resources.

Using the Curriculum Implementation Change Framework as an analytic lens and Tillman’s Culturally Sensitive Methodology as an interpretive stance, data were coded and thematically analyzed. Findings show that stakeholders experienced the work as iterative, relational, and politically situated rather than linear, navigating philosophical tensions as they built governance routines, aligned resources, and adjusted strategies within organizational and political constraints. Leadership emerged as central to implementation readiness through epistemic clarity, coalition building, coherence-making, and the development of professional learning and pilot supports.

The study concludes that district-scale Black Studies curriculum reform depends on adaptive leadership and deliberate infrastructure-building during the early stages of implementation to support coherence, educator learning, and sustainable capacity at scale.