PRAXIS In Schools

Building Communities of Excellence

Concerned about the Dropout Crisis? 3 Actions to Engage Students, Reduce Dropout, & Promote Excellence

Feb 6

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Concerned about the Dropout Crisis?
3 Actions to Engage Students, Reduce Dropout, & Promote Excellence

by Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez
The Problem & the Hope
The fact that 50% of low-income and primarily African American and Latina/o students fail to graduate from high school after four years is unacceptable. The reasons why students disengage and drop out are complex and are likely a blend of the effects of poverty, misguided policy, inequitable opportunities to learn, school quality, and institutional culture.

The good news is that we know what works. There is no shortage of knowledge about what it takes to promote student engagement, reduce dropout, and increase graduation and college going rates. It is time to produce opportunity-rich schools that equitably serve all students, particularly low-income students, students of color, English Learners, and immigrant students.

My research over the last 12 years and most recently with The PRAXIS Project in Southern California suggest there are at least three very concrete practical and policy actions that schools and districts can adopt to ensure their schools and their students on are on a pathway towards success. While instructional strategies, standards-based curriculum, and orderly classrooms are essential, we have found that the three actions below have merit. The real question is: Are we bold enough to take on the challenge and create the conditions that transform daily practices in our schools? This shift will require the collaboration between local policymakers, district and school-level leadership, teachers, parents, community stakeholders, and students.

1) Invest in Relationships
The research shows that meaningful student-teacher connections, relationships, and interactions are significantly associated with students’ social, emotional, and academic development, particularly in culturally and linguistically diverse schools and classrooms.
School leadership should initiate monthly dialogues between students, teachers, staff, and community stakeholders about the definition and significance of student-teacher relationships in their particular school. Together these stakeholders should define a good relationship. What are the elements of a good relationship? What does it take to make this happen? Schools should also form a “work group” that creates a “Relationship Scorecard” for their school site. This can be informed by surveys, testimonials, and classroom observations. School/district leadership and school boards should engage in monthly walkthroughs that focus on the relational climate of the school. The relational climate of the school should be a metric that is compared to achievement data. Deliberate and meaningful student-teacher relationships are an issue of equity.

2) Promote Students’ Voices
The research shows that the inclusion of students’ voices is significantly associated with student engagement, achievement, and success, particularly in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Schools/districts need to create learning environments that actively engage students’ voices. School leadership should create monthly student voice forums that capture the voices and experiences of all students, including students who have historically struggled socially, academically, and behaviorally. What is working/not working in school? What suggestions do you have to improve school? Students typically appreciate these opportunities, especially if the school leadership is serious about action. Schools can develop a “student voice work group” that creates tools to monitor the presence/absence of student voice. Schools should particularly focus on marginalized students (i.e., low achievers, disengaged students, non-engaged students, silent students, etc.) who are typically able to provide keen, critical insight into the strengths and challenges in the school. District leadership and school board members should attend the monthly student voice forums and visit classrooms to assess the presence of “student voice” in teaching and learning. The absence of or response to student voice is an indicator in and of itself of school culture. We need to use these realities as equity metrics to push schools forward.

3) Build a Culture of Excellence
The PRAXIS Project’s research shows that schools typically struggle with an explicit definition and commitment to excellence. While everyone believes in excellence, very few policymakers, district leaders, or school leadership know how to facilitate a process that builds a culture of excellence in every single school. Our teachers need this opportunity and our students, families, and communities deserve to be served by Institutions of Excellence. School leadership should create an “Excellence Committee” comprised of students, teachers, administrators, staff, parents, alumni, and community stakeholders who guide “Excellence Campaigns™” at each school. The Committee will define excellence for the school. The Committee then creates a nomination process, collects nominees, and selects “models of excellence.” The Committee then shares these models publicly through posters, banners, newspapers, social media outlets, district board meetings, local and regional businesses, government agencies, and beyond. These models should be used for curricular and pedagogical tools in the classroom and leaders and policymakers can use these examples of what is possible in a culture of excellence. It is time to stop, recognize, celebrate, and learn from “Models of Excellence” that are present everyday in our schools and realize that excellence is an equity issue for our 21st Century public schools.

In order to respond to the pervasive opportunity gap facing primarily low-income communities of color, we must act in ways that are creative, bold, and deliberate to transform the culture of our schools. We know what works. Let’s work together to make it happen.

Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez is an associate professor & Co-Director of the Doctorate in Educational Leadership at CSU, San Bernardino. He is also the principal investigator of The PRAXIS Project, a school-based research and advocacy initiative aimed at understanding and responding to the national dropout crisis. www.praxisinschools.com

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Technical Distractions, the Common Core, and the Hope in Our Public Schools by Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez

Jan 15

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Technical Distractions, the Common Core, and the Hope in Our Public Schools
Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez

There seems to be a mix of excitement and trepidation surrounding the introduction and implementation of the new Common Core State Standards rolling out in our nation’s public schools. According to the experts, the Common Core is the most rigorous to date and has the most potential to truly promote genuine student learning. Experts have observed that the new system will promote complexity of understanding of material, encourage coherence of understanding within and across content areas, and support critical analysis of various texts, such as nonfiction (which is a step forward in preparation for college, they argue). And while the Common Core potential is certainly a breath of fresh air as our nation rebounds from the era of “Test Prep Pedagogy” that has dominated our educational culture over the last 10 years, I urge us to be cautious about the technical distraction of any reform effort that intends to transform our system and close the opportunity gaps that primarily impact low-income communities and mostly communities of color.

Like any reform effort, standards-, curricular-, or assessment-based reform is largely technical in nature. It’s taking a model and applying it to the masses. These types of reforms rarely take community context into consideration and hardly ever take into account the social and cultural factors that directly shape the culture of our institutions and consequently, our students’ experiences in school. In fact, school culture is a byproduct of the community context. School culture is the DNA of schools. It’s the life of schools. It’s what schools do. It’s what schools talk about, and don’t talk about. It’s the way they respond to conflict, and excellence for that matter. School culture is made up of several critical social and cultural factors that are strongly correlated with student success—relationships, student voice, expectations, teacher efficacy, parent and community engagement and more. In fact, these elements have been central to my own research on school dropout as part of The PRAXIS Project in the Inland Empire.

I am particularly concerned about new reform efforts within our public schools, particularly those that will be implemented in struggling school systems serving primarily low-income children of color. Because the data continues to show grave disparities in achievement, opportunity, and attainment by race, class, gender, and language, and the empirical research shows us that school culture matters significantly, we need to deliberately ensure that school culture is a priority for all stakeholders. I raise these concerns because the formal and informal conversations I have been privy to across the educational pipeline tend to talk about Common Core in isolation from the social and cultural realities of school and community life. Denying the significance of school culture and failing to respond only perpetuates inequality in our school system and a 21st Century school system cannot continue to function in this way.

But let’s be clear. School culture is very difficult to address and respond to. It’s probably the most difficult thing to change in any institution. For instance, changing class size is easy, implementing a new scripted curriculum is relatively easy, and administering a new test is simple. However, changing the dynamics of that small class, or using creative pedagogies for that new curriculum, or preparing students to excel on that new test are among the most difficult things to do. It really comes down to transforming what happens in those environments.

Yet, school culture is the least expensive (at least materially). It doesn’t cost anything to stimulate a dialogue about relationships. It doesn’t cost anything to listen to students’ voices. And it doesn’t cost anything to learn from the experiences of the most marginalized students. The fortitude and vision of policy and institutional leadership will be the most expensive currency needed to launch these proposals. The question is, “Do we have the will and are we bold enough to go there?”

Here are three concrete actions schools and communities can take to address school culture and are part of The PRAXIS Project’s 10-Point Plan.

