Korey Hlaudy is a secondary instructional coach at The Accelerated Schools. He has been a mathematics educator for the last 10 years within Los Angeles charter schools. In his current role, he partners with all middle and high school mathematics teachers to hone their reflection skills and improve their instructional efficacy utilizing a transformative coaching framework that centers relationship building, connection, and compassion.
Korey decided to enroll in LMU's Ed.D. Program because he was ready to take the next step in developing his leadership and research skills. Specifically, since this program is connected to social justice, it seemed like the right place to grow the necessary skills to effectively take action against the inequitable structures that exist within schools. His experience working in the charter context for a decade helped him understand the complexity of this task, and how having social justice leaders at all levels, and in coalition with each other, is critical for change.
Korey’s dissertation research focused on exploring the phenomenon of social justice leadership within the urban public charter context in Los Angeles. Specifically, the study examined the implementation practices connected to the lived experiences of principals of color who self-identified as social justice leaders. Since social justice leadership as a theoretical construct has been highly researched, it made sense to Korey to focus his study on the particular practices of leaders already engaging in this work. The study aimed to answer the question: How do urban public charter school leaders of color in Los Angeles integrate social justice leadership praxis?
LMU's Ed.D. Program has supported Korey by deepening his knowledge of social justice leadership and his critical perspective on designing, implementing, and consuming research. These skills have helped him speak out against injustice in general, but especially regarding school structures. The cohort model also helped him expand the network of people who are committed to this work, which is necessary for sustainable and long-lasting change in education.