Understanding the Impact of Critical Quantitative Methods in Educational Research: A Critical Consciousness Perspective

Background and Purpose: This paper examines the role of Critical Quantitative Methods (CQM) in educational research, demonstrating its capacity to expose and challenge systemic educational inequities. Drawing on Irsheid (2022) as a case study, the analysis centers on how being overage for grade—often due to grade retention—is a structural outcome disproportionately impacting Black and Brown students. The study is grounded in critical consciousness (CC), which demands an active interrogation of systems of oppression and a commitment to using research as a tool for social transformation. CC guided the conceptualization of the study and informed all aspects of the methodology, from framing the research questions to interpreting the findings through a structural, not deficit-based, lens.

Methods: Using multilevel modeling, the study analyzes student-level data from Chicago Public Schools, structural factors, and historical HOLC redlining maps to assess how neighborhood- and school-level conditions shape students’ odds of being overage for grade. Rejecting the notion of data as neutral, this CQM approach applies the Transformative Racial Equity Framework (TREF) and draws from social epidemiology to contextualize educational inequities within systems of structural harm and racialized disinvestment.

Implications: CQM repositions educational research to focus on systemic transformation. Rather than reinforcing deficit narratives, this work urges policymakers, educators, and scholars to dismantle structures of oppression by addressing the root causes of inequity—such as neighborhood disinvestment, school-level exclusionary practices, and racialized funding gaps. By embedding critical consciousness in every stage of the research process, this paper contributes to a growing body of work using quantitative methods as tools for justice and educational equity.

Conclusion: This study affirms that educational inequities like being overage for grade are not the result of individual failings, but rather the consequence of enduring structural violence, disinvestment, and racialized policy decisions. CQM, powered by critical consciousness, offers a path to illuminate and contest these structural harms.