(2022). Preparing Teachers for Culturally Responsive/Relevant Pedagogy (CRP): A Critical Review of Research. Teachers College Record, v124 n2 p197-224 Feb. Context: Proposed more than two decades ago, culturally relevant/responsive teaching or pedagogy (CRP) is one promising approach to transforming the education experience of historically marginalized groups. The development of CRP has since inspired changes in teacher education programs and resulted in considerable research on preparing teachers for CRP. However, critics have argued that much work on CRP has not fulfilled its transformative potential of addressing racism and the white-supremacist foundations underlying teacher education research and practice and have urged CRP research to grow from the existing knowledge base and to innovate. Purpose of Study: This study critically examines the research practices of empirical studies on preparing K-12 preservice teachers for CRP in the United States by merging ideas of research as social practice with critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, and Indigenous epistemologies to argue for research as racialized social practice…. [Direct]
(2023). Sowing Seeds of Resistance: Heritage Spanish Teachers Engaging in Testimonio and Critical Action Research. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago. A vast amount of Latina/o/x students enroll in US public schools with the potential to become bilingual in English and Spanish. However, this potential is often dismissed, ignored, and their Spanish is perceived as a problem to be overcome. Despite this, some Latina/o/x bilingual students decide to become Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) educators. My dissertation is a two-phase qualitative study drawing from Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) and Chicana Feminist Theory to inform its theoretical framework and methodology. Participants for the first phase consisted of 11 Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) high school teachers who are Spanish heritage speakers themselves. The study captured participants' testimonios, in which they reflected on their language experiences across the PreK-16 educational pipeline and shared how these experiences presently inform their teaching practices in their SHL classrooms. Testimonios were collected via a semi-structured interview and a… [Direct]
(2022). How Admissions Offices Can Help Close the Latino Physician-to-Population Gap in the State of California: Grounded Theory Study Dissertation. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of La Verne. Purpose: There is a documented disparity in the number of Latino physicians in the U.S., especially in states with a large Latino population like California. In this study, the researcher explores the lived experiences of qualified, motivated Latino students enrolled at medical schools in California to better understand their perceptions of supports and barriers. By understanding these feelings, beliefs, and experiences, the researcher was able to gain insight into key elements that can aid in closing the physician-to-population gap. Theoretical Framework: Social replication habitus model provides the basic framework for creating healthcare workforce pipelines. Critical race theory and LatCrit principles provide an interpretive model examining race and racism across the dominant cultural modes of expression. Methodology: The researcher used grounded theory methodology since this phenomenon has not been extensively studied. The researcher conducted 20 semi-structured interviews from… [Direct]
(2022). Teaching Data Science for Social Justice to Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, San Diego State University. The emerging field of data science has brought attention to how we teach statistics and data science (Bargagliotti et al., 2020; Franklin et al., 2007) and prepare the next generation of statistics and data science teachers (Franklin et al., 2013). To realize the full potential of statistics and data science, researchers have also called for using data to guide conversations about race and racism (Philip et al., 2016, 2017), especially given the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change, and public health. In this dissertation, I drew on the Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice (Gutstein,2006), Quantitative Critical Race Theory (Castillo & Gillborn, 2022; Crawford et al., 2018; Gillborn et al., 2018), and Habits of Mind (Cuoco et al., 1996) frameworks to study the potential of using a social justice-oriented approach to teaching data science for preservice mathematics teachers, highlighting the intersectionality of race and racism with statistics and data science. Data comes… [Direct]
(2022). Student Learning, Student Demographics, or Something Else? A Quantcrit Analysis of How School Accountability Reflects Student Labels but Not Student Needs. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder. Improving educational outcomes and school conditions for historically marginalized students has been a primary goal since the school accountability movement began in the 1960s. However, despite decades of legislation, policy, and enactment designed to achieve this purpose, historically marginalized students continue to suffer from disparate academic outcomes. Using Critical Race Theory and QuantCrit frameworks, this dissertation analyzed accountability outcomes in relation to student demographics, school contexts, and English Learner characteristics and services in Denver Public Schools over three years to understand what the accountability framework employed by the district was and was not measuring. Findings indicate that the schools with the highest accountability ratings consistently had (a) smaller proportions of students of color, students receiving Free and Reduced Lunch services, and English Learners; (b) higher rates of Fully Qualified teachers and students identified as… [Direct]
(2022). A DisCrit Analysis of Quality in Early Childhood: Toward Pedagogies of Wholeness, Access, and Interdependence. Teachers College Record, v124 n12 p192-219 Dec. Background: In U.S. contexts, the language of "quality" early childhood education is widely invoked to evaluate the "goodness" of teaching and learning and is often leveraged in attempts to ameliorate inequities. Likewise, efforts to define and achieve generalizable conceptualizations of early childhood quality often guide what takes place in teacher education. Though objections to quality reform efforts and the ways they uphold white supremacy have been extensively discussed, less work has explicitly examined how ableism intersects with racism in the ways quality is defined and applied in early childhood. Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual article is to extend prior critiques of quality to critically examine intersections of racism and ableism in the definitions, measurements, and enactments of quality early childhood teaching and learning. We bring disability critical race theory (DisCrit; Annamma et al., 2013) into conversation with literature on quality… [Direct]
(2022). Perceptions of Professional Development Impact: White Educators' Racial Identity Development and Anti-Racist Practice. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Wisconsin – Madison. US schools have seen limited success in meliorating inequitable outcomes for students of color amid the expanding gap between student and educator racial demographics, yet there is a dearth of research on suburban schools and effective white educators of children of color. While districts and institutions of higher education work to diversify the educator workforce, they must simultaneously expand anti-racist work among existing white educators. The literature suggests that racial identity development is a critical factor in the successful implementation of anti-racist practice for white educators. This study sought to understand the impact of anti-racist professional development (PD) on white educators in predominantly white suburban districts and specifically what PD impacted their racial identity development, understanding of racism, and anti-racist practice. A five-strand conceptual framework grounded in Critical Race Theory and designed as a White Anti-Racist Educator Identity… [Direct]
(2022). Teachers' Perception about School Discipline in Tennessee's Middle Schools: A Qualitative Interpretive Descriptive Study. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Northcentral University. The disproportionate disciplinary actions imposed on African American male students in the public school system deny them educational instruction time and increased the risk for juvenile delinquency. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive descriptive study was to examine the implementation of discipline practice employed with African American male students in Tennessee's middle schools. The Critical Race Theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The three central research questions were designed to examine teachers' beliefs toward school disciplinary policies and practices, identify how teachers encouraged and promoted the academic success of the African American male students, and finally strategies to address cultural aware-ness differences and diversity in public schools. Interviews were conducted with 15 public middle school teachers in Tennessee. NVivo 12 was used to manually code the initial and secondary data analysis of the data collected. Findings… [Direct]
(2014). Racism as Policy: A Critical Race Analysis of Education Reforms in the United States and England. Educational Forum, v78 n1 p26-41. Critical race theory (CRT) views education as one of the principal means by which white supremacy is maintained and presented as normal in society. The article applies CRT to two real-world case studies: changes to education statutes in the state of Arizona (USA) and the introduction of a new measure of educational success in England, the English baccalaureate. The analysis highlights the globalized nature of neoliberal education reform and its fundamentally raced and racist character…. [Direct]
(2022). Virginia Public School Principals' Decision-Making Responsibilities within the Realm of Zero-Tolerance Policy: A Qualitative Case Study. ProQuest LLC, DBA Dissertation, Northcentral University. The problem addressed in this study was that, when enforced, the Zero Tolerance Policy (ZTP) prematurely introduced Black, Brown, and mentally ill students into the juvenile justice system. The central purpose of this qualitative case study was to discover if the ZTP influenced the school principal's past discretion, how that influence changed with the removal of the ZTP, and if that change kept from overly disciplining Black, Brown, or mentally ill students. Critical race theory was the theoretical framework used to explain how inequity and injustice were in the educational system. The targeted population was currently employed K-12 principals in the state of Virginia. The sample size was 14 participants. Three results emerged from this study. First, the participants were not allowed to use discretion resulting in their powerlessness concerning predetermined discipline outlined within the ZTPs. The implication is that the ZTP did influence school principals' past decision-making… [Direct]
