As the number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs; postsecondary institutions that enroll 25% or more Latinx students) in the United States increases annually, so does the need to theorize about what it means to have an HSI organizational identity. Using interview data from a multiple case study of three institutionally diverse HSIs in the…

Visuals and images are ubiquitous on college campuses and with the lives of students, faculty, and staff. Increasingly students, administrators, and faculty have access to the means of creation, production, and distribution of images. While particular images are crafted by institutions to communicate particular messages, the use of visuals and…

Racial and ethnic disproportionality in discipline (REDD) represents a longstanding and pervasive issue in the United States educational system. However, researchers and interventionists have not sufficiently provided educators with appropriate frameworks and feasible tools to disrupt REDD and promote equity. The goal of this paper is to present a…

After almost two years of uncertainty and unparalleled challenges for students, parents, teachers, staff, and administrators across the state, the Illinois State Board of Education continues to look to their Strategic Plan for clarity and confidence in helping them navigate toward their agency's vision as they look past the COVID-19 pandemic. This…

The dearth of Latinx and African American (AA) professionals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields is most concerning. AA and Latinx workers in the labor market hold an 11% and 17% share of US workers, respectively. However, these groups only contribute 9% and 8%, respectively, of STEM professionals and 4.8 and 6% of…

Academic achievement in American high schools is increasingly defined in terms of quantifiable values. Despite being designed to produce favorable data, explicit standardized-test preparation has an insignificant impact on scores and is counterproductive to the cultivation of attributes necessary for success in higher education and effective civic…

In 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nearly a quarter of all employed U.S. workers are in a profession that requires an occupational license. Given the prevalence of licensing, it is one of the central factors that shapes employment opportunities for many workers. Licensing is also one of the most restrictive forms of…

Although the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) mandates parent participation in their children's education programs, the implementation of IDEA results in parent effort beyond participation, specifically, an expectation of advocacy. To date, research on the advocacy expectation is mixed, with some parents perceiving…

In this pilot study, we examine the realities of differential funding structures across the US, which disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized communities (Black and Brown students) and students living in poverty, contributing to an intractable opportunity gap. Prior research indicates that equitable funding can, in fact, decrease…

Illinois has distinguished itself as one of the most inequitable states in the nation when it comes to state PK-12 education funding. With the advent of the No Child Left Behind Act, and more recently, the Every Student Succeeds Act, student achievement data has been thrust in front of the public, and conversations regarding equity, quality,…

This article centers the memories and identities of Black and Brown teachers as they (re)engage with their school experiences. King and Swartz define (re)membering as the process of reconnecting knowledge of the past. We feature two stories--The first is from Roberta and Rachel who demonstrate how Black women reclaim voice, agency, and their own…

An analysis of school district spending across the U.S. reveals 66 districts where the students face much greater needs than in surrounding districts (i.e., child poverty is more than 20% higher) but where per-pupil spending is less than 90% of the region's average. This not only means that they have less money to spend on children who require…

To say that there is a need for social justice is to assume that there is inequitable access to resources and unequal distribution of power (Golightly et al., 2017). Resources are needed for LGBTQ+ college students to achieve higher success rates in their programs of study ("LGBTQ+" stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,…

Project Midstate Student Support for Teaching (MSS) (http://www.uis.edu/projectmss/) is an initiative at University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) designed to increase the number of first generation and diverse teacher candidates in area school districts. Students accepted into MSS receive full tuition waivers, a $200 book stipend per semester, and…

College students, staff, and faculty all across the country are demanding greater racial and socioeconomic justice in higher education, where longstanding inequities create barriers for students who are Black, Latino, or from low-income backgrounds to earn a postsecondary degree. In response, policymakers and higher education leaders have made…