Background/Context: Ethnic Studies is an umbrella term for a group of academic disciplines attentive to identifying oppression, restorying history, and creating liberatory futures. These disciplines were born from social movements, with students, educators, and community members demanding educational spaces guided by people who looked like them,…

Throughout education history, inequities have evolved in our public schools. History has attested to numerous injustices, such as segregation, unequal funding, undifferentiated teaching of English learners, within our school systems. The rise of a pandemic revealed how layered and problematic these injustices were entrenched in our public school…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Bridging the Digital Divide." Contents include: (1) Texas High School Attrition…

This article traces how Mexican American Studies (MAS) scholar activists led and supported a statewide movement for MAS in Texas. As a Xicana feminist scholar activist, Saldan~a draws from her retrospective memory and personal archive of organizational notes, movement documents, personal testimonies before the State Board of Education, and photos,…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Culturally Sustaining Schools." Contents include: (1) Texas HB 3979 Will Hurt…

School counselors are critical intermediaries in K-12 schools who can help students from undocumented immigrant families persist in school. Yet, a dearth of research exists about their advocacy work, or the range of efforts they make to support unauthorized youth. This paper asks, (1) what challenges do counselors face and strive to overcome to…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Keeping the Public in Public Education." Contents include: (1) Texas Must…

Social, emotional, and affective experiences are impossible to separate from thinking, doing, and being in the world. Increasingly, schools and community-based organizations are recognizing this truth through the adoption of programs that focus on the emotional lives of children and youth, especially when emotions are fraught, and lives have been…

An exploratory investigation was conducted into the motivations and leadership traits of five rural school superintendents who over time evidenced a commitment to social justice. This effort meets a call in the research literature by Furman (2012), who noted that "to date, the literature offers few specifics about the actual practice of…

For this qualitative case study (Patton, 2003), we used narrative inquiry (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993) and sought to analyze extended interviews and field notes based on interactions with three rural superintendents working in high-needs, public PK-12 school districts in Texas. We collected data with regard to these…

This critical policy analysis uses critical race theory to provide a counter narrative to the P-16 initiative in Texas known as "Closing the Gaps 2015". Findings indicate that while these reforms aim to increase educational access and achievement for people of color, they fall short of addressing systemic inequities such as enduring…

In this study we analyze the extent to which policy documents that include standards and expectations for the preparation of school principals (i.e., head teachers) influence democratic practices. This comparative research examines educational policies that influence the work of principals both in Sweden and in the U.S., the state of Texas asking:…

The purpose of this study was to analyze and report on a "different" model of leadership preparation that was customized to prepare school leaders to practice in schools where the student population is predominantly Latino and in an urban school setting. It is a preparation program designed to advance interactive collaboration between…

In this article, we tackle the disadvantaging conditions of zero tolerance policies in school settings and advocate using an alternative approach--critical restorative justice through peacemaking circles--to nurture resilience and open opportunity at the school level. In the process, this article builds on theory and qualitative research and…

The academic performance and engagement of youth from under-represented ethnic groups (African American, Latino, and Indigenous) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) show statistically large gaps in comparison with their White and Asian peers. Some of these differences can be attributed to the direct impact of economic…