1) Promote Students’ Voices: Create safe, genuine, and systematic opportunities for students to share their experiences and perspectives in school. What is working? What needs to be improved? What is the student’s perspective of a quality teacher? School leadership needs to be the champion of this effort.

2) Support Relationships: Launch student-teacher dialogues about the significance of relationships in schools. What is a productive and healthy student-teacher relationship? How is this related to student engagement and achievement? What teachers exemplify model examples of relationship-building and how can others learn from this?

3) Launch Excellence Campaigns™: Form an Excellence Committee. Define Excellence for the school. Identify student, teacher, staff, parent, alumni “models of excellence” in the school/community. Recognize, celebrate, and publicize these models in the school and community. Leaders, educators, and policymakers should use these models in their daily practice.

If school culture and an emphasis on equity and excellence are already a core aspect of school life before Common Core, or any reform initiative for that matter, schools will likely thrive. If school culture is not deliberately on the radar, let’s use Common Core as an opportunity to reflect on our actions and promote opportunities for all stakeholders to dialogue and create more opportunity-rich schools for all our children and communities.

As we enter a new age of reform at the dawn of the 21st Century, let’s avoid replicating past inequalities by being distracted by technical change. The reform pendulum is swinging once a gain and it will gradually take hold. Let’s be distracted by social and cultural treasures that already exist in our schools and communities before or after the introduction of any reform effort. And let’s be bold enough to recognize these treasures and act.

Polimemo #1: Relationships as the “X” Factor: The Role of Relationships in Reducing Dropout and Promoting Student Engagement and Success by Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez

Dec 14

Posted by louie in Education, Polimemo, PRAXIS IN SCHOOLS | 1 Comment

The Problem
Relationships and connections with other people are critical to our daily lives—at home, at work, and in our communities. The significance of relationships in schools is no different especially in middle and high schools, and particularly for low-income African American, Latina/o, immigrant, and English Learners (Rodriguez, 2008; Valenzuela, 1999). Across the country and in the Inland Empire specifically, low-income students of color are more likely to live in poverty, attend under-resourced schools, and live in communities where their voices and experiences are unknown or marginalized by institutional policies and practices that are supposed to serve them. This is no more apparent than the significant dropout rate facing the region. Reports show that 50% of African American and Latina/o freshman will not graduate four years later. That is, for every 10 freshman who enter the 9th grade, only 5 will graduate four years later. In addition, African American, Latina/o, and English Learner students also have disturbingly low rates of college attendance and success. This crisis requires all of us who are concerned to be thoughtful, deliberate, and impatient for results so more of our nation’s most valued resource—our young people—are successful and thriving members of the community. .

In addition to poverty and inequitable opportunities to learn, students also face specific challenges that are reflection of the structure and legacy of schooling in the U.S. For instance, as students travel through the educational pipeline, their opportunities to meaningfully engage and interact with important school adults drastically changes. In the early years, student have one teacher for 7 hours a day to middle and high school where they have 7 teachers in 7 hours. Across their educational journeys, students also changed significantly—psychologically, socially, physically, and intellectually. They face peer pressure, increased academic expectations (even starting as early as kindergarten with the implementation of high stakes testing), and are challenged to figure out who they are and how they fit in the world.

For many students and families in the Inland Empire, high rates of employment, poverty, and transient home lives makes family life quite stressful. A recent study found that the City of San Bernardino has the highest rates of poverty in any large city in California and second at the national level ( Detroit, Michigan was #1). Despite these challenges, we need to ask, How do schools respond to this crisis? What can schools do? What explains success among students that live in these conditions? We know many of our students and families not only rely on schools for an education and a guaranteed breakfast and lunch each day, but these communities they also place a significant amount of hope in what is possible through formal education.

