(2018). QuantCrit: Rectifying Quantitative Methods through Critical Race Theory. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v21 n2 p149-157. Critical race theory (CRT) in education centers, examines, and seeks to transform the relationship that undergirds race, racism, and power. CRT scholars have applied a critical race framework to advance research methodologies, namely qualitative interventions. Informed by this work, and 15 years later, this article reconsiders the possibilities of CRT applications to quantitative methodologies through "QuantCrit." We ask the question: "Can quantitative methods, long critiqued for their inability to capture the nuance of everyday experience, support and further a critical race agenda in educational research?" We provide an abbreviated sketch of some of the key tenets of CRT and the enduring interdisciplinary contributions in race and quantitative studies. Second, we examine the legacy and genealogy of "QuantCrit" traditions across the disciplines to uncover a rich lineage of methodological possibilities for disrupting racism in research. We argue that… [Direct]
(2021). Strategies of Resistance among Racially Minoritized Students at a Hispanic-Serving Institution: A Critical Race Theory Perspective. Journal of Higher Education, v92 n3 p465-498. Employing critical race theory and a student resistance framework, this study qualitatively explored how minoritized college students view and interpret their racialized experiences in academic settings at a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) and what strategies they have employed to manage and respond to the campus racial climate. Drawn from seven focus groups and eight in-depth interviews, the findings demonstrate that the studied campus promoted racial diversity but failed to facilitate the processes and practices to achieve the educational benefits of a diverse college campus. Study participants were keenly aware of the campus racial climate and encountered racism in a variety of forms. They strategically relied on informal networks for support and collective well-being and also engaged in subtle and creative strategies of resistance. The article includes recommendations for creating equitable, safe, productive environments for racially minoritized students at HSIs and elsewhere…. [Direct]
(2021). The Best Way to "Ban" Critical Race Theory: Prohibiting Promotion Rather than Inclusion or Compulsion. American Enterprise Institute In the first half of 2021, 26 states introduced–and 12 passed–bills colloquially labeled "critical race theory (CRT) bans." The bills introduced to date can be grouped into three categories: prohibitions against compulsion, against inclusion, and against promotion. The prohibition against promoting CRT, first introduced in the North Carolina legislature, strikes the best balance between addressing parents' concerns about indoctrination without posing any risk of substantive curriculum imposition. This report is an exercise in constructive criticism for lawmakers who intend to thoughtfully draft or revisit legislation addressing the state-sponsored racism of CRT pedagogy. The author begins by outlining three principles that animate this analysis. The author then provides some criticism of bills introduced to date, offers a typology for understanding the varieties of bills proposed, and argues for the most constructive path legislators could take…. [PDF]
(2023). "We Don't Teach Critical Race Theory Here": A Sentiment Analysis of K-12 School and District Social Media Statements. Peabody Journal of Education, v98 n5 p533-547. Conservative activism around the purported influence of Critical Race Theory (CRT) on K-12 education has swept the country in recent years. While others have documented the sources of these messages, how school districts have responded to these critiques has not yet been investigated. Drawing on research on how social media algorithms elevate polarizing information and activate emotions, we analyze public social media posts on school/district Facebook pages mentioning the phrase "critical race" to examine how educators address the claim of teaching CRT and how the local community responds. We use sentiment analysis to examine the emotions of these posts and how they are distributed across states. We also explore the sentiment of subsequent community reactions reflected in the comments of each post, including negative emotions such as anger and fear, and positive emotions such as trust. This study has implications for how school districts can help to stop cycles of fearful… [Direct]
