(2020). Roadwork Ahead: Fostering Racial Literacy in Educator Preparation Programs. Alabama Journal of Educational Leadership, v7 p93-103 Aug. Equity and advocacy are essential in deconstructing and challenging racism, but how do educators apply these concepts in preparation programs to promote sustainable change? This paper explores a qualitative study on educators' perceptions of racism in P-12 schools to examine how educator preparation can navigate complex terrain to better prepare candidates to employ equitable, and socially just practices informed by critical race theory and foster racial literacy. The researchers' findings support the works of others in the field who assert that educator preparation programs must explicitly address race-related issues to prepare both instructional and teacher leaders to confront critical concerns that impact students and communities…. [PDF]
(2020). "Darles el lugar": A Place for Nondominant Family Knowing in Educational Equity. Urban Education, v55 n1 p38-65 Jan. Educational researchers, leadership, and policymakers have had the privileged voices and place from which to theorize and address educational inequities. But for some exceptions, nondominant families have been relegated to participation in school-centric "parent involvement" activities. Drawing from a participatory design-based research study using standpoint and critical race theory, our findings suggest key convergences between the lived experiences and insights of nondominant parents and recent educational equity scholarship, while revealing untapped expertise, knowledge, and capacity for addressing inequity. We argue that holding a "place" for the complex understandings of nondominant families can open expansive possibilities for transforming educational systems toward racial equity…. [Direct]
(2020). A Tale of Racial Fortuity: Interrogating the Silent Covenants of a High School's Definition of Success for Youth of Color. American Journal of Education, v126 n2 p265-291 Feb. This qualitative case study employing a critical race theory methodology uses Derrick Bell's conceptualization of racial fortuity to examine the ways leaders at Carver High School responded to accountability pressures related to supporting students of color. Findings highlight how school leaders' espoused racially just improvement initiatives and definitions of success were actually instantiations of racial fortuity where students of color were forced to involuntarily sacrifice their educational opportunities while leaders were positioned as the primary beneficiaries of this equity-minded work. The implications highlight the need for leaders to bring communities and students of color into school improvement efforts intended to advance racially just educational opportunities for youth of color…. [Direct]
(2019). Real or Ideal? A Narrative Literature Review Addressing White Privilege in Teacher Education. Urban Education, v54 n7 p891-918 Sep. A narrative literature review was conducted to examine how researchers address the concept of White privilege in teacher education using critical race theory. A Boolean search revealed 26 articles met criteria for inclusion. Findings show most researchers (n = 15, 55%) investigated perceptions of White privilege within individual multicultural education courses and not comprehensively at the teacher education program level. Many White preservice teachers had difficulty connecting race-based privilege with systemic inequities. Implications for future research and training preservice teachers are provided…. [Direct]
(2019). Good Intentions, Poor Outcomes: Centering Culture and Language Diversity within Response to Intervention. Journal of School Counseling, v17 n24. Culturally and linguistically diverse students face longstanding issues of inequity within public schools in the United States. Response to intervention (RTI) is one proposed solution that addresses the inequities. As advocates for all students, school counselors possess the training and knowledge to promote fairness and equity within the RTI process. Using critical race theory, the authors present a vignette and conceptualize methods based on school counselors' education and training that school counselors can use to promote equity within RTI for culturally diverse students…. [PDF]
(2023). Exploring the Racialized Educational Experiences of Minoritized Graduate Students in Humanities Degree Programs. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Texas A&M University – Kingsville. This phenomenological study sought to explore the racialized educational experiences of graduate students of color (GSOC) seeking degrees in humanities disciplines. While some research studies have focused on minority graduate student experiences, there has been less focus on minority graduate student experiences in the humanities. Utilizing Critical Race Theory, this investigation shed light on the lived experiences, inside and outside the classroom, of minoritized graduate students as they navigate their educational environments. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of nine graduate students who were selected through purposive sampling to participate in the study. The findings support and extend the literature examining the educational experiences of graduate minority students in higher education. Implications and best practices on how faculty and educational administrators can support and better address the racialized encounters experienced during graduate study… [Direct]
(2025). Critical Mentorship in Undergraduate Research Experience BUILDs Science Identity and Self-Efficacy. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, v23 n2 p321-341. In 2014, the NIH Diversity Program Consortium (DPC) launched an initiative to implement and evaluate novel interventions at a variety of academic institutions across the country to engage undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in biomedically-related research. The local intervention examined in the current study provides Critical Race Theory (CRT)-informed mentoring, more broadly called critical mentoring, for its participants. We examined the relationship between critical mentoring and student outcomes. In this study, student outcomes consisted of three components: (a) mentor satisfaction, (b) science identity, and (c) science self-efficacy. To determine student outcomes, we used the 2020 Student Annual Follow-up Survey (SAFS). We found that participants in the intervention program reported higher levels of critical mentoring than non-intervention participants and critical mentoring was, in turn, predictive of higher. mentorship satisfaction, science identity, and science… [Direct]
(2023). Testimonios of Part-Time Enrolled Latina Students: The Challenges and Experiences at a Hispanic-Serving California Community College. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Southern California. This qualitative study explored the challenges and experiences of part-time enrolled Latina students moving through a Hispanic-serving California community College (HSCCC). Grounded in Schlossberg's transition theory, the 4 S system, and Latino critical race theory (LatCrit), the study captures the testimonios of 12 testimonialistas to examine their challenges and experiences while navigating through an HSCCC. By analyzing their situations, self-perception, strategies, and support systems, the study highlights the assets, resilience, and resources these students utilize to persist through college. Furthermore, the testimonios highlight three major themes related to their challenges and experiences: lack of sense of belonging and connection to the campus environment, financial challenge, and limited academic and student support services. These findings present implications for policy, practice, and future research that move HSCCCs toward equity and justice for part-time enrolled… [Direct]
(2023). Policymakers Should Use Supreme Court Cases on Racial Preferences to Launch Reform of College Accreditation. Issue Brief. No. 5302. Heritage Foundation Racial preferences, as practiced in academia and elsewhere, by definition, discriminates against individuals based on their race. Radical academics and writers, including the founders of critical race theory, have long supported the use of race as a predominant factor in postsecondary and graduate school admissions. If the Court rules as it should that postsecondary institutions cannot use race as a factor in school admissions, that decision will be a crucial step away from racial prejudice and towards meritocracy and colorblindness–two pillars of the civil rights movement. Other college officials might want to abandon racial prejudice in school operations, but biased college accreditors may coerce them into maintaining discriminatory policies. Accreditors, however, also contribute to the prejudicial environment in college admissions through their accrediting requirements. Lawmakers must reform the postsecondary accreditation system. What may sound like merely a set of bureaucratic… [PDF]
(2023). "Like Someone's Got You": External Supports for Youth Activists and Intersectional Justice. Theory and Research in Social Education, v51 n4 p559-586. The necessity of providing specific forms of support to youth activists engaged in the pursuit of racial and intersectional justice is evident, especially given current unsupportive political contexts of anti-protest and anti-Critical Race Theory legislation. Hence, this qualitative research study assigns importance to the firsthand experiences of youth activists, aged 14-18, to identify "external supports" (outside of themselves, such as in their school and community). Firstly, the study reveals that youth identify a key external support as the actions taken by adults to bolster their activism. These actions include serving as role models for activism, collaborating with young activists in a nonhierarchical manner, establishing connections with individuals and resources, and striving to ensure their safety. Secondly, youth activists detail the supportive role of belonging, directly or distantly, in coalitions and clubs largely outside of the school day. Understanding the… [Direct]
