Applying Critical Race Theory to Quantitative Data in Education

Using Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit) as a framework, this book will develop the foundation for a praxis to explore a range of questions that research and assessment professionals and other data users can use to be engaged critics in working towards a more just and equitable society.

How to QuantCrit equips researchers and users of quantitative data with practices to alter how they collect and analyze quantitative data. Using Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit) as a framework, this book develops the foundation for an iterative praxis to explore a range of questions that prompt practitioners and stakeholders to be engaged critics in working towards a more just and equitable society.

The book begins with an overview of QuantCrit and its five tenets: (1) the centrality of racism; (2) numbers are not neutral; (3) categories are neither ‘natural’ nor given; (4) the importance voice and insight (data cannot speak for themselves); and (5) a social justice/equity orientation. Each subsequent chapter begins with a more detailed explanation and exploration of the tenet. Then, the chapters move into actionable steps that researchers and data users can take to implement QuantCrit into applied practice. Finally, the book closes with thoughts on working to use quantitative data for racial justice.

This book is intended for researchers, data users, and graduate students in education and education-related disciplines. It offers insights and suggested actions that range from working with existing data sets in more racially just ways to more radically reimagining the entire educational research process. As such, the book offers ideas and information that can be useful for anyone working with quantitative educational data.

Winner of the American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Book Awards 2025

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. The Open Access version of this book was funder by the Spencer Foundation and WT Grant Foundation.