Commanding Through Change: A Conceptual Model for School Leadership Amid Gentrification

Abstract

Background: As gentrification transforms the physical, cultural, and demographic character of urban landscapes, an expansive body of research has generated insights into the meanings and implications of this process for public schools. How school leaders facilitate or constrain school gentrification is a growing area of inquiry. Research Design: This article analyzes the literature on school gentrification and presents a conceptual model to frame how school leaders’ responses influence the trajectory of school transformation. Results: Drawing on 18 studies of school gentrification’s dynamics, we outline how school leaders communicate and market schools to families, cultivate school climates, and manage personnel and resources amid gentrification. Conclusions: We argue that school leaders play critical roles in gentrification processes and that their actions can interrupt or exacerbate inequities in gentrifying schools. We conclude with implications for policy, research, and practice.