A Single Garment
Creating Intentionally Diverse Schools That Benefit All Children
Genevieve Siegel-Hawley
paper, 272 Pages
Pub. Date: January 2020
ISBN-13: 978-1-68253-434-2
Price: $33.00
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In A Single Garment, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley explores the leadership, policies, and practices that support contemporary school integration. Drawing on a wide range of sources, as well as her own experience as a parent, former student, and teacher, Siegel‐Hawley provides a richly layered account of four Richmond, Virginia schools, each committed to building successful, diverse communities as a foundation for a just, democratic society.
Siegel-Hawley explores a range of internal and external considerations for promoting integration through portraits of four schools: a preschool, a suburban elementary school, an urban middle school, and a regional high school. She takes an in-depth look at how students are assigned to classrooms, how families are engaged, and who gets access to what curricula and which teachers. Siegel-Hawley also delves into what it takes to bring students together in the first place, and how policies and practices regarding student assignment and school choice, transportation, and outreach can work to support or undermine integration.
Timely and compelling, A Single Garment, makes a powerful argument in favor of local, intentional integration efforts at a critical moment. The book illuminates a way forward for school leaders, policy makers, and others interested in pursuing equitable education in an age of shifting demographics and divisive politics.
Praise
Beginning with a compelling and deeply personal letter to her daughter, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley has written a book rooted in her unwavering commitment to school integration as a mechanism for creating a more racially just society. Based on rich evidence from four schools, Siegel-Hawley provides powerful strategies for educators, policy makers, and parents who are committed to school integration.
— John B. Diamond, Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Informed by a deep knowledge of new research on the benefits of integration, this book tells the story of schools and their communities working for change in our segregated society. It is about four schools and their successes and challenges told by an accomplished scholar who brings multiple perspectives and her lived experience into a rich discussion of what we can learn from their efforts. This book is an oasis of hope and vision for our educators and young families.
— Gary Orfield, Distinguished Professor & codirector, Civil Rights Project, University of California, Los Angeles
In her analyses, the author includes clear descriptions of key teacher, parent and education leaders at each school she studied with anecdotes about the environment in each school community. She provides enough detail to illustrate how program, curriculum and school culture decisions align with best practices.
— School Administrator
Every teacher, school administrator, and parent should read A Single Garment. You will learn about the impact that school integration can have on children and the road to having equal opportunity for all children and building culturally sensitive schools in America.
— Teachers College Record
Siegel-Hawley portrays an honest and hopeful picture of what all schools can look like with innovative pedagogical planning, the willingness to have difficult conversations about race, and commitment from stakeholders inside and surrounding learning spaces. For educational leaders, [the book] outlines key approaches to creating intentionally diverse schools.
— Choice
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About the Author
Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. She examines the scope and dynamics of school segregation and resegregation in US metropolitan areas, along with policies for promoting more integrated schools and communities. Siegel-Hawley has published numerous articles dealing with these topics in journals like Teachers College Record, the Harvard Educational Review, Educational Researcher, and the Urban Review. She is also the author of When the Fences Come Down: 21st Century Lessons from Metropolitan School Desegregation (UNC Press, 2016), an analysis of school and housing segregation in four southern metropolitan areas. Siegel Hawley received her doctorate in urban schooling from UCLA and her master’s in educational policy and management from Harvard. She is a Richmond native and a proud graduate of and former teacher in Richmond Public Schools.