(2023). What Is the 'E' in ESOL? Three Papers on Linguistic Borders, Normativity, and Race in Adult English Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, City University of New York. In this three-paper dissertation project, I explore how 'English' becomes a recognizable object within the context of adult ESOL education. Building on scholarship on named languages (Garcia, 2019; Makoni & Pennycook, 2006), the historical construction of languages (Bonfiglio, 2010; Irvine & Gal, 2000), and raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Rosa & Flores, 2017), I analyze how language, both as an abstract concept and as a collection of linguistic features, is treated within adult ESOL, looking at specific contemporary classrooms, as well as historical texts. This work culminated in the three studies I present here — focused, in turn, on classroom discourse and pedagogical practices, curriculum, and language scholarship — as something of a "self portrait" of English (del Valle, Lauria, Orono, & Rojas, 2021). I start with "'The good English': The ideological construction of the target language in adult ESOL", a study which… [Direct]
(2018). Don't Blame the Help: Calling out Special Education Malpractice in a Predominantly Black Urban School District. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Miami University. This study explores how institutional practices within a school district limit general education teachers' ability to comply with special education policies. While numerous special education issues exist within the school district studied here, my research examined institutional practices that negatively impacted inclusion of exceptional students within the general education classroom and contributed to the district's compliance issues from its state department of education. More specifically, I sought to examine how teacher's narratives: 1) reveal interdependent ways racism and ableism form ideas of normalcy within the district's special education inclusion practices; 2) reveal teachers' voices on individual, collaborative, and systematic practices that support or arrest special education inclusion; and 3) reveal legal aspects of special education practices within the school district that deny the rights of students of color. Using Disability Critical Studies (DisCrit) as my… [Direct]
(2021). The Role of the "Larry P. v. Riles" Case in California Due Process Complaint Adjudications. Contemporary School Psychology, v25 n2 p200-212 Jun. Forty years have passed since the "Larry P. v. Riles" (1979) decision prohibiting the use of standardized intelligence quotient (IQ) tests to assess African American children in California for special education. While the "Larry P." case has governed the assessment practices of school psychologists for so many years, yet little is known about how the "Larry P." decision impacts special education due process in California. A search of the Office of Administrative Hearings Special Education Division (OAH) database of decisions issued between July 2005 and August 2018 found only 31 cases where "Larry P." was invoked, and only 5 of these raised "Larry P." as an issue, for the remaining 26 cases "Larry P." is referenced in an OAH statement or determination. Of these 5 cases, the LEA was found to be in violation of "Larry P." in 2 of the cases, both of which involved students who were incorrectly designated as some other… [Direct]
(2021). Conceptions of Choice, Equity, & Rurality in Educational Research: A Review of the Literature on Rural Education and School Choice Policies. Rural Educator, v42 n2 p1-15. Issues of school choice regularly appear in popular discourse related to resources, equity, and freedom in education. Although school choice policies and initiatives promote a vision of additional schooling options for all students, the predominant target of choice advocates and researchers has been densely populated, urban cores in the United States (McShane & Smarick, 2018). However, this belies the fact that rural communities have also engaged in forms of school choice decision-making. While some research has explored rural school choice, we believe there are myriad, novel opportunities for meaningful education research regarding school choice, equity, and conceptions of rurality. Over nine million children in the United States, or nearly 20% of the public-school student population, attend a school designated as rural (Kena et al., 2015; Showalter et al., 2019). Additionally, rural schools and districts have remarkable levels of variability in terms of racial, ethnic,… [PDF]
(2023). Dismantling Anti-Blackness in Teacher Education: Centering Black Epistemologies to (Re)Construct Elementary Language Arts Education for Linguistic and Racial Justice. ProQuest LLC, Psy.D. Dissertation, Old Dominion University. Black students and their linguistic resources are undervalued, disdained, disrespected, and disregarded in language arts classrooms. Not only is Black Language often ignored in English language arts instruction, but language more generally remains largely hidden within elementary ELA. Elementary ELA educators are tasked with teaching a vast array of skills, content, and concepts. So, teacher education programs are responsible for ensuring that preservice teachers leave prepared to take on the task of cultivating language arts classrooms that foster students' literacy development. However, traditionally, literacy teacher education and the ELA curriculum has maintained white mainstream English as the standard for which all other languages and language varieties are measured. Consequently, preservice teachers are unaware of how to cultivate instruction that supports, values, and affirms the language and literacies lives of their Black students, leaving their teacher education programs… [Direct]
