Background and Purpose: Students of Color hold intimate knowledge about institutional racism and White supremacy in schools--expertise that could be leveraged in school leadership. One approach that could mediate efforts to include Students of Color in leadership is youth participatory action research (YPAR), in which students and adult partners…

Parents' involvement in their children's education is widely understood as a key component of educational success. However, schools typically expect parents to engage with the school system in ways consistent with White, middle-class parenting and behavioral norms and in ways that are deferential to the school's agenda. In this article, we report…

This phenomenological action research study examined the experiences of minority students who participated in service learning activities at Northern Kentucky University. Five individual interviews were completed with students, consisting of undergraduate, graduate, and university alumni. Interviews uncovered five overarching themes. The five…

This article explores how and why a group of Latino/a high school students identify and explain racism differently over the course of an 18-month participatory action research (PAR) project. To do this we examine what recent scholarship has termed racial microaggressions in what is thought of as the Post-Racial America public school system.…

Using a combination of counter-storytelling, testimonios, and Chicana feminist epistemology, I report on the findings of an ethnographic study that explores and analyzes the educational experiences of geographically isolated Latina high school students in a rural city in Wyoming. I demonstrate the labeling of these students by peers and teachers…

Research shows that many of the predominantly White and middle-class teachers are unprepared to teach an urban public school population increasingly comprised of low-income children of color. Lack of cultural competencies, low expectations of and lack of caring for students, and racial/ethnic, linguistic, and class biases are all cited as barriers…

This study organized five black American undergraduate students into a participatory action research (PAR) team to examine Cross and Strauss' (1998) and Cross, Smith, and Payne's (2002) functions of blackness theory (i.e., bonding, code switching, and individualism) within a sample of black American students, frontline staff (i.e., janitors), and…

Educators must take a critical look at all factors that may affect student outcomes. The No Child Left Behind Legislation (NCLB) was proposed to help ensure that all students have fair and equal access to educational programming. It is important for secondary school educators to be aware of environmental factors that may inhibit student success.…

This qualitative action research study investigates the common barriers encountered by successful undergraduate ethnic minority students enrolled in majors that serve as a pipeline for professional health sciences. Through specialized focus group interviews and individual interviews, this study explores the perceived barriers to student success…