Violet Jiménez Sims, Kerry Lord, Marlene Megos, and Ushawnda Mitchell describe a new approach to addressing the gap between the racial diversity of teachers and students in U.S. public schools. The Connecticut Teacher Residency program (CT-TRP) is a grow-your-own approach to teacher training, certification, and retention that combines an academic…

This article problematizes traditional and critical conceptions of civic knowledge and centers minoritized youth voices. We utilize case studies from two critical qualitative studies in two urban contexts to suggest that minoritized youths' subjugated knowledges are a type of civic knowledge and necessary for youth to imagine agentic social…

There is little doubt that increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the educator workforce is needed in Connecticut. Students of color represent 51.4% of the state's student body, yet only 1 in 10 teachers is an educator of color. Having a more diverse teaching corps matters. Teachers of color positively impact the academic achievement of…

In 2021, approximately five million young people in the United States were not in school or working. This group of young people transitioning to adulthood, roughly ages 16 to 24, are often referred to as "opportunity youth" and sometimes "disconnected youth." Young people from low-income families and from communities of…

The Washington, D.C. metro area schools are the fifty-third most segregated in terms of students' economic status and twenty-third most segregated in terms of Black-White separation. This segregation in the District of Columbia's schools undergirds systemic racism, creates social strife, and leaves children unprepared for an increasingly…

The perception of race and how it affects hiring capabilities of minority educational administrators directly affects the quality of leadership within the educational system. So much so, that there can be a negative impact on the ability of the system to recruit, foster, and nurture its brightest and best leaders. Having negative views on the…

Thirteen New England colleges and universities have signed on to New England Board of Higher Education's (NEBHE's) new North Star Collective (NSC), a multi-institutional collaborative to boost Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) early-career faculty at New England colleges and universities. Built on a Reparative Justice Framework, NEBHE…

Although the percentage of teachers of color in the workforce has grown significantly over the past 30 years, it still does not reflect the diversity of the national population or students. Teachers of color also have higher turnover rates than White teachers, highlighting the need for strategies to retain teachers of color as well as recruit more…

This paper describes a human-centered design approach to investigate unmet adolescent sexual health wants and needs among youth of color in low-income and rural communities in Texas, North Carolina, and Connecticut (n = 149). The approach involved gathering qualitative data through in-depth interviews and other human-centered design activities…

Current educational systems utilize Eurocentric curricula and disciplinary practices that perpetuate discrimination towards students of color. As such, many educators are seeking improved strategies to better meet the needs of minority students. Culturally responsive teaching practices have been used throughout school districts as a pedagogy to…

As students in K-12 classrooms reflect the increasing racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of the United States as a whole, understanding diverse worldviews and inclusion of diverse students are important skills for classroom teachers. However, the pedagogical practices for training teacher education students with the knowledge and skills to…

This paper reports a cross-case analysis of three summer writing programs for youth in the northeast United States, each a longitudinal study in the tradition of design research. Initially, all three programs were most concerned with leveraging cultural and linguistic diversity as a resource for multilingual participants. As the three principal…

Over half of U.S. public school students are children and teens of color, yet only about 8 percent of their teachers and administrators are people of color. Convinced that teacher and leader diversity is an essential component of an equitable education for all students, state boards of education have adopted a variety of strategies to attract,…

This study aimed to investigate the challenges faced by Muslim college students in Connecticut in the US and the practical strategies they use to address these challenges. To accomplish this objective, a qualitative hermeneutical phenomenological study was designed and conducted, which involved in-depth interviews with Muslim college students and…

Community colleges have a long history of providing entrance to higher education to minority students who enroll in these institutions underprepared and deprived of basic needs. With limited resources, community college leaders are expected to assist students in academic pursuits. The Center for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (Center for EDI)…