Drawing on ethnographic research in an urban high school in the USA, this article highlights how schooling structures and practices produce and reinforce an ideology of heteronormative binary gender. The construction of gender and sexuality occurs in systematic ways, shaped through structural forces and mapped onto social spaces and bodies. Yet,…

The present study examined the attitudes of California-based school psychologists toward transgender-identifying students and assessed their efforts and roles in supporting this student population in light of recently passed legislation in California (AB 1266; 2013), which requires public schools in the state to provide transgender students with…

Although there is a growing body of work on the experiences of girls in juvenile justice and women in prison, still little is known about the experiences of Latinas in the prison pipeline. Accordingly, even less is known about lesbian/queer Latinas in the prison pipeline. Gabriela's case study reveals her experiences in and out of the Juvenile…

In this article, I examine the relationship between large-scale social discourses and local, school discourses as it plays out in conversations about gender and sexuality with and among teachers, specifically in the context of the passage of the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act in California. Grounded in feminist…

This article investigates California laws AB 537: The Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000, and the recently enacted AB 394: Safe Place to Learn Act. Both demand that gender identity and sexual orientation be added to the lexicon of anti-harassment protection in public education. However, despite these progressive measures, schools…

Schools contribute heavily to the feelings of isolation and stigmatization that many gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth experience. Research demonstrates that the climate of US middle and high schools are generally unsupportive and unsafe for many of these youth who are often susceptible to harassment, discrimination, and other negative events,…

Data gathered from 142 public university elementary and secondary teacher preparation programs across the United States (representing the preparation of approximately 23,000-30,000 new teachers annually), indicated that race/ethnicity was the most emphasized diversity topic followed by special needs, language diversity, economic (social class),…

In order to be responsive to the changing demographics of the emerging community college student population, and in an attempt to answer the Chancellor's Office's call to discover how community colleges serve the diverse needs of students, Shasta College, California, collaborated with Feather River College, California, to conduct a study that…

This article examines heterosexist assumptions and the role of homophobia in students' experiences in California's public "Single Gender Academies," in an effort to include issues of sexuality in current discourses on adolescent gender identity and public school reform. Interviews with students, conducted as part of the most…

A broader view of literacy has emerged as part of the larger debate about educational reform across the globe. Many now argue that availing children with additional skills in technological and media literacy will foster creativity, motivate youth, and improve their economic opportunities while increasing the core of high skilled labourers…