The Center of Black Student Excellence is a transformative initiative within the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) dedicated to uplifting the educational experiences of Black students. It fosters a sense of belonging, pride, and agency, encouraging Black students and their families to pursue futures characterized by excellence and…

Ontario education policy articulates an explicit commitment to equity and inclusion for increasingly diverse classrooms. Despite policy commitments, when equity and inclusion intersect with religion, enactments remain underwhelming. This paper draws on the voices of 30 Ontario public school educators, all of whom self-identify as Muslim, to share…

My study documents the formation and impact of the student-led movement of Black Lives Matter in Higher Education (BLMHE) that is housed within Teachers College Higher and Postsecondary Education Program (HPSE). This group consists of HPSE students and faculty that have come together to analyze the effects of systemic societal forces on members of…

While parent involvement has been shown to have positive academic outcomes for their children, for structural changes to be made, parents have to go from being active to taking on a more activist role, thus "stoking the flame" of the norm. Parent advocacy and empowerment groups play a vital role in the transformation of parent activists,…

Out-of-school time, especially in the summer, offers students an opportunity to explore new passions, build friendships and relationships, and experiment with independence. Taking field trips, visiting museums, and going to camp can all boost students' learning and social development. But engagement in and access to these vital opportunities are…

Despite widespread implementation of multitiered systems of support for behavior (MTSS-B), evidence of racial discipline disproportionality persists. We argue MTSS-B must prioritize racial equity and healing in schools. We first discuss how discipline has centered Whiteness, providing a brief history of relevant events and sociopolitical forces…

School counselors are uniquely positioned to promote college going and improve lagging postsecondary matriculation for Latino men. Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's empowerment framework guided this narrative inquiry to consider how school counselors (dis)empower Latinos via (in)access to college-going information. Findings revealed that participants…

The 2023 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages was held in Columbus, Ohio on March 9-11. This year's theme, Empathy, Equity, and Empowerment is reflective of the vital work educators do in classrooms every day across the country. The Wikipedia definition of empathy is "the capacity to understand or feel what another…

Despite widespread implementation of multi-tiered systems of support for behavior (MTSS-B), evidence of racial discipline disproportionality persists. We argue MTSS-B must prioritize racial equity and healing in schools. We first discuss how discipline has centered Whiteness, providing a brief history of relevant events and sociopolitical forces…

This article reviews scholarship on youth and young adult activism in digital spaces, as young users of participatory media sites are engaging in political, civic, social, or cultural action and advocacy online to create social change. The authors argue that youth's digital activism serves as a central mechanism to disrupt inequality, and that…

As school systems nationwide struggle to deliver learning in a pandemic, parent advocacy groups are stepping up to help Black and Hispanic families who have often been left out of previous education policy making discussions. This brief profiles four advocacy groups--The Oakland REACH; Parents Amplifying Voices in Education, or PAVE; Kids First…

Every student deserves to be educated by teachers who are culturally proficient to ensure their needs are being met within inclusive school systems. This calls for educator preparation programs to ensure teacher candidates are culturally proficient. However, this is a pedagogical shift in isolated, rural settings due to the challenges rural…

Drawing from historical, sociological, and policy literatures, as well as legislative activity, this article traces the intellectual and political evolution of educational equity, beginning with progressive models of redistribution and remedy to more recent neoliberal forms, which privilege parental empowerment through the expansion of school…

The Diversifying the Education Profession Ohio Taskforce consists of aspiring teachers, K-12 educators, human resources personnel, educator preparation program representatives, community members, State Board of Education representation, and staff members from the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Higher Education and convened to…

Procedural safeguards have been in place for years with the intention of protecting the rights of parents and their children with disabilities. Despite the promises of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, parents have not been given the tools they need to be active participants in their child's special education. Parents of children…