Universities are made up of people from different backgrounds, experiences, and identities. Assessing disparate impacts when developing policy and launching projects can improve outcomes. Leaders in the Office of the Registrar at Oregon State University implemented a structured, consistent process to review policy and manage projects using an…

The purpose of this article is to present a case study example of a graduate student-designed, introductory series of discussions integrated within graduate Kinesiology student training, with the broad goal of building an academic environment that acknowledges bias and supports anti-oppressive conversation. Previous research on social justice…

Reforming general education is challenging for institutions due to inertia, institutional politics, budgets, and structural barriers. Oregon State University recently adopted a new structure for its general education curriculum that increases access to high-impact practices, decreases overall credit hours in general education, and links directly…

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are frequently on the lips of higher education professionals yet we struggle to infuse these concepts throughout the academy as evidenced in challenges recruiting faculty of color, graduating students of color, and hostile environments reported by students. The authors posit that this is because, to date, most…

Studies have shown that student engagement in undergraduate research experiences leads to considerable gains in a wide range of skills important for success in postsecondary education and career development. However, recent research suggests that high-impact practices like undergraduate research are disproportionately available to students from…

The author, having directed, taught and evaluated five study-abroad programmes in three different countries, created her own programme based on the pros and cons she had observed. In December 2013, she completed a pilot run of a binational learning community focused on food, culture and social justice in Ecuador and Oregon, and here she shares…

Community Schools implement evidence-based strategy to bring together the resources of school, family, and community in order to make schools stronger and help young people thrive. While they might take different approaches, these schools generally employ whole-child, research-based strategies and elevate innovative and holistic practices in order…

This article describes a high-impact learning project that combines geography, history, and ethnic studies. It describes the construction of the course, student outcomes, and the final and publicly presented collaborative project: the Social Justice Tour of Corvallis. Based on work in a small largely white town, this project presents a…

The U.S. Department of Education required each state to submit a reopening plan outlining how they were using and planned on using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) conducted an analysis of 37 state plans to better understand if and how schools were collecting student…

Leading for equity is hard, yet inspiring, work. It requires thoughtful and bold conversations about race and poverty; close examination of policies and practices; and astute attention paid to a variety of data and evidence of student achievement, progress, and success. Above all, it requires a willingness to look deeply at one's beliefs and…

This article describes second graders in a predominantly white suburban school who were assigned to ask their grandparents to write about their experiences during the Civil Rights Movement. The letters bring surprising wisdom--and some thought-provoking issues--to the classroom. The author found that the power of the primary source documents…

One of the states served by the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) requested the center's assistance in compiling information regarding educational support for Native American students. To obtain this information, SECC staff contacted 16 states that have state agency contacts for Indian Education and/or that indicate a population of more than…

The author has spent six years teaching high school science in Southeast Portland. It is located in the heart of the largest immigrant area in the city, and at least 80 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Every day she witnesses how poverty and language barriers create serious challenges in her students' lives. Many students…

Self-advocacy is about independent groups of people with disabilities working together for justice by helping each other take charge of their lives and fight discrimination. The seeds of the self-advocacy movement go back to 1968 when a Swedish parent's organization held a meeting for people with developmental disabilities. Today, the…

Peter Senge's message during the 2005 American Association of School Administrators (AASA) conference reminded people that they live not only in a school system, but also within a highly diverse, global community. Their individual and organizational policies, practices, and behaviors, can and do impact the learning experience for those they…