In college, high levels of student engagement, including the formation of relationships with faculty and staff, are positively associated with learning and development. Faculty and staff, known as institutional agents, can provide critical forms of institutional knowledge, resources, and services that can enhance the college experience and…

According to the National Science Foundation, "the U.S. STEM workforce must be considered in the context of an expanding and vibrant global scientific and technological enterprise" (2014). "The National Academy of Sciences further suggests that, without the participation of individuals of all races and genders, the increasing demand…

The year 2011 marked the first time in U.S. history where more "nonwhite" babies were born than "white" babies. Academic year 2014-15 marked the first year that K-12 public school enrollment became predominantly nonwhite. Among the five largest school districts, Latinos represent the predominant group. It's all about a stemming…

Last year, the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) published an issue brief on Utah's Opportunity Gap. The 2019 report focused on the long-range impacts of shifting demographics within Utah's population on enrollments and completions within USHE. What the report failed to do is address the responsibility of the System to evaluate the ways in…

Existing research has illustrated that Hispanic and Latino/Latina/Latinx youth (in this report, inclusively referred to as Latinx) as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth often face unique challenges at school related to their marginalized identities. In addition to anti-immigrant rhetoric that is often directed at…

Despite educational gains in recent decades for many Latino students, there are still significant barriers to universal quality education in the U.S.; among these are the stresses of current U.S. immigration policy and political discourse, which serve as negative multipliers to pre-existing social, economic, and health inequities. This report…

This article examines administrators' perspectives related to embracing and fulfilling a diversity- and access-centered mission at urban-serving universities with high Latinx enrollment. Considering today's context of higher education--whereby access and opportunities for Latinx and other marginalized populations has become increasingly…

This Dissertation in Practice (DiP) uses an action research (AR) methodology to answer a research question pertaining to the impacts of implementing a multimodal-based assessment project in the introductory, General Biology I (BI 114) classroom at East-State Junior College. A mixed-methods approach will be utilized to ascertain the impacts on…

African-American and Hispanic students are underrepresented in gifted education. In many cases, African-American and Hispanic students are underachieving in the classroom setting and lack interest in what is being taught. This chapter will discuss the underrepresentation of African-American and Hispanic students in gifted programs, curricula and…

Following decades of efforts to augment the educational experience of Hispanic students, progress and achievement are on the upswing. The steady rise in the high school graduation rate of Latino students is a bright spot that reflects both these efforts and the hard work of Latino students themselves. The good news is that the Hispanic community…

Diversity in dietetics, like other health professions, has remained stagnant despite the increase of racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States. We examined how Latina and Black women, enrolled in a university outreach program, make sense of a critical media literacy program during career introduction to dietetics. Our findings…

Rapidly becoming the largest ethnic group of American students, compared to White students with disabilities, Latino students with disabilities receive less services and their parents are more likely to struggle to receive services. Yet, it is unclear how Latino families advocate for their children with disabilities including how cultural values…

For a subset of undocumented immigrant youth who came to the United States (US), the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive action presents opportunities for advancement. In becoming, "DACA"-mented, youth are afforded certain privileges. However differential implementation of DACA on a state-by-state basis has important…

In 2014, California policymakers passed the Student Equity Plans (SEP) policy to address disparities in the community college system. The reform effort formalized a campus-wide planning effort that required institutions to examine their data for disparities, develop goals and strategies to mitigate identified inequities, and use new fiscal…

While new teachers bring energy and passion into their classrooms and schools, they can find themselves incredibly challenged as they learn how to plan and implement lessons, collect, and use data to inform their instructional practices, build relationships with students and families, manage classroom behavior, and meet the varying academic,…