(2023). "Listen to the Students": Composite Poems on Racial Justice Advocacy in Fraternity/Sorority Life. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Georgia. Seven campus fraternity/sorority life (FSL) professionals of color who are members of culturally based fraternal organizations (CBFOs) shared stories on how they advocate for students of color and CBFOs on their campus. College Student Educators International's (ACPA's) strategic imperative for racial justice and decolonization (SIRJD) was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Critical race theory as well as tempered radicalism and the student affairs model of case management were also used to help frame this study. The stories of advocacy shared by the participants revealed insight into how advocacy was understood, the contexts in which advocacy was done, and what advocacy looked like in practice. Through poetic thinking and a performance analysis, ten composite poems were created that captured the various ways advocacy was approached. These approaches to advocacy included participants' self-awareness to the racial history of FSL, their critical consciousness to the… [Direct]
(2020). Diversity Dissonance as an Implication of One School's Relocation and Reintegration Initiative. Educational Administration Quarterly, v56 n3 p499-529 Aug. Purpose: This article describes one charter school's 'diversity' initiative–a relocation to a racially and socioeconomically diverse site–intended to reintegrate minoritized students displaced by gentrification. Research Design: We employ Critical Race Quantitative Intersectionality to frame the descriptive analyses of student enrollment, city census, and parent survey data that narrates the resulting student demographics after a school's relocation. Our goal in utilizing an anti-racist framework rooted in Critical Race Theory is to a) quantify the racist material impact of "race-neutral" reform through intersectional data mining, b) disrupt the notion of letting "numbers speak for themselves" without critical analysis, and c) taking a transdisciplinary perspective to reveal the hidden patterns of whiteness under the guise of diversity. Findings: Our findings highlight the limits of a school's agency to implement 'diversity' policies aimed at reintegrating… [Direct]
(2020). In This Space, We Rock Hard: Garret(Ed) Spaces for the Literacies of Black Preservice. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University. Historically, the literacies that Black preservice teachers bring to content and pedagogical practices have been deemed inadequate and inaccurate (Sleeter and Milner, 2011; Machado, 2013; Haddix, 2017; Gist 2017b). In an ethnographically-informed qualitative study grounded in Black Feminist Thought, Critical Race Theory, and Ubuntu, my collaborators and I engaged in conversations over the course of a year. Two major questions guided this project: When, where, and how do three Black preservice teachers at a PWI draw on their literacies to confirm, resist, and reshape perceptions of who they are, what they know, and what they need? What types of spaces sustain and nurture the literacies of these Black preservice teachers? Utilizing critical race storytelling and counter-storytelling analysis and critical discourse analysis to analyze field notes, artifacts, interviews, and audio recordings, I explore how marginal garret spaces for Black preservice teachers in an English Education… [Direct]
(2024). Anti-Racist Teacher Well-Being and/as Curricular Praxis. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Oregon. This dissertation explores the well-being of public K-12 teachers in the United States who explicitly identify as anti-racist and/or anti-colonial teachers. Well-being has traditionally been conceptualized as attached to single human individuals in most Western academic scholarship. However, drawing on insights from the posthumanisms, community psychology, Critical Race Theory, and Indigenous studies, this dissertation argues that these teachers' well-being is not only influenced by the larger institutional, political, and environmental contexts in which they live and teach; it is co-constituted with them on the level of ontology. In order to explore these teachers' well-being, this study draws on immersive cartography (Rousell, 2021), a posthuman methodology that centers affect (Gregg & Siegworth, 2010), process, and emergence. While methods were also borrowed from traditional, qualitative, humanistic methodologies (i.e. interviews and focus groups), process, relationality, and… [Direct]
(2021). Methodology as the Architect of Knowing and Valuing: A Reflective Commentary. Research in the Schools, v27 n1 p84-90 Spr. This reflective commentary on the character and role of methodology in educational and social inquiry recounts my 45-year journey as an applied researcher and evaluator, primarily in the domain of education. The journey starts in graduate school in the early 1970s, where the methodological challenge was to master "the proper methods, properly applied." The journey then continues within the secure walls of the academy, but with many forays out beyond these walls to study innovative educational programs that were part of the U.S. Great Society adventure of that time. This era of the 1970s was also witness to the beginnings of major revolutions in the philosophical frameworks or paradigms that guided mainstream social science. These paradigm revolutions happened at a dizzying pace, surfacing multiple ways of framing meaning and action in social science. Representing alternatives to post-positivism, these paradigms included qualitative constructivism and interpretivism,… [Direct]
