(2019). Broken Mirrors II: Latino Student Representation at Public State Colleges and Universities. Education Trust The United States has almost 2,000 public postsecondary institutions, which provide more than 13 million undergraduates (nearly 2.8 million of them Latinos) with what is perhaps the key to economic security in the modern economy — a college education. As the primary and most affordable access points to postsecondary education, these institutions are vital to democracy, which rests on an educated citizenry. Public colleges also offer more affordable access to a higher education than other nonprofit or for-profit providers. Currently, Latinos have the lowest college attainment of the country's major racial and ethnic groups. While immigration may partly explain these low attainment numbers, systematic racism throughout the education pipeline and society are, without a doubt, major barriers to true educational opportunity. Postsecondary leaders also deserve blame for failing to enact more equitable policies and practices that promote educational access and success for Latino students… [PDF]
(2020). #SHAPEsoWhite. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, v25 n3 p240-258. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the racial/ ethnic diversity of SHAPE America's teacher of the year program using Critical Race Theory. As such, the goal was to identify and map potential racial biases within the institutional structures of SHAPE America's teacher of the year program. Research design and methods: This paper used an exploratory research design using online Physical Education Teacher of the Year online profiles, social media requests, emails, and demographic questionnaires. Data collected from the design included the breakdown of nominees and recipients between 2008-2018. Data were analyzed in two different ways. First, the data were inductively analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentages of SHAPE America Teachers of the Year. Second, a critical race lens was used to interpret the descriptive statistics in relation to the selection process and larger social issues. Results: The overwhelming number of SHAPE teachers of… [Direct]
(2021). "London Recruits": How a Story of Anti-Apartheid Activism Can Serve Teachers Today. FORUM: for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education, v63 n2 p141-147 Sum. This year sees the release of "London Recruits," a film chronicling the anti-apartheid activism of young men and women volunteers who, from 1967, travelled from the UK to South Africa. The recruits were invaluable to the campaigning work of the African National Congress and the wider international anti-apartheid movement because as white tourists, which is all the South African authorities saw them as, they were free to travel unmonitored in ways impossible for black citizens. To coincide with the release of the film, an education pack, comprising the testimonies of the recruits as well as other source material, has been compiled for use in schools. The pack was funded by the National Education Union and coordinated by Steve Marsling, a former recruit, who writes the opening section of this article. Chris Smith, who writes the rest of the article, was a serving history and politics teacher at the time of writing this article. He helped provide learning activities and… [Direct]
(2017). After "Fisher v. University of Texas": Towards Racial Justice or Whiteness Rising?. Whiteness and Education, v2 n2 p148-164. This essay examines the significance of the fortuitous Fisher v. University of Texas Supreme Court decision within a broader historical framework of similar affirmative action legal disputes. The author locates Fisher among a historical trajectory of manoeuvres intended to destabilise modest Civil Rights Era advances toward racial justice. Leonardo's 'educational criticism' is considered as a possible conceptual analysis to take up the continuing problem of race, education and the law in our colour-blind era. Despite the Fisher decision affirming the continued permissibility of limited racial considerations in college admissions, a careful examination of how race is understood from a legal perspective reveals a disconcerting revelation. That is, racial justice advocates in education should temper our enthusiasm for Fisher against evidence that the Supreme Court's understanding of racism has unquestionably gone backwards. Because of this, Fisher is at best a problematic step toward… [Direct]
(2022). Exploring the Challenges and Possibilities of Critical Literacy Pedagogy: K-8 Teacher Discussions about Race in a Virtual Professional Development Course. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v21 n4 p483-495. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand the ways in which K-8 teachers from a semirural, predominantly white district perceive their responsibilities to work toward anti-racism, as well as to learn more about how the teachers can be supported as they work to overcome the challenges facing teachers in these fraught times in this country's history. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use a reconstructive approach to critical discourse analytic methods (Bartlett, 2012; Hughes, 2018; Luke, 2002, 2004; Martin, 2004) to analyze an online discussion that took place among participants in a virtual anti-racist critical professional development course (Kohli, 2019; Kohli et al., 2015) as they grappled with what it means to confront their own racial identities, positionalities and responsibilities. Findings: Three primary tensions emerged in teachers' discussion: between geographic and professional identities; between individual and institutional responsibility; and… [Direct]
(2021). Equity in Child Care Is Everyone's Business. Education Trust The COVID-19 crisis has not only exacerbated existing inequities in child care access for families, but has also decimated the finances of child care providers, many of whom are women of color already economically disadvantaged by systemic racism and sexism. State and local chambers of commerce are uniquely positioned to offer urgently needed small business resources to child care providers, while also acting as powerful connectors among community leaders interested in supporting families with young children. The Education Trust and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation interviewed child care providers and state and local chamber leaders across the U.S. to identify opportunities for supporting working families with young children by supporting female providers of color. Many child care providers told us that amid the COVID-19 crisis, they have faced funding challenges, safety and health concerns, and barriers to talent acquisition and professional development. Several providers… [PDF]
(2015). "Race" Talk! Tensions and Contradictions in Sport and PE. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, v20 n5 p503-516. Background: The universal sport discourses of meritocracy and equality are so engrained that few challenge them. The most cursory interest in sport, Physical Education (PE), and society will reveal that the lived reality is quite different. Racial disparities in the leadership and administration of sport are commonplace worldwide; yet, from research into "race" in sport and PE, awareness of these issues is widespread, where many know that racism takes place it is generally claimed to be somewhere else or someone else. For many, this racism is part of the game and something to manipulate to steal an advantage; for others, it is trivial. This paper explores the contradictions and tensions of the author's experience of how sport and PE students talk about "race" and racism. "Race" talk is considered here in the context of passive everyday "race" talk, dominant discourses in sporting cultures, and colour blindness. Theoretical framework: Drawing on… [Direct]
(2022). Promoting the Well-Being of Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian Youth Involved in Systems of Care. Center for the Study of Social Policy This report examines the importance and multidimensional nature of well-being, in general, and the well-being of Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian youth involved in systems of care, in particular. These young people must navigate three significant challenges: typical developmental issues and stressors associated with child and adolescent development; various difficulties associated with their experiences before and during their systems involvement; and experiences of racism and inequitable treatment in their daily living and in their involvement with different systems. For example, those who yield authority over Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian youth– including educators, social workers, law enforcement, probation officers, prosecutors, and judges–may have explicit or implicit racial or ethnic biases that result in distorted perceptions and unjust treatment of these young people. Evidence underscores the need to strategically focus on fostering the well-being of youth served in… [PDF]
(2014). Teachers' Silences about Racist Attitudes and Students' Desires to Address These Attitudes. Intercultural Education, v25 n5 p337-348. In this article, we use ethnographic data to explore school-based perceptions of racism. We draw on the findings of a one-year study conducted in two upper secondary classes in a Swedish school. The starting point of the analysis was student discussions of racism in the school and the surrounding neighbourhood, which prompted an examination of teacher and student responses to racist and nationalist ideas. We concluded that the school seldom acted in line with recommended approaches for promoting non-racist and intercultural education. We suggest that the response is related to educational ideals that emphasise learning "objective" facts (as opposed to values) and a de-contextualised view of teaching…. [Direct]
(2021). Community College Mathematics Faculty Members: Racialized Self-Perceptions of Day-To-Day Realities within the Classroom Environment. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin. This dissertation study was guided by two research questions: (1) What shapes community college mathematics faculty members' set of racialized ideologies, beliefs, and attitudes that inform their behaviors and teaching practices in the virtual classroom?; and (2) How do the racial and virtual classroom dynamics shape the ways mathematics faculty members adapt and deliver their course content during the COVID-19 global healthcare crisis? The combination of critical race theory in education, critical whiteness studies in education, and mathematical conceptual and theoretical frameworks informed the research design processes of this study. A total of 10 community college mathematics faculty members participated in the study: three from the California Community College System and seven from the Texas Community College System. The data collection methods included a pre-interview demographic questionnaire, a semi-structured virtual interview, an electronic document analysis, and a… [Direct]
(2020). Will Schools Change Forever? Predicting How Two Pandemics Could Catalyze Lasting Innovation in Public Schools. Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation Two pandemics–COVID-19 and systemic racism–are confronting American society, and by extension K-12 schools. Both pandemics have precipitated immediate challenges that schools must navigate, and also draw attention to longstanding, chronic problems in the education system. It's more clear than ever that a return to "normal" won't serve all students well. To make sense of the potential for 2020 to change K-12 schools forever, this paper offers a framework for understanding why some crisis-induced innovations persist, while others are cast aside when conditions normalize. To illuminate the potential for current events to catalyze lasting changes in K-12 schools, this paper offers school system leaders and policymakers insight into four key dynamics at work in organizational models: (1) Resources alone aren't likely to change what schools can do, but resources that power new processes could; (2) To stick around, new processes have to outperform old ones when it comes to… [PDF]
(2022). Native Presence and Sovereignty in College: Sustaining Indigenous Weapons to Defeat Systemic Monsters. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies Series. Teachers College Press What is at stake when our young people attempt to belong to a college environment that reflects a world that does not want them for who they are? In this compelling book, Navajo scholar Amanda Tachine takes a personal look at 10 Navajo teenagers, following their experiences during their last year in high school and into their first year in college. It is common to think of this life transition as a time for creating new connections to a campus community, but what if there are systemic mechanisms lurking in that community that hurt Native students' chances of earning a degree? Tachine describes these mechanisms as systemic monsters and shows how campus environments can be sites of harm for Indigenous students due to factors that she terms "monsters' sense of belonging," namely assimilating, diminishing, harming the worldviews of those not rooted in White supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism, racism, and Indigenous erasure. This book addresses the nature of those monsters… [Direct]
(2022). The Low Enrollment of African American High School Students in Advanced Mathematics: A Case Study. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Northcentral University. There is a low enrollment of African American high school students in advanced mathematics. High school advanced mathematics are prerequisites to college calculus, one of the basic courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. African Americans earned only 7.6% of all bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. African Americans only represent 6% of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. It was predicted that by 2020, 65% of all jobs will require degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and the United States will be a majority-minority country by 2043. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the factors that influenced African American high school students' decisions to take advanced mathematics. The theoretical framework of this study was critical race theory. Three African American 12th graders, a precalculus teacher, and a principal participated in the study by… [Direct]
(2022). The Stereotype Threat Experiences of Men of Color Persisting in Community College. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, St. John's University (New York). The purpose of this qualitative narrative analysis was to explore how men of color have experienced stereotype threat in their lives and used community cultural wealth to manage stereotype threat and achieve academic success while persisting at a large urban community college. Racial tensions have manifested through blatant acts of racism, discrimination, and microaggressions across college campuses, threatening students of color who are marginalized and targeted. In consideration of the success of men of color attending community colleges in the United States, there is vast inequality and inequity when comparing their graduation, persistence, and retention rates to their White counterparts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2019), the graduation, retention, and persistence rates of 15.1% for Black, 21.8% for Latino, and 18.1% for Pacific Islander male students were lower than the 30.5% rate for White male students at two-year public institutions. Research… [Direct]
(2019). Experiences and Expectations of International Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Education Sciences, v9 Article 189. International students are the most important population in the American higher education system, particularly for students from different cultural backgrounds. Besides research-based universities, comprehensive universities, and liberal arts colleges, historically black colleges and universities have the traditions to provide an equal learning environment to minorities, including international students. This study aimed to understand the academic experiences and expectations of Chinese international students enrolled at historically black colleges and universities in the Southeastern parts of the United States from the lens of neo-racism. One research question guided this study, which was: How would Chinese international university students describe their academic learning experience, expectations, stress, and difficulties at one of the historically black colleges and universities? The interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed to explore the academic experience,… [PDF]