(2023). Unveiling the Racism Within: Black Chief Diversity Officers' Experiences with Race and Racism at Predominantly White Institutions. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Iowa State University. Institutions of higher education continue to grapple with how to most effectively meet their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) priorities. Colleges and universities have turned to Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) as the institutional leaders to champion to provide leadership for creating more diverse, equitable and inclusive experiences and outcomes for their campus constituents. However, little is known about the inclusion and equity that CDOs experience within their roles. This study aims to expand the literature on Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs)in higher education (see for example, Nixon, 2017; Williams & Wade-Golden, 2013). This study seeks to contribute to the CDO literature by providing insights into what is known about Black CDOs' experiences at PWI, and how their racial identities shape those experiences. I argue that Black CDOs' experiences are shaped by racism. To build on the existing literature on CDOs, I investigated how Black CDOs' describe their experiences at… [Direct]
(2023). The Blueprint for Black Leadership: A Phenomenological Study of the Effective Development of Black K-12 Leadership. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Marian University. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how principal supervisors who identify as Black develop Black principals in K-12 settings. The approaches generally include leadership activities, philosophies, and mentoring. This study will use a phenomenological approach, focusing on the lived experience of Black principal supervisors in developing Black principals. Participants will be 10-15 Black principal supervisors who (a) self-identify as Black; (b) are senior leaders; (c) manage a Black school leader in some capacity; and (d) manage more than one principal. The researcher will use existing networks such as Surge Academy (Surge), Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC), and the National Charter Collaborative (NCC) to identify and contact potential participants. Participants will need to sign an informed-consent form. Data collection will involve one-on-one semi-structured virtual interviews with five to eight focus questions. Zoom teleconferencing will be used to interview and… [Direct]
(2023). Legitimizing and Validating the Lived Leadership Experiences of Women of Color K-12 Educational Leaders in Predominantly White Public School Systems. ProQuest LLC, D.Ed. Dissertation, University of Delaware. This Educational Leadership Portfolio is documentation of my efforts to better understand the perspectives and racialized and gendered lived leadership experiences of Women of Color K-12 educational leaders who work in predominantly White public school systems within a county in a mid-Atlantic state. The problem addressed is that there is too little understanding of the lived leadership experiences of Women of Color K-12 educational leaders. The improvement goals were to know and describe the perspectives of Women of Color K-12 educational leaders and amplify their voices as they report on their lived leadership experiences; and raise awareness of the systemic, structural, and institutional inequities that affect their lived leadership experiences and elevate the need for school system leaders to make better-informed decisions that facilitate the dismantling of systems of oppression in order to create better conditions for them. Using interpretive hermeneutical phenomenology… [Direct]
(2012). \They Prepared Me to Be a Teacher, but Not a Culturally Responsive Navajo Teacher for Navajo Kids\: A Tribal Critical Race Theory Analysis of an Indigenous Teacher Preparation Program. Journal of American Indian Education, v51 n1 p3-26. This article argues that federally-funded Indigenous teacher preparation programs housed at mainstream, predominantly White universities can be colonial and thus require significant focused work in order to ensure that they are not. The article has three interrelated objectives: first, to discuss efforts to prepare Indigenous teachers for Indigenous schools within predominantly White university teacher preparation programs; second, to examine whether these programs continue the legacy of colonization and assimilation, or advance tribal nations' goals of sovereignty and self-determination; and third, to extend the theoretical capacities of critical race theory and tribal critical race theory by using their analytic tools to make sense of particular efforts in Indigenous education. The preparation of culturally responsive Indigenous teachers for schools serving Indigenous youth is clearly needed, but this is difficult work given the larger context of imperialism, White supremacy, and… [Direct]
(2013). Negotiating the Contested Terrain of Equity-Focused Change Efforts in Schools: Critical Race Theory as a Leadership Framework for Creating More Equitable Schools. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v45 n3 p290-310 Sep. Educational leaders attempting to enact equity-focused change in their schools are frequently met with fierce opposition by politically powerful parents whose children are well served by the status quo. The purpose of this conceptual article is to: (a) explore the utility of "Critical Race Theory" as a framework for helping K-12 school leaders anticipate and make sense of resistance to change efforts aimed at creating greater educational equity for underserved students, and (b) suggest ways that school leaders can more effectively engage in equity reforms in their schools. To do this, we examine a highly contested public debate over a recent equity-focused change effort at Berkeley High School (BHS)–a large, racially and socioeconomically diverse public school in Northern California. Using the events at BHS as an example, we argue that change efforts could be undertaken more effectively by: (a) identifying and addressing the underlying property interests up front, (b)… [Direct]
