Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Graduate School
Major Professor
Christopher Meindl, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Rebecca Johns, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Deanna Michael, Ph.D.
Keywords
Black teachers, character education, Rosenwald schools, school autonomy, school choice, school culture
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests the Rosenwald schools of the American South, which anchored thousands of Black communities for a half century before desegregation, boosted academic outcomes for generations of Black students and helped fuel the civil rights movement. The research literature, however, is thin on what specifically made these schools successful. My research attempts to narrow the gaps by asking the Rosenwald alums themselves. Through semi-structured interviews, 10 alums in Florida identify defining features of their schools, including seamless community connections; a culture of high expectations for academic achievement and character development; and especially caring and committed teachers. The alums’ insights often evoke evidence-based findings about effective schools and teachers, which points the way to further research. They also elicit prominent features of the school choice movement. Though segregated and poorly funded, Rosenwald schools operated with significant autonomy over staffing, instruction, and other core functions, which they ironically assumed due to the neglect of White school boards. Contemporary school choice programs offer autonomy as a core principle, suggesting today’s education policy debates could benefit from deeper examination of these forgotten schools.
Scholar Commons Citation
Matus, Ronald B., "Community, Autonomy, Irony: Lessons from Historic Rosenwald Schools" (2025). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/11060
