As a critical scholar of racism, power, leadership, and community voice in governance, I believe that research is more than an endeavor of objectivity in search of some version of the truth. Research is in itself, a responsibility “answerable and obligated to the very persons and communities being engaged in the inquiry” (Dillard, 2000, p. 663). Therefore, my work is grounded in a deep understanding of racism and inequities in society and a responsibility to the communities from which I come, from which I learn, and with whom I continue to seek liberation. 

K-12 Educational Leadership and Governance

  1. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024) Beyond Board Etiquette: Responding to Racism in K-12 School Boardrooms. In Johnson, R.M. and Harper, S.R. (Eds.). The Big Lie About Race in America’s Schools. Harvard Education Press.

  2. Daramola, E.J., Enoch-Stevens, T., Bridgeforth, J.C., & Nkansah-Amankra, A. (2024) “On a Risky Slope of Democracy”: Racialized Logics Embedded in Community–School Board Interactions. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 46(3), 506-533. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737231175166

  3. Marsh, J. A., Koppich, J. E., Humphrey, D. C., Kimner, H., Mulfinger, L. S., Allbright, T. N., Alonso, J., Bridgeforth, J.C., Daramola, E. J., Enoch-Stevens, T., Kennedy, K. E., & Nkansah-Amankra, A. (2022, June). Crisis response in California school districts: Leadership, partnership, and community [Report]. Policy Analysis for California Education.

  4. Bridgeforth, J. C. (2021). “This Isn’t Who We Are”: A Critical Discourse Analysis of School and District Leaders’ Responses to Racial Violence in Schools. Journal of School Leadership. 31(1–2), 85–106.

  5. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2021, October 8). Navigating Responses to Racism in Your School Community. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

  6. Bridgeforth, J. C. (2021, March 3). Review of Suddenly diverse: How school districts manage race & inequality by E. O. Turner. Education Review, 28.

Racism and Antiblackness in Education

  1. Bridgeforth, J.C. & O’Neal, D. (2024). (Re)Setting the Racial Narrative: AntiBlackness and Educational Censorship. Education Policy Analysis Archives. 32. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.32.7926

  2. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2021). Review of Why They Hate Us: How Racist Rhetoric Impacts Education by Pérez Huber, L. & Muñoz, S. (Eds). The Professional Educator, 45(1), 21-24.

  3. Bridgeforth, J.C. & Desir, S. (2021, April 15). Reopening schools is often framed as a matter of equity. Two Black educators ask: ‘Equity for whom?’. In Strauss, V. Answer Sheet. Washington Post.

  4. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2021). Yes, Black Lives Still Matter and Politics-Free Schools are a Myth. Texas Education Review, 9(1), 65-71. 

  5. Harper, S.R. & Bridgeforth, J.C. (2019). Why We Weren't Surprised to See Teachers Holding a Noose. Education Week.

K-12 Educational Policy and Practice

  1. Marsh, J., Bridgeforth, J.C., Mulfinger, L., O’Neal, D., & Tong, T. (2024). Responding to Crisis: Virtual Schooling in Oregon during the COVID-19 Pandemic. National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice

  2. Marsh, J., Bridgeforth, J.C., Mulfinger, L., O’Neal, D., & Tong, T. (2024). Shocking the System? The COVID Crisis and Virtual Schooling in Oregon. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

  3. Bridgeforth, J.C. & Kimner, H. (2023) Aligning student-centered systems and structures through community schools. California Schools Magazine.

  4. Allbright, T. N., Dhaliwal, T. K., Alonso, J., Bridgeforth, J.C., Santander, M., & Kennedy, K. E. (2023). Schools as Solutions, Students as Problems: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Institutional Scripts in High School Websites. Educational Administration Quarterly, 59(4), 845–878.

  5. Alonso, J., Dhaliwal, T., Santander, M., Bridgeforth, J.C., Kennedy, K., & Allbright, T. (2022). Flipping the Script: Transformational Teamwork for Communicating Equity. AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 19(3), 52-62. 

  6. Bridgeforth, J.C., Kennedy, K., Alonso, J., & Enoch-Stevens, T. (2021). Conceptions of Choice, Equity, & Rurality in Educational Research: A Review of the Literature on Rural Education and School Choice Policies. The Rural Educator, 42(2), 1-15.

  7. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2020). You Made Me Enforce Useless Dress Codes for Years. Don't Claim Face Masks Go Too Far. Education Week.

Practice Briefs for K-12 Educators

In collaboration with the USC Race and Equity Center, I developed eight practice briefs for K-12 educators and preparers of K-12 educators. Each brief offers research-based guidance on how to operationalize commitments to racial equity and justice in K-12 educational spaces.

  1. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024). Teaching the Truth about Slavery and America’s Racial History. USC Race and Equity Center

  2. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024). Recognizing and Addressing Acts of Explicit Racism in Schools. USC Race and Equity Center

  3. Bridgeforth, J. C. (2024). Cultivating Relationships with Families and Communities of Color. USC Race and Equity Center

  4. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024). Affirming Students’ Racial and Cultural Identities in Curricula. USC Race and Equity Center

  5. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024). Creating Affirming Classrooms for LGBTQ Students of Color. USC Race and Equity Center

  6. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024). Eliminating Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline. USC Race and Equity Center

  7. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024). Meaningfully Integrating Racial Topics Across the Curriculum. USC Race and Equity Center

  8. Bridgeforth, J.C. (2024). Understanding Students’ Encounters with Anti-Blackness in Schools. USC Race and Equity Center