(2021). An Investigation to Explain Structural Racism Associated with Michigan Public Charter Districts Funding Effort. Journal of Education Human Resources, v39 n2 p165-183. The research objective is to explain evidence of structural racism, inequity, and inadequacy in the Michigan public school finance system related to the education of Black students or Black descendants of captive and enslaved Africans. This analysis stems from ongoing research that integrates transformative paradigms, critical race theory, and school funding fairness to explain systemic racism associated with public school funding policy, practice, and educational disparities. The Constitution of the State of Michigan of 1963, Article 9, Sections 3, 5, 8, 11, and 36 (commonly known as Public Act 145 of 1993 or Proposal A), Michigan's school funding policy, sought to decrease local property taxes and rid the system of funding inequalities across school districts. The legislation's intention was to achieve four basic goals: (1) reduce property tax burdens; (2) reduce per pupil funding disparities; (3) limit annual increases in property tax assessments; and (4) increase site control… [Direct]
(2024). Why We Need a Long View of Abolition to End the School-to-Prison Pipeline. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, v60 n5 p530-550. Drawing on experiential, literary and historical narratives, this article connects the long history shaping the school-to-prison-pipeline to the contemporary experiences of Black youth in today's educational system. It maps abolitionism from its origins as a movement to end slavery through the ongoing Black freedom struggles that have challenged state and vigilante violence throughout the eras of Jim Crow and Civil Rights to today's efforts to dismantle the prison state. By situating the criminalization of African American education from our nation's founding until the present with particular focus on the post Brown years, the article stresses how policies that funded policing over education persisted through liberal and conservative administrations. This longer and broader historical approach to school discipline should help teachers, school administrators and policy makers devise anti-racist teaching practices that can resist the seemingly unyielding and ever adaptable strictures… [Direct]
(2024). Racialization's Influence on African American Male University Attrition: Is It Culture Shock or Is There More to the Story. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Loyola University Chicago. This dissertation investigates the influence of racialization on the attrition rates of African American male students in predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The study examines whether these students experience cultural shock or face more profound systemic challenges. The research explores how African American men navigate and perceive their college environments by employing Critical Race Theory and DuBois' double consciousness. The research utilizes a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative interviews, demographic surveys, and document analysis to view these students' experiences comprehensively. The study focuses on four religiously affiliated universities, highlighting the intersection of race, identity, and institutional culture and revealing patterns of isolation, resilience, and the pursuit of belonging. The findings indicate that systemic racism and cultural misunderstandings significantly marginalize African American male students, affecting their academic… [Direct]
(2024). Exploring the Lived Experiences of Racially/Ethnically Minoritized College Students with Psychiatric Disabilities. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, v37 n4 p289-305. Research suggests that racially/ethnically minoritized (REM) students with psychiatric disabilities are less likely to receive support services, have poorer therapeutic outcomes, and experience higher levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidality than their non-REM college-aged peers without psychiatric disabilities. This study highlights how REM college students with psychiatric disabilities make meaning of their experiences and identities while navigating systemic racism and ableism in higher education. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews, and interpretative phenomenological analysis procedures were employed to identify themes. Disability Critical Race Theory served as the theoretical framework to guide the development of the study and interpretation of results. Analyses identified four superordinate themes and 16 sub-themes: "challenges with diagnoses" (sub-themes: cultural barriers to understanding mental health concerns, disclosing… [PDF]
(2024). Developing Hispanic Pre-Service Elementary Bilingual Teachers' Teacher Identity and Cultural Competence through Mixed Reality Simulation. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Due to the constant migration of diverse populations, multicultural communities are developing across North America. As a result, multi-culturally diverse classrooms are multiplying (Allen et al., 2017). Our pre-service teachers must be multi-culturally prepared to enter diverse classrooms and effectively teach students without implicit bias (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Banks, 2010; Paris, 2017). Pre-service teachers' identity and cultural competence should be prioritized in teacher preparation programs. Using Latino/a Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), Practice-Based Learning, and Teacher Identity as conceptual frameworks, this study will answer how Mixed Reality Simulation (MRS) may be used as a teacher preparation tool (Aguilar & Flores, 2022) to develop the cultural competence and teacher identity of Hispanic pre-service elementary bilingual teachers. The MRSs were also used to explore what pedagogical practices (i.e., translanguaging, translating) pre-service teachers naturally… [Direct]