Background
Sizemore, Barbara Ann was born on December 17, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Daughter of Sylvester Walter Laffoon and Delila Mae (Alexander) Stewart.
Sizemore, Barbara Ann was born on December 17, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Daughter of Sylvester Walter Laffoon and Delila Mae (Alexander) Stewart.
She attended segregated elementary and middle schools and graduated from high school at the age of 16. Sizemore attended Northwestern University, where she received a bachelor"s degree in classical languages in 1947 and a master"s degree in elementary education in 1954. She later returned to school and received a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Chicago in educational administration in 1979.
In 1973, she became the first African American woman to head the public school system in a major city, when she was elected superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Sizemore began her career in Chicago public schools, teaching English and reading in elementary and high schools from 1950 to 1963, and serving as principal of elementary and high schools from 1963 to 1967. In 1969 she was named district superintendent of the Woodlawn Experimental Schools.
Sizemore taught at the University of Pittsburgh from 1975 to 1992.
lieutenant was there that she began her research on low-income African American students and standardized tests, which she continued as dean of the School of Education at DePaul University in 1992. Sizemore"s first book, a version of her doctoral thesis titled The Ruptured Diamond: The Politics of the Decentralization of the District of Columbia Public Schools, was published in 1981.
Her second book, Walking in Circles: The Black Struggle for School Reform was published posthumously in 2008.
(Book by Sizemore, Barbara A.)
She was also a member of the adjunct faculty at Northeastern Illinois University from 1965 to 1971. She was the recipient of four honorary doctorates and was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the Urban League, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Phi Delta Kappa.
Married Furman E. Sizemore, June 28, 1947 (divorced October 1964). Children: Kymara, Furman G. Married Jake Milliones, September 29, 1979 (divorced February 1992).