School District Mission Statements and the Politics of DEI in K–12 Education

This report analyzes how public school districts across the United States describe their educational priorities and values in official mission statements, and what those statements reveal about broader political and social dynamics shaping education. Drawing on a nationally representative collection of 1,314 district mission statements, the study examines which themes districts emphasize—such as student preparation, safety, community involvement, and academic development—and how frequently they reference diversity, equity, and inclusion.

What I did

I led and executed the study’s large-scale text data collection and analysis, including identifying mission statements from district websites, developing coding frameworks, and interpreting linguistic and topical patterns to surface policy-relevant insights for public audiences.