(2023). Unapologetic! Leading in White Spaces: A Critical Race Grounded Theory Study about the Experiences of Black Women College Presidents at Four-Year Predominantly White Institutions and Gendered Racism's Influence on Their Leadership Approach. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Boston. For higher education to be responsive to the changing national and student population, its leadership must be "reflective of the world around it, (which) will be key to managing the challenges of today and the unknown challenges of tomorrow" (American Council on Education, 2017, para. 4). Unfortunately, despite the increasing diversity of the student body, college presidents remain primarily white; therefore, maintaining a limited view of leadership. Centering the experiences of Black women as a "strength to build, develop, and perform leadership" (Lloyd-Jones, 2016, p. 66), and understanding their ways of knowing, is an important step for postsecondary education in meeting these challenges. Therefore, a more nuanced examination of Black women college and university presidents is needed. The purpose of this study was to understand how the leadership practice of Black women college presidents at four-year PWIs was informed by their lived experiences. Centering the… [Direct]
(2024). Asian American Critical Pedagogy Framework and Principles in Art Education. Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research in Art Education, v65 n3 p324-342. In this article, we, as Asian American visual arts and social studies educators, propose an Asian American Critical Pedagogy framework and its four principles. Building on critical race and social theories and pedagogies, we developed the four principles: "Asian American critical consciousness," "counternarratives and reclamation," "heterogeneity and intersectionality," and "joy and wellness." The four principles are the outcome of our collective theoretical exploration, autobiographical reflection, and the analysis of contemporary Asian American artists and their works. We hope the principles serve as a theoretical framework for future research and pedagogical exploration to recognize and expand the authentic voices and experiences of Asian American art educators and students and to offer insights for intersectional research with other marginalized communities…. [Direct]
(2016). 'I Don't Want to Stereotype… but It's True': Maintaining Whiteness at the Centre through the 'Smart Asian' Stereotype in High School. Whiteness and Education, v1 n1 p54-68. The 'smart Asian' stereotype, part of the model minority discourse, depicts Asian students as studious and academically successful. We draw on critical race theory, with a focus on critical whiteness studies and the concepts of democratic and cultural racism, to examine the racialising effects of this seemingly positive stereotype. Drawing on in-depth interviews with over 60 self-identified smart, teenagers from schools in the Southern Ontario, we identified three themes which together illustrate how the 'smart Asian' stereotype reflects and reproduces a hegemonic white center. First, a number of our participants deployed, and then trivialised the 'smart Asian' stereotype as 'just joking'. Second, through discussing this stereotype, white participants often excluded students with Asian backgrounds from conceptualisations of what it means to be Canadian and to fit in. Finally, this stereotype was experienced ambivalently by Asian-identified students who found it brought academic… [Direct]
(2019). The Intersection of Culture and Institutional Support for Latino Students' Academic Success: Remediation or Empowerment?. Journal of Latinos and Education, v18 n1 p68-80. The study is framed by critical race theory to explore the intersection of cultural and institutional factors that influence Latino students' completion of high school. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which factors related to students' background, culture, socioeconomic status, and institutional-support such as participation in mentoring and/or dropout-prevention programs, can predict Latino students' successful completion of high school. The overarching research question is: To what extent do family background, students' educational aspirations, and institutional support programs predict whether Latino students' complete high school? Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002), from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) with 2,217 Hispanic participants, the study used a logistic linear regression model for the analysis. The findings identified students' gender, socioeconomic status, first language, educational… [Direct]
(2019). Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism. Harvard Education Press In "Unconscious Bias in Schools," two seasoned educators describe the phenomenon of unconscious racial bias and how it negatively affects the work of educators and students in schools. "Regardless of the amount of effort, time, and resources education leaders put into improving the academic achievement of students of color," the authors write, "if unconscious racial bias is overlooked, improvement efforts may never achieve their highest potential." In order to address this bias, the authors argue, educators must first be aware of the racialized context in which we live. Through personal anecdotes and real-life scenarios, "Unconscious Bias in Schools" provides education leaders with an essential roadmap for addressing these issues directly. The authors draw on the literature on change management, leadership, critical race theory, and racial identity development, as well as the growing research on unconscious bias in a variety of fields, to… [Direct]