(2021). Taking Initiative in Addressing Diversity in Medicine. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, v21 n2 p309-320 Jun. The existence of systemic racism in Canadian healthcare, among other determinants including accessible education, available occupation, and affordable housing, contributes to the racial divide in treatment and poor health outcomes for Black communities. Recent promising work has demonstrated patient-physician racial concordance in populations of colour as a potential area of focus for addressing health inequities for diverse communities. The impact of shared cultural experiences and cultural competency leads to mutual respect, trust, and improved communication between patients and physicians guiding their care. This approach is dependent on the availability of physicians of colour and similarly other healthcare providers. The Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto has attempted to address the deficit in its own community through a two-pronged approach: mentorship through the Community of Support (COS) and the Summer Mentorship Program (SMP), and the implementation… [Direct]
(2023). The Power of Parental Engagement: An Examination of the Effect That ECLS-K Home- and School-Based Parental Engagement Categories Have on Kindergarten-Fifth-Grade Black, Non-Hispanic Students' Reading & Mathematics IRT Achievement Data from Different Socioeconomic Statuses. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Notre Dame of Maryland University. Throughout history, Black, non-Hispanic students have performed lower in reading and mathematics than their White, non-Hispanic counterparts. Many researchers have argued that this is a result of systemic racism, lack of cultural awareness, and parent engagement barriers. Parent engagement is a critical component of student achievement. When parents are involved, students are more likely to receive higher grades, have greater attendance, and are less likely to be suspended. Although research has been conducted for over 40 years on parent engagement, and studies have identified it as a key contributor to student success, it is still an ever-evolving phenomenon to educators and other K-12 education stakeholders. School personnel seek to determine the best ways to engage parents and develop meaningful partnerships in an effort to close the achievement gap for Black, non-Hispanic students. As a result, this study sought to provide additional clarity on the specific types of engagement… [Direct]
(2017). "Wait, What Do You Mean by College?" A Critical Race Analysis of Latina/o Students and Their Pathways to Community College. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, v41 n4-5 p239-252. As a group, Latina/o students are more likely to experience a substandard K-12 education complete with underresourced schools, high teacher turnover, and fewer college-preparatory courses. It is this same inferior education that denies many Latina/o high school students the opportunity to engage in college-choice–leading to their disproportionate enrollment in community colleges over 4-year colleges or universities. In California alone, approximately 75% of Latina/o students in higher education can be found in the community college sector–making this an important pathway for many Latina/o students. This qualitative study incorporated a Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Education framework to focus on the racialized K-12 experiences of four Latina/o graduate students who started their postsecondary career at a community college. This study was undertaken to better understand what led Latina/o students to enroll in community colleges after high school. Exploring the pathways of Latina/o… [Direct]
(2022). The Construction and Embodiment of Dis/Ability for North Korean Refugees Living in South Korea. Teachers College Record, v124 n7 p201-220 Jul. Background/Context: Every year, an unknown number of North Koreans flee their homeland. As of 2020, 33,752 North Koreans had arrived in South Korea. The political positioning of North Korean refugees in South Korean society is unique from other immigrants, in that they receive immediate South Korean citizenship and are considered members of the same ethnic group as South Koreans. However, North Korean refugees face discrimination in South Korea, including in schools. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This paper extends the use of the intersectional analytical framework, disability critical race theory (DisCrit), outside of western settings to the Korean context. The purpose is to analyze the schooling experiences of North Korean refugees in South Korea. We provide a background about the divide between the nations of North and South Korea and discuss how this divide contributes to North Korean refugees' position as outsiders. We also situate discrimination faced by… [Direct]
(2016). Context, Complexity and Change: Education as a Conversion Factor for Non-Racist Capabilities in a South African University. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v19 n6 p1275-1287. The article explores the continuing effects of race-based inequalities in South Africa, with a particular focus on university education; it seeks to understand what lies beneath the persistence of race-based thinking. A conceptual framework which aligns everyday racism as a daily practice and the normative yardstick of human capabilities is outlined before examining an empirical case study of a student development programme at one South African university. The policy and historical context of the case study is sketched before proceeding to an interpretation of 70 qualitative interviews with black and white students who have participated in the programme. The data was analyzed for evidence of personal and interpersonal dimensions of racism, but also for evidence of self transformation enabled by the programme. The article argues that persistent though race inequalities still are in South Africa, there is the possibility of change and the development of inclusive social relations among… [Direct]
(2023). Building Racial Consciousness: A Phenomenological Study of How White Teachers Learn and Practice Racial Literacy. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Drexel University. As racial demographics of students in schools are becoming more diverse, the racial demographics of teachers remains predominantly White. Adding to this, many White teachers are unprepared in the skills of racial literacy and lack the ability to address racist power structures within both the curriculum and their teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to understand how White teachers describe their preparedness to utilize racial literacy skills in their pedagogical practice. More specifically, this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of how White 7-12 grade teachers utilize racial literacy in a public-school setting in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the development they have received in learning about and addressing race or racism in pre-service or in-service teacher professional development programs. The research questions this study addresses are: 1) How do White teachers integrate racial literacy into their pedagogical practices? 2) What… [Direct]
(2022). History Doesn't Decided for Us: A Case Study of Black Parents and Their Perception of Career and Technical Education with an In-Depth Look at the Philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University. This research was a three-article dissertation with two integrative literature reviews and one case study that examines the perception of career and technical education (CTE) among Black American communities with an in-depth look at the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. There is a tremendous skills gap in the nation and an increasing economic mobility problem. If more students–for the purpose of this research, Black students–take advantage of CTE at the K-12 and postsecondary level, there is a greater opportunity to move the needle of economic mobility. If there is acknowledgment of the history of career and technical education among Black Americans, a better approach for recruiting Black students to participate in CTE may be realized. The theoretical frameworks shaping this study were critical race theory (CRT) and human capital theory (HCT). CRT submits that race, racism, and power influence how Black Americans value education. HCT suggests that obtaining… [Direct]
(2003). Education Policy and Practice: Bridging the Divide. Harvard Educational Review Reprint Series. This collection of articles focuses on connections between education policy and teaching and learning practice. The articles place special emphasis on teaching in urban settings and on improving teacher-student interactions in the classroom. The articles–organized around three major themes: (1) race, culture, power, and language; (2) teacher expectations and school effectiveness; and (3) school accountability and teacher control–are as follows: \The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children\ (Lisa D. Delpit); \Because You Like Us: The Language of Control\ (Cynthia Ballenger); \Apprenticing Adolescent Readers to Academic Literacy\ (Cynthia L. Greenleaf, Ruth Schoenback, Christine Cziko, and Faye L Mueller); \Blind Vision: Unlearning Racism in Teacher Education\ (Marilyn Cochran-Smith); \Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education\ (Ray C. Rist); \Lesson from Students on Creating a Chance to Dream\… [PDF]
(2023). Psychological Factors That Contribute to the Dearth of Black Students in Science, Engineering, and Medicine: Proceedings of a Workshop. National Academies Press Efforts over the last several decades to increase the participation and leadership of Black men and women in the scientific and medical workforce have had limited results. Despite many individual successes, the number of Black professionals in science, engineering, and medicine (SEM) fields has not reached a level that corresponds with African American representation in the country at large. Structural racism affects progress at all stages along the pathway–from young children through graduate and medical students through faculty and clinicians at all levels. Beyond entry into educational programs or recruitment into workplaces seeking to diversify, challenges persist to achieve equity and inclusion for Black males and females. Moreover, psychological barriers confound the engagement of Black men and women in SEM fields. To explore these issues and suggest solutions, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine launched the Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in… [Direct]
(2021). Undocumented Community College Students: The Impact of Strategic Enrollment Management Frontline Staff in Level of Undocufriendliness. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Northern Illinois University. Thousands of undocumented students are enrolled in post-secondary education institutions across the nation and continue to encounter challenges in accessing the resources and support for an equitable transition into these institutions. The goal of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences and knowledge gaps of Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) staff by examining their perceptions of their role and responsibility in supporting undocumented students and their assessment of the campus climate and culture for undocumented students. While scholarship exists about undocumented students in colleges and universities, this research explores this in the context of the community college, where there is an overrepresentation of underrepresented groups. Findings from this study include a linguistic "us" versus "them" dichotomy, racism endemic in processes within the institution, and a lack of institutional mechanisms including a diversity, equity, and… [Direct]