(2022). Learning from the Roses That Grew from Concrete: An Afterschool Program Evaluation for Wakanda Afterschool. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Barry University. As low-income youth of color seek to persevere and succeed against the odds, afterschool programs have become a growing resource and support for many of these low-income youth and their families. However, the body of research concerning the impact of afterschool programs is largely inconclusive and there is still a growing urgency to determine the impact of afterschool programs on the populations they serve. The purpose of this study was to elevate and listen to the voices and stories of low-income youth of color as critical researchers using Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) to conduct a qualitative evaluation regarding the impact of a community-based afterschool program on low-income youth of color as they aspired towards success in academics and life. Informed by YPAR, this study utilized two theories to guide this study's theoretical framework. The first theory was social constructivist theory given its alignment to the nature of afterschool programs. The second was… [Direct]
(2018). Examining the Experiences of Latinx STEM Baccalaureates. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Loyola University Chicago. Examining the Experiences of Latinx STEM Baccalaureates is a qualitative research study of Latinx who graduated with a bachelor's degree in an area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The purpose of this dissertation was to learn about the experiences of Latinx who have attained a STEM degree at a four-year university. This study holds implications for educational institutions, policymakers, and educational researchers that serve Latinx populations. More importantly, this dissertation will share the voices and knowledge of Latinx that have attained STEM. This dissertation examined the following questions: What are the undergraduate educational experiences of Latinx students who major in STEM? What factors impact Latinx students' decision to pursue STEM degrees? What factors drive Latinx students' persistence in STEM? How do various forms of capital, specifically those identified in Yosso's (2005) theory of Community Cultural Wealth, impact Latinx STEM undergraduates… [Direct]
(2015). "You See the Whole Tree, Not Just the Stump:" Religious Fundamentalism, Capital and Public Schooling. Curriculum Inquiry, v45 n2 p176-197. This article draws on data from a larger collective case study which focused on the transition to college for Latino/a students at a prestigious, public, predominantly White institution. Here, I focus on one student and analyze interview and field note data to examine this transition for Jasmine, a fundamentalist Christian who identifies as a Mexican-American. Specifically, I apply the notion of familial capital (Yosso, 2005, 2006), which is based on critical race theory, to Jasmine's case. Through an examination of the ways in which her fundamentalist background and her Liberal Arts College education interact, I discuss implications for the use of familial capital and call for further study of fundamentalism and public education as well as for a nuanced expansion of concept of "multiculturalism."… [Direct]
(2015). "Blessed": Musical Talent, Smartness, & Figured Identities. Equity & Excellence in Education, v48 n4 p606-620. The purpose of this study is to explore smartness and talent as social constructs. Drawing on Holland et al.'s (1998) figured identities, this article explores the figuring of abilities by elucidating the voices of African American high school chorus students. Critical Race Theory (CRT) helps to unpack normalized language and practices that comprise intelligence, talent, and identity construction. The student participants in this study contrasted high school experiences in which they constructed musical and academic identities, describing how smart or talented they were relative to significant others around them. Findings suggest that constructions of musical talent and smartness socially positioned students along race, gender, and class lines. Interpretations of talent and intelligence may impact the curricular options made available to students, their academic identity construction, musical identity construction, and inequitable school practices…. [Direct]
(2015). Sounds of Silence: Race and Emergent Counter-Narratives of Art Teacher Identity. Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research in Art Education, v56 n3 p199-213 Spr. This article presents case studies of two Black preservice art teachers and their racialized experiences in art teacher education. Drawing from a critical race theory perspective, their stories are conceptualized as emergent counternarratives of becoming an art teacher. The case studies are based on interviews from an ethnographic investigation of teacher identity at a predominantly White university's art education program. The counter-narratives that emerged chronicle racial microaggressions that participants negotiated as each fashioned an art teacher identity. At a systemic level, the testimonies shed light on the invidious effects of race avoidance in art teacher preparation and art teacher research. The conclusion discusses future directions and implications for making art teacher education programs more inclusive and safe for students of color, while also supporting greater race consciousness among all teachers…. [Direct]