(2021). They #Woke: How Black Students in an After-School Community-Based Program Manifest Critical Consciousness. Teachers College Record, v123 n1. Background/Context: Though Black Americans have long suffered under racial tyranny, they have made valiant efforts to subvert policies and practices that encroach on their humanity. Nevertheless, systemic racism has been virtually unyielding–creating both racial hierarchies and disparities in access to resources and wellness. Programs designed to address the condition of Black people, particularly Black youth, often employ deficit or dysfunctional logic, thereby ignoring the sociohistorical context in which Black youth navigate. Furthermore, not enough attention is given to the ways that culturally centered approaches ignite critical consciousness among Black youth in ways that are aligned with the tradition of the Black American abolitionist mindset. Purpose: We build on the discourse on community-based youth programs and critical consciousness development by using frameworks that elevate race and culture in analyzing how Black youth make sense of their racialized experiences…. [Direct]
(2021). Underrepresentation of African Americans in Music Positions at Predominantly White Institutions: A Narrative Case Study. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Utilizing the narrative case study method, this study elevates the voice and perspective of African American music professors currently employed in predominantly White institutions. Five participants were selected through purposive sampling. Specific criteria are based on self-identified race, degree status, current employment status, years of college teaching experience, and professorial rank. The participants have a wide variety of musical backgrounds (e.g., instrumental, choral, musicology, education, performance). They were selected from universities across various regions of the United States including the Upper Midwest, Ozark, Northeast, East Central, and Pacific West regions. The participants' schools range from a minimum classification of Post Baccalaureate to Research Doctoral. Data were gathered from the participants through semi-structured interviews. Interview questions were formed based on topics that would be explored in the study. Interviews were synthesized into… [Direct]
(2020). Narratives of Persistence and Perseverance: Mexican American Men Discuss Overcoming Barriers to Completing a Four-Year Degree. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, California State University, Fresno. Mexican American men have the lowest college completion rate of any ethnic group in the United States. Mexican American men lag behind Asian and White students academically and slightly higher than Black and Pacific Islander college graduates. The study attempts to understand the significance of "The Vanishing Latino Male" (Saenz & Ponjuan, 2009) in addressing Mexican males in colleges and universities. This paper will examine the historical journey of Mexican migration to the United States. A brief history of Mexican immigration to the U.S from the time of the Mexican Revolution through the 1940's Bracero Program and the 1970s is presented. The historical summation seeks to provide clarity as to the large numbers of Mexican Americans migrating to California from World War II through the 1970s. Current literature will address Mexican American males in education through a Critical Race Theory lens. Mexican American males in the study shared stories and photos of… [Direct]
(2024). Cracking the Code: Chief Admission Officers' Solutions for Inclusive STEM Admissions in Public Research Universities. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. This study examined the role of chief admission officers (CAOs) in Research 1 (R1) public flagship institutions and how they understand and address the misalignment between admission criteria to STEM majors and the disparate access to STEM opportunities for diverse students in the applicant pool. The research questions this study explored were (a) how the case CAOs characterized and analyzed the challenges that underrepresented minority (URM) applicants face in the admission process to STEM majors and (b) what strategies CAOs employ to overcome these challenges and provide access to STEM majors for URM students. Guided by critical race theory in education and anti-deficit theory to interrogate the STEM admission pipeline and excavate strategies that provide access to STEM majors, qualitative data was collected at six R1 public flagship institutions. This qualitative study explored various data sources, including a leadership questionnaire, and semi-structured one-on-one interviews… [Direct]
(2024). Nos/otras Redefining the Silences: Stories of Women of Color Navigating Doctoral Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. This qualitative study focuses on the experiences of Women of Color in doctoral programs to highlight the challenges they face, the silences they encounter, and the navigational tools they utilize to persist through their programs. Women of Color continue to be marginalized in academia and face many challenges when earning graduate degrees (Gutierrez y Muhs et al., 2012; Keating, 2006; McKee & Delgado, 2020; Montoya, 2000). This research specifically examines the experiences of marginalization and the silence that they encounter in doctoral programs. Using Critical Race Theory (Solorzano, 1998), Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2000), and Chicana feminist theories (Anzaldua, 2002; Delgado Bernal, 1998), I focused on nine Women of Color doctoral students from the fields of Sociology, Psychology, Education, Gender Studies, STEM, and History. To center the voices of Women of Color in my dissertation, I utilized the methodology of platicas and video testimonios. I gathered 75… [Direct]