(2021). A Disability Critical Race Theory Solidarity Approach to Transform Pedagogy and Classroom Culture in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, v55 n3 p708-718 Sep. Until very recently, ability and whiteness as relational systems have been uninterrogated by TESOL research, policy, practice, and teacher education. Consequently, monolingual teachers often use students' proximity to whiteness and nondisabled status as a metric for ascertaining their ability or belonging in certain language learning spaces. Similarly, English language teachers' uncritical and unsupported engagement with policy and professional learning around race and whiteness contributes to the unwarranted subjection of multilingual students to the special education referral process. In this contribution, we aim to analyze the nuances of ableism and racism in the field of TESOL, and offer TESOL educators practical examples to dismantle it. Drawing from the critical intersectional framework of DisCrit, this contribution presents two DisCrit solidarity-oriented practical examples for the language classroom: cultural reciprocity and translanguaging. We argue that these support TESOL… [Direct]
(2021). Teacher Perspectives on the Presence of Police Officers in English Secondary Schools: A Critical Race Theory Analysis. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v24 n4 p578-595. In the context of a racialized moral panic around serious youth violence, we have seen a resurgence of calls to increase the presence of police in English schools in recent years. As well as a lack of popular and political opposition, there is a dearth of critical academic consideration of the placement of police in schools, and even less from a Critical Race Theory perspective. Given that teachers' perspectives are relatively absent from academic and popular debates, this paper draws upon data from semi-structured interviews with 24 secondary school teachers. In doing so, the paper argues that an increased police presence in school will impact negatively upon learning environments, create a culture of low expectations, criminalize young people, and feed a "school-to-prison pipeline." Noting that racially minoritized students will be affected most harshly, the article provides empirical evidence to warn against the presence of police in schools…. [Direct]
(2025). More than Colleagues: Disrupting Anti-Blackness and Promoting Well-Being through Black Women's Workplace Friendships. Journal of Education Human Resources, v43 n1 p202-222. Anti-Blackness in the academy has the potential to negatively impact relationships between Black Women, which can ultimately influence Black women's retention and career advancement. Through an analysis of existing theories, including workplace friendships, Black feminist thought, and critical race theory, the authors first interrogate how anti-Blackness operates to harm Black women's workplace relationships and then illuminate how Black women student affairs administrators (BWSAAs) disrupt anti-Blackness and resist toxicity and systemic oppression by cultivating and sustaining positive Black women's workplace friendships. BWSAAs and those who supervise, serve with, support, and advocate for them will gain knowledge to help bolster BWSAAs' well-being, retention, and career advancement…. [Direct]
(2023). Writing a Love Letter to Educators in the Wake of Anti-CRT Efforts. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, v25 n1-2 p69-86. This conceptual essay explores three "moments" related to our collective efforts as white teacher educators to respond to proposed anti-critical race theory legislation in Michigan. These moments made visible institutional tensions and limits related to taking a stand against racist policies. We explore how we might obstruct flows of power in our roles as faculty through our institutional, teaching, and curriculum engagements…. [Direct]
(2019). Can You Really Measure That? Combining Critical Race Theory and Quantitative Methods. American Educational Research Journal, v56 n1 p178-203 Feb. Critical race theory (CRT) has been used in educational literature to emphasize the influence of racism on educational opportunity and the assets of students of color. Quantitative methods appear antithetical to CRT tenets according to some, but this article endeavors to show why this is not the case, based on both historical and contemporary notions. To build this argument, the author presents results from an empirical study that used data from a survey of undergraduates and measurement theory to quantify students' community cultural wealth, a CRT framework that describes the cultural assets of communities of color. The author concludes with recommendations for incorporating quantitative methods into future CRT studies…. [Direct]
(2019). Finding Voice and Passion: Critical Race Theory Methodology in Science Teacher Education. American Educational Research Journal, v56 n4 p1412-1456 Aug. This longitudinal case study utilizes critical race theory methodology to chronicle the journey of an African American female in science teacher education. The study looks at her educational history first as a young child and then how she navigates a contested, racialized predominantly White teacher education program, grows and develops in science education, and secures her first full-time teaching appointment as an elementary teacher. The implications for practice in both teacher education and science education show that educational and emotional support for teachers of color throughout their educational and professional journey is imperative to increasing and sustaining Black teachers. In addition, intersectionality foregrounds and adds to the complexity of understanding race, racism, and science in teacher education…. [Direct]
