Research Institute ForSocial Equity

Charity Scott, PhD (she/they) is an assistant professor of public policy and administration and faculty researcher at the L. Douglas Wilder School’s Research Institute for Social Equity. Their research interests in education policy and management build from her experience as a K12 classroom teacher in an urban setting as well as previous work with community organizations advocating for better education outcomes. Using public administration theory across policy and management topics (e.g., representative bureaucracy, and governance) and both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, Scott is interested in racially and socially equitable and just community-inclusive research, which keeps community issues and extant intersectional power dynamics at the forefront. Scott is interested in the institutional environment in which schools exist and the variety of powerful actors (e.g., nonprofit and philanthropic organizations) that have shaped educational policy and led to new publicly funded educational service providers (e.g., charter schools and private voucher schools) diversifying the K12 market place. Scott is interested in how these changes to the educational and, more broadly, urban landscape have shaped the experiences and outcomes of students, but especially those of long disadvantaged students, their families, and communities. Lastly, Scott explores the ways communities and individuals attempt to engage in school governance to adapt the policy process to allow for community self-determination within education..