(2015). Whiteness as Property: Innocence and Ability in Teacher Education. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v47 n2 p293-316 Jun. In this article, I empirically examined the dispositions of teachers in juvenile justice surrounding young women of color with disabilities to inform what improvements can be made in teacher education. I utilized Critical Race Theory (CRT) and focused on the tenet of whiteness as property as a lens to provide a robust racial analysis of the dispositions of teachers. Findings indicated that instead of a status that elicited support, ability became another thing to surveil, perpetuating a commitment to whiteness as property. An implication that arose directly from these findings was that teachers need training in understanding theories of race, racism, and inequities that recognize the historical legacy of whiteness as property. This training could lead to a change in teacher dispositions and practices that may disrupt the School to Prison Pipeline…. [Direct]
(2022). Learning Mathematics While Black in Rural Appalachia: Black Students' Counterstories and Freedom Dreams about Mathematics Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, West Virginia University. This dissertation aims to illuminate and uncover the experiences of Black students' learning mathematics in rural Appalachia and specifically West Virginia. The focal theory for this study is Critical Race Theory (CRT) which centers the experience of Black students and their voices. The intersection of race, mathematics education, and the context of rural Appalachia contribute to the analysis of these experiences in specific ways. Participants for this study included six Black high school students from various communities throughout West Virginia. Through interviews and mathematical autobiographies, these students shared their experiences learning mathematics across their schooling experiences and also considering their desires for an ideal mathematics education. The dissertation is presented in the form of three manuscripts. The first manuscript explores these students' mathematics identities and socialization in this context. I attend to the micro-, meso-, and macro-level… [Direct]
(2022). "We Still Miss Some of Them": A Discrit Analysis of the Role of Two 4-Year Hispanic Serving Institutions in Racially Diversifying the K-12 Teaching Force. Teachers College Record, v124 n7 p82-104 Jul. Background/Context: Although some research has been conducted on the experiences of preservice teachers of color who attend Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), little cross-institutional, qualitative research–disaggregated by type of MSI– exists on the potential of MSIs to prepare and graduate teachers of color. This article examines how teacher preparation programs and professors at two 4-year public Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs)–a type of MSI–respond to two barriers to the profession for Hispanic and Black students: state licensure exams and being underserved in their K-12 education. Focus of Study: At both institutions, white students were overrepresented, and Hispanic and Black students were underrepresented, in the population of students admitted to a teacher preparation program. Through a conceptual framework of "servingness" and an intersectional theoretical framework, disability critical race theory (DisCrit), I sought to center the voices of students… [Direct]
(2022). Solidarity Incarcerated: Building Authentic Relationships with Girls of Color in Youth Prisons. Teachers College Record, v124 n7 p174-200 Jul. Context: Prison education has often been ignored in discussions of public education. When it has been included, Girls of Color are often eclipsed by larger populations of Boys of Color. Yet the routes disabled Girls of Color take to prisons are different from those of their male peers; Girls of Color become incarcerated for low-level offenses and often end up back in prison due to probation violations, meaning they have been punished more severely for original crimes. Although prison education has offered educational opportunities, such as the chance to get a diploma or GED, most of it has been found to be remedial and irrelevant to the lives of incarcerated disabled Girls of Color. Focus of Study: In this article, we unraveled the complexities and nuances of solidarity within prison education classrooms with disabled Girls of Color. Using a disability critical race theory (DisCrit) Solidarity lens while analyzing a sociocritical literacy course, the empirical research question was:… [Direct]
(2017). The Deaf Mentoring Survey: A Community Cultural Wealth Framework for Measuring Mentoring Effectiveness with Underrepresented Students. CBE – Life Sciences Education, v16 n1 Article 10 Mar. Disabled individuals, women, and individuals from cultural/ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Research has shown that mentoring improves retention for underrepresented individuals. However, existing mentoring surveys were developed to assess the majority population, not underrepresented individuals. We describe the development of a next-generation mentoring survey built upon capital theory and critical race theory. It emphasizes community cultural wealth, thought to be instrumental to the success of individuals from minority communities. Our survey targets relationships between deaf mentees and their research mentors and includes Deaf community cultural wealth. From our results, we identified four segregating factors: Being a Scientist, which incorporated the traditional capitals; Deaf Community Capital; Asking for Accommodations; and Communication Access. Being a Scientist scores did not vary among the… [Direct]