Margaret Thornton
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About Margaret
Thornton's research interests include equity-focused school leadership development, school leadership for detracking, and critical race theory. After serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA, she began her career in education in detracking programs in Central Virginia in both teaching and leadership capacities. In addition to her Ph.D. in educational leadership, foundations, and policy, Thornton earned her B.A. in English Literature and her M.Ed. in Secondary English Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Virginia before serving as a research fellow at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Educational Research Section.
Contributions
Protect the Rights of Students with Disabilities
Publications
Examines how school leaders in four U.S. high schools worked to reduce academic tracking and create more inclusive learning environments for students from different backgrounds. Finds that successful detracking efforts were supported by leadership practices that emphasized inclusion, community involvement, student support, and culturally responsive teaching approaches.
Examines how a gifted education program called Quest was created in Charlottesville during the post–civil rights era and how it ended up reinforcing school segregation even after formal desegregation efforts. Argues that although the program was presented as an opportunity for advanced learners, it often relied on biased selection practices that disproportionately excluded Black and low-income students, reflecting broader patterns of inequality in “gifted” education.
Examines how differences in access to rigorous math instruction affect students’ math achievement in U.S. high schools. Finds that unequal “opportunity to learn”—such as being placed in lower-level courses with less challenging content and fewer experienced teachers—contributes significantly to weaker math outcomes, especially for students already placed in less advanced tracks.