(2021). Pragmatic Humanism in CSD Diversity Education: A Conceptual Framework to Engage Students across the Political and Cultural Spectrum. Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders, v5 n3 Article 6. The purpose of this reflection on scholarly teaching is to outline the difficulties arising when critical race theory, in its misappropriated and popularized form that dominates current discourse, is deployed as the sole educational framework in CSD education. We wish to offer an alternative framework, pragmatic humanism. The latter is expounded as a paradigm that can reap the benefits of critical race theory without succumbing to the absolutist claims of its popularized variant. It will be argued that pragmatic humanism is a useful framework for diversity teachers in CSD who are faced with an overwhelmingly White, conservative student body that may be reluctant to accept the realities of racism…. [PDF]
(2022). "Does This Mean I Am Racist, Distrust, or Dislike People of Color?" A DisCrit Qualitative Study of Implicit Bias among Preservice and Practicing Special Educators. Issues in Teacher Education, v31 n1 p6-34 Spr. It is critical that educators learn about the concept of implicit bias and contemplate any unconscious biases they may hold since Black students disproportionately experience punitive school disciplinary consequences and placement into programs for students with disabilities. Greenwald and colleagues' early (1998) research on implicit association established a foundation and framework for a tremendous amount of research related to teachers' implicit associations and students' educational pathways. The current study is framed on a foundation of social justice as it applies to special education through the combined lens of Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory known as Disability Critical Race Theory. The theory provides a framework that can be used to help preservice teachers make sense of the complex intersection of race and perceptions of ability. This qualitative study examined how preservice and practicing special educators acknowledge and reflect on implicit biases they may… [PDF]
(2023). Critical What What? A Theoretical Systematic Review of 15 Years of Critical Race Theory Research in Social Studies Education, 2004-2019. Review of Educational Research, v93 n3 p412-453 Jun. Since its introduction as an analytic and theoretical tool for the examination of racism in education, CRT scholarship has proliferated as the most visible critical theory of race in educational research. Whereas CRT's popularity can be viewed as a welcome sign, scholars continually caution against its misappropriation and overuse, which dilute its criticality. We draw from the cautionary ethos of this canon of literature as the impetus for examining CRT's terrain in social studies education research. Starting from Ladson-Billings's watershed edited CRT text on race and social studies in 2003, this study provides a comprehensive theoretical review of scholarly literature in the social studies education field pertinent to the nexus of CRT, racialized citizenship, and race(ism). To guide our review, we asked how social studies education scholars have defined and used CRT as an analytic and theoretical framework in social studies education research from 2004 to 2019, as well as how… [Direct]
(2025). Developing Antiracist Intelligence in Institutional Research: A Critical Content Analysis of AIR Forum Conference Programs, 2002-2023. Research in Higher Education, v66 n1 Article 2. Grounded in Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit), this study utilizes Critical Content Analysis to examine how educational sessions at the Association for Institutional Research's annual conference, AIR Forum, have engaged issues of race and racism. On average, race was mentioned in just 6.2% of AIR Forum sessions annually, and only three sessions used the terms "racism" or "antiracism" between 2002 and 2023. Findings suggest there is a dearth of learning opportunities at AIR Forum explicitly aimed at countering racism in Institutional Research (IR). Implications for research and practice are shared to bolster the development of "antiracist intelligence" among IR professionals…. [Direct]
(2024). Self-Silencing as Protection: How the "Angry Black Woman" Stereotype Influences How Black Graduate Women Respond to Gendered-Racial Microaggressions. Equity & Excellence in Education, v57 n1 p47-61. This study examines how Black graduate women respond to gendered-racial microaggressions at a historically White institution. Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism, this study also explores the social and psychological factors that contribute to their responses. Data suggest that participants' responses are influenced by stereotype threat and a fear of perpetuating the "angry Black woman" stereotype. Findings show that this fear caused participants to self-silence as a form of protection. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are provided…. [Direct]