One significant factor that has proven to shape and promote opportunities and academic success is the presence of meaningful relationships in schools. However, we also know from educational policy, universities that prepare teachers and school leaders, district planning, and school level professional development sessions, that too much focus is placed on class size, test-taking, behavior management, and lesson planning and not enough attention on the cultural factors within schools that can motivate, inspire, connect, and engage students. Our work shows that relationships may be the “X” factor that can reduce dropout and promote student engagement. Knowledge of this reality should push policy makers, community stakeholders, educational leaders, and teachers to take notice and act at the policy and practical levels.

The Research
In 2007 The Gates Foundation surveyed dropouts and found that the second most significant reason why they dropped out was because they felt that no one cared about them (the first reason was boredom in school). Thus, meaningful relationships and connections between students and adults in schools allow students to access information, identify mentors, and feel more connected to school (Noddings, 1992; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Basic forms of “knowing” and “talking” are also vital to developing the basic foundations of student-teacher relationships in school (Rodriguez, 2003). In fact, research also shows that in some cases, teachers must engage students in relationships first, followed by an attempt to engage students with the curriculum (Rodriguez, 2005). That is for some students, getting them to read, write, and do their homework might require a significant connection with the teacher. And sometimes its not just the teacher. Sometimes the teacher needs to help the student identify with the curriculum. Too many times, adults have deficit-oriented views toward students which often hinder their ability to connect or relate to students. On the other hand, school adults who do recognize the strengths and skills (i.e., bilingual) students bring to the table does indeed impact their engagement and achievement with school.
In our research specifically we found the following:

• In some cases, connections between students and adults must precede the curriculum;
• Relationships driven by care, trust, and respect are vital;
• Adults must recognize that students face adult-like challenges and responsibilities and bring those into the school/classroom; recognizing not ignoring is vital.
• Adults who know, talk and provide high expectations & support, are ways teachers relate to students;
• Adults who give students a voice in the classroom/school, is an indicator of relating to students;
• Adults who understand the students and their community, is a reflection of relating to students;

Practical and Policy Suggestions
Our research suggests that schools and the communities that surround them need to reinvent themselves into relationship-rich cultures, not just buildings full of people that prepare for and take tests. Students tell us that relationships can indeed transform opportunities for them, boost their engagement and achievement, and along the way help them meet any state or district achievement target. In environments where poverty, inequality, and generations of struggle have persisted, relationships can be the one factor that makes the difference between staying in school or dropping out. Thus, relationships not only matter but they are also high-stakes. The following is a set of recommendations that can be points of discussion, ideas for policy development, and practical ideas for use in schools and communities.
Possible Actions Related to Power of Student-Adult Relationships and Connections in Schools
• School leadership should recognize and emphasize the connection between relationships and learning/student engagement. Student-adult relationships, connections, and interactions can be the gateway to academic engagement;
• Teachers, school leadership, and school board members should “shadow” a student for a day to see school through the relational lens of students;
• Schools need to recognize that for many IE students, teachers and other significant school adults are some of the only college-experienced adults that they interact with on a daily basis;
• Schools should highlight teachers who excel at connecting and relating to students; we already have examples of excellence in every school but often no one knows about;
• Schools should prioritize relationships just as much as testing;
• Schools should start “Relationship Campaigns” in schools;
• Districts should create policies that celebrate schools who prioritize the power of relationships to promote student engagement, achievement, and success;
• As a community we need to understand that the presence or absence of meaningful relationships and connections is an issue of equity;

Closing Thoughts
Students who have been the most marginalized in schools and in our region are also the most likely to dropout, fail in school, and not find a direct pathway to college or a career. As a community we experience missed opportunities and lost or overlooked talent when we fail to engage our students, particularly those who have historically struggled. While there are many programs and initiatives already underway, thousands are not connected and are not recognized. Meaningful relationships and connections between students and adults may be the bridge to engage more of our students. We need to learn from our most successful students and schools. We will see that meaningful relationships do indeed matter. The question is, Do we have the will to recognize the significance of relationships and act so that we move one more step towards creating more equitable opportunities for all Inland Empire youth? Relationships are not just a social or cultural artifact of schools. Relationships are matters of equity and opportunity.

Contact: Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez, Principal Investigator for The PRAXIS Project.
Email: louiefrodriguez@gmail.com

Recommended Citation: Rodriguez, L. F. (2011). Relationships as the “X” Factor in the Dropout Crisis: The Will to Recognize and Act. The PRAXIS Project. Polimemo 1 of 10.

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From Accountability to Ownership: Lessons from The PRAXIS Project by Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez

Dec 14

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Since January 2010, The PRAXIS Project has been engaging in a series of action research initiatives aimed at responding to the dropout crisis facing the Inland Empire. In reflecting on our impact thus far, I can say with a fair amount of certainty, that we have prompted a shift in school and community culture, which any educator, school leader, or policy maker knows is probably the most difficult thing to do when dealing with people and complex institutions. This shift has been actualized in many ways but I will concentrate on three below.

The first concerns a shift from accountability to ownership regarding our students. The culture of accountability, over the last 10 years, has been largely punitive, deficit-based, and driven by what schools, teachers, and students cannot do. Conversely, a culture of ownership reframes what schools, teachers, and students can do to boost student achievement and attainment outcomes. A culture of ownership is inherently additive. It pushes us as educators and communities to own the challenges and to recognize and capitalize on all of the treasures, opportunities, and resources that exist in our schools and communities.

From this perspective, the PRAXIS Project has demonstrated that recognizing and incorporating students’ voices in our work is vital to our effectiveness in serving students and addressing their (dis)engagement with school. One of our policy memos (see www.praxisinschools.com for our 10-Point Plan) directly addresses the need to build opportunities that include students’ voices in the educational dialogue. The district’s highest levels of leadership in Colton have used these lessons learned to transform practice (and policy) by structuring student voice consortiums at both of the district’s high schools. These spaces have evolved into stand-alone focus groups that the schools use to check in with students across the achievement continuum. Not only are the voices of high achievers registered, but so are those of students who are struggling. Students are heard, their voices are exercised, and their engagement is beginning to shift, particularly students who are typically overlooked when such critical dialogues take place.

The second major shift in the culture, or the ways our institutions function, has to do with the deliberate and meaningful engagement of students. We are learning from our work that the district and the school are actively finding ways to involve students in academic and non-academic activities. For example, the district recently embraced a theme of “purposeful communities.” This effort has led to many student-engagement initiatives that directly engage students in community-based service such as community beautification efforts. One partnership that emerged is between the city’s Chamber of Commerce and the high school that enables students to serve in an effort that promotes volunteerism, service to the community, and facilitates leadership opportunities for our region’s future workforce. According to my recent conversation with the Superintendent, students are driven, full of energy, and eager to participate. This is student engagement at its best.

The third major shift in culture is the recognition of the graduation rate/dropout crisis. From the beginning, we framed this issue has urgent, unacceptable, and vital to the health and wellbeing of our children, their families, and our communities. We were somewhat struck to find that there was little acknowledgement that there was even a crisis. Most demographic reports have reported that the number of graduating seniors is about half of the actual number of freshman who began four year prior, particularly among low-income youth of color. That means that 50% of our students are not graduating. Yet, in the few years that our project has been in place, we have seen a jump in graduation rates. In fact, the graduating classes in 2011 and 2012 were the largest in the history of Colton High. Just to get a sense of actual number of graduates, there were about 100 more students who walked across the stage in June 2012 versus June 2009 (the semester before The PRAXIS Project started). Our work alone, however, did not contribute to this rise in graduates. We attribute the increase to the persistent work of educators and school leaders at Colton High, district leadership, and of course, the students. Yet, we have spearheaded some necessary dialogues about student voice, the student experience, and attention to those students in the middle and the bottom of the achievement continuum that can easily be overlooked in larger high schools. We see movement, and this movement has resulted in meaningful gains in student engagement and graduation rates.

In a time of fiscal crisis at all levels of government, and at a time when students and teachers continue to be largely overlooked in education and public policy debates, it is vital to recognize these steps forward. We believe that when a culture of owning the challenges is solid and a commitment to student voice, relationships, and community inclusion are the guiding principles of our efforts, any reform effort passed down by the state or federal level (i.e., assessment, curriculum, evaluation) will be handled with vigilance and with the well-being of students in mind. The PRAXIS Project will remain tenacious with a spirit of collaboration, cross-institutional building, and a focus on results through the lenses of equity and excellence for each student in every classroom, school, and community across the Inland Empire and beyond.

Visit Us: www.praxisinschools.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thepraxisproject

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A Seed of Hope in the Midst of the Latina/o Education Crisis…

Mar 6

Posted by Admin in Education, Harvard, PRAXIS IN SCHOOLS | No Comments

HarvardAOCC 10th Anniversary Tribute – Latino Perspective

A Seed of Hope in the Midst of the Latina/o Education Crisis: A Latina/o Perspective on the Alumni of Color Conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

By: Louie F. Rodriguez & Nancy B. Gutierrez

Harvard Alumni of Color Conference’s 10th Anniversary:

The Alumni of Color Conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) will celebrate its 10th Anniversary in March of 2012. This is a landmark for the HGSE community and something that the founders hoped for when they launched the work in 2003. In fact, the program for the 1st Annual AOCC Conference in 2003, chaired by Dorinda Carter and Louie Rodriguez read, “Through the process, we were challenged about the longevity of this type of conference.  Our answer was simply, ‘as long as we are here, this conference will be here.’  The purpose of this conference is to broaden the we base, so that the spirit will inevitably continue.” And today in 2012, the we has certainly broadened, and will continue to thrive for years to come. According to AOCC Founder and HGSE Alumni, Frank Tuitt, the Alumni of Color Conference was born out of a series of “Projects of Hope” that emerged at HGSE in the late ‘90’s and early ‘00’s to address institutionalized issues of race and class…These transformative spaces provided students of color and their White allies an opportunity to unite around a common agenda and desire to see HGSE transformed into a more inclusive learning environment.  AOCC came into existence out of a need to reach out to and engage those who had come before us, and ask for their help and direction.” According to Tuitt, AOCC founders suspected that inviting HGSE Alumni of Color to return to campus and mentor students would create the momentum necessary for change.  Tuitt continues, “In the end, what we created together was a glimpse of what an inclusive transformative education could feel like when an institution respects and cares for our souls.” Thus, the first Alumni of Color Conference was born with fourteen students of color sitting around a table, discussing how to proactively create an unforgettable presence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education – one that would directly impact institutional practices, policies and research, and ultimately impact the education sector writ-large.

In fact, the Alumni of Color Conference has long reflected the ongoing struggle for voice, identity, and hope.  As Latinas/os who have helped to spearhead and lead this conference, along with our African American, Asian American, Native American, and White Allies, we know first hand that AOCC represents more than just a conference.  Indeed, the 1st Annual Alumni of Color Conference represented a catalyzing moment that brought together a group of committed scholars who could support one another, validate each other’s work, and serve as a potential source of social capital.  The launch of this conference also demonstrated what was possible when Latinas/os take part in cross-racial collaboration to reach a common goal—to carve out a space where we shaped the agenda in order to feel legitimized and recognized. And those that came before helped set the foundation for what emerged—a conference that would unify current students and alumni of color and perhaps trigger some momentum that would lead us in a movement towards equity and excellence at Harvard and beyond.  Our praxis with the Alumni of Color Conference capitalized on Cornel West’s concept of moment-momentum-movement and given that the Alumni of Color Conference celebrated its 10th year anniversary, perhaps we are in the middle of the movement.

In fact, it is powerful to know that today in 2012, two people who are both Latina/o leaders in the education sector, were brought together in a way that the founders had hoped: Louie Rodriguez, AOCC Co-Founder and inaugural Co-Chair and 2003 Co-Chair, and Nancy Gutierrez, 2012 Tri-Chair. Louie and Nancy share similar backgrounds: Both were raised in low-income Latino communities in California and upon graduating from higher education returned to their immediate communities to work directly in the barrio in which they were raised. In this quest, Louie returned to Colton, as an Assistant Professor for California State University, San Bernardino and has focused his work on the dropout crisis facing the Latino community. Nancy returned to East San Jose as a teacher, a school founder, and a turnaround principal for 10 years before becoming a doctoral candidate in the inaugural cohort of the groundbreaking Doctor of Education Leadership (EdLD) program at HGSE.

It is indeed striking that regardless of the similarity and strength that their backgrounds yield, they were unlikely to meet, unless by chance, without the network of the Alumni of Color Conference. As Tuitt shared, this was one of the hopes – the idea that our collective voices would provide the momentum necessary for change. In fact, the Alumni of Color Conference, a title that has been controversial since its inception, convenes a network of people dedicated to issues of race and class in the education sector every year. Participants, supporters, and organizers have honored the original mission and vision of the movement through its name and its ability to address these issues by creating an active space of hope for many and discomfort for some at one of the most regarded universities in the world.

To get involved in AOCC work, HGSE students take very deliberate steps to join the Steering Committee, which requires an immense amount of work and dedication. And once you join AOCC, you become a member of the AOCC network and family forever. The Alumni of Color Conference is an opportunity to create presence and space, as well as a constant reminder of the need to address issues of race and class with the hope that our work at HGSE will create what Robert F. Kennedy referred to as “ripples of hope” across the education sector. To do this, intentional cross-racial, cross-ethnic, and cross-group partnerships and collaborations are important as the only way to collectively impact policy and practices. Patricia Hill-Collins, 2011 AOCC keynote speaker, refers to this as building coalitions of consciousness.  In other words, if we want to impact policies and practices at the Harvard Graduate School of Education or in the Latino Community, we need to involve more than Latinos; we need our white allies as well as allies of color who are willing to purposefully and courageously engage in this quest. As Latino leaders of this work, we hope that we are courageous and strategic enough to continue AOCC-type efforts in our schools, communities, and institutions of higher learning in order to build equitable opportunities, access, and outcomes for our nation’s most marginalized groups.

The theme for the Alumni of Color Conference in 2012 is Disrupting the Discourse: Discussing the Undiscussable. In this endeavor, the 10th Anniversary will convene HGSE alumni, current students from throughout the University, practitioners and scholars concerned with issues of race and education as they pertain to all people, and in particular to communities of color. All participants, both practitioners and scholars, in concert with community members and speakers, will have the opportunity to share how they have explored, addressed and faced those “undiscussable” issues of race, class and gender that too frequently impact and limit the educational and career aspirations of America’s students.  The gathering will also support speakers and presenters who have bravely addressed issues of equity and justice, such as keynote speaker, Lee Mun Wah, an internationally renowned Chinese American documentary filmmaker, author, poet, Asian folkteller, educator, community therapist and master diversity trainer whose newest book, Let’s Get Real –What People of Color Can’t Say & Whites Won’t Ask, along with the film, If These Halls Could Talk, dealing with college students and their perspectives on race and racism, both released in 2011. AOCC 2012 efforts seek to continue the legacy of strengthening and challenging the institution by demonstrating the courage to confront the fears and the willingness to disrupt those traditions that for too long have silenced many voices.

Latina/o Snapshot

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that Latinas/os are not only the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S., but are the youngest and fastest growing group (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).  Over the last 10 years the U.S. has seen unprecedented population growth across the country and specifically in regions that have historically been void of a significant Latina/o presence.  For instance, states in the Midwest and South have seen significant changes in demographics (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010), so much so that Alabama instituted anti-Latino legislation which targets children in public schools and prevents law-abiding immigrants from receiving basic services like water service in their home.  The racist