(2024). A Narrative Study: The Perceptions of Teachers of Color Teaching during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in an Illinois Public School. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Ball State University. This narrative study explored the experiences of teachers of color working with at-risk youth in marginalized communities during and after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, teachers faced many challenges, such as low pay, being stressed, overworked with a lack of resources, being overlooked, and not appreciated for their hard work. The Critical Race Theory was the theoretical structure for this narrative study. This qualitative study included the narratives of six Black women between the ages of 35 and 65, all living in the Midwest with a total of 40 years of teaching experience. The lived experiences of these women were collected through their semi-structured and open interview questions. The narrative study answered the following three questions: (1) What was the experience of teachers of color working in marginalized communities with at-risk youth during and after the pandemic (the new normal living with COVID-19)? (2) How did teachers of color working with at-risk youth practice… [Direct]
(2024). Library Holdings, "Divisive Concepts," and Parental Rights. Philosophical Studies in Education, v55 p88-98. Over the past several years, there have been numerous legislative attempts to limit discussion of race and gender/sexuality in K-12 schools and higher education in the name of parental rights. As this is written, sixteen states have banned the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) and additional legislation is being considered in twenty-two other states. Common legislative language includes prohibitions on teaching students that one racial group "bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex" or that students from certain racial groups should feel "discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress." Such bans are commonly justified on the grounds of parental rights: as the primary caregivers, parents should control what students are taught about racial issues. Parents, it is said, should be able to "opt their children out" of what they consider to be "racially… [PDF]
(2023). Exploration of the Lived Experiences of Native American Science Teachers of the Great Plains: A Narrative Inquiry. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Nebraska – Lincoln. The complicated history of the education of Native American children through U.S. government-sponsored practices has led to the elimination of the Native children's sense of Indian identity, culture, and language (Noel, 2002). In addition, increased emphasis on standardization and high-stakes accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has resulted in less culturally responsive educational efforts and more Indigenous students left behind in school systems (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). This has led to Indigenous students being underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields where they account for only 3% of STEM workers (Fry, Kennedy, & Funk, 2021). This dissertation study explores the racialized and gendered lived experiences of Indigenous science teachers in elementary, middle, and high school (K-12) settings in a reservation school in Nebraska. This study, grounded on critical race theory (TribalCrit), employs a qualitative… [Direct]
(2013). "The Goddamndest, Toughest Voting Rights Bill": Critical Race Theory and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v16 n5 p696-724. The author utilized Critical Race Theory (CRT) to examine the passage of the US Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 in an effort to disrupt the simplistic, uncritical understandings of the US Civil Rights Movement common to school texts while also arguing for the ongoing importance of the VRA in a time when voting rights for people of color are under attack. The author identified four points of interest convergence in the passage of the VRA and contends that a critical revisionist narrative of the VRA–along with other events and individuals Civil Rights Movement–is necessary to help students and teachers understand the persistence of racism and the limitations of liberalism in addressing racial inequality…. [Direct]
(2020). Chapter 7: "I Had to Get Tougher"–An African Immigrant's (Counter)narrative of Language, Race, and Resistance. Teachers College Record, v122 n13. Background/Context: With the incessant wave of anti-Black and anti-immigrant sentiments, the extant political situation in the contemporary United States presents an ideal space, place, and time to investigate Black immigrant students' experiences and examine the ways in which dominant racial and linguistic ideologies shape their literate identities and position them in schools and society. While the Black immigrant population overall continues to increase, the Black immigrant student population in United States K-12 schools has experienced a steady upward trend. This student population shares some of the racialized experiences of Black American students but also reflects distinctive cultural, linguistic, and literate identities, and experiences that we, as educators, must acknowledge and embrace if we are to help them effectively navigate the educational and social terrain of the U.S. Purpose/Research Questions: The purpose of this article is to amplify (counter)narratives that… [Direct]