In response to the "Trump Effect", or the negative climate in education following President Trump's election, we examine the ways in which anti-immigration rhetoric from the recent election cycle and the elimination of DACA has influenced college experiences and trajectories of undocumented Latinx students. Using critical race theory,…

Undocumented students, many of Hispanic origin, face among the strictest cost barriers to higher education in the United States. Lack of legal status excludes them from most state and all federal financial aid programs. Furthermore, most states require them to pay out-of-state tuition rates at publicly supported institutions. In a new direction,…

In recent decades, bilingual education policies, programs, pedagogies, and practices have been constrained by neoliberal agendas which have undermined the radical vision of bilingual education as a means toward self-determination that the Chicana/o Movement youth articulated more than 50 years ago. This narrowing of educational possibilities has…

To support state efforts to close postsecondary attainment equity gaps for students of color, Research for Action (RFA) developed a framework that describes three drivers behind efforts to place racial equity at the center of postsecondary policymaking and practice: awareness, inclusion, and integration. The framework is adapted from Equity in the…

Charter school Alternative Education Campuses (AECs) leverage the nimbleness of the charter school model to create unique learning opportunities nationwide for students who experience challenges that make it difficult to excel academically. Some of the challenges include homelessness, pregnancy, parenting while in school, or interaction with the…

The Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act requires grade-level attainment in literacy in English for students in grades K-3. Its practical outcome, however, has been to pressure schools with bilingual programs to shift their instructional language allocations towards more English in the early grades. Proposed rule revisions debated…

The status of a language is very often described and measured by different factors, including the length of time it has been in use in a particular territory, the official recognition it has been given by governmental units, and the number and proportion of speakers. Spanish has a unique history and, so some argue status, in the contemporary…

Using the frameworks of critical discourse analysis, representation theory, and legitimization theory, this study examines the political discourse of the campaign for Proposition 227 in California--particularly, the key social representations of languages, their speakers, and the main political actors in the campaign. The analysis examines the…

The invention of Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs) in the 1980s was grounded in the theory that institutions enrolling a large concentration of Latino students would adapt their institutional practices to serve these students better. Specifically, critical mass theory suggests once a definable group reaches a certain size within an…

In this fifth brief in "Excelencia" in Education's series on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) the focus is on the methods and strategies that are producing successful results in a growing sector of colleges and universities we call, "Emerging" Hispanic-Serving Institutions. These Emerging HSIs are institutions that…

In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Colorado students showed gains in reading at the proficient level for racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls. There were slight declines or flat trends for almost all subgroups at the advanced level in reading. In math, gains were…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report is…

The intent of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 is to hold schools accountable for ensuring that all their students achieve mastery in reading and math, with a particular focus on groups that have traditionally been left behind. Under NCLB, states submit accountability plans to the U.S. Department of Education detailing the rules and…

The intent of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 is to hold schools accountable for ensuring that all their students achieve mastery in reading and math, with a particular focus on groups that have traditionally been left behind. Under NCLB, states have leeway to: (1) Craft their own academic standards, select their own tests, and define…

This year the Center on Education Policy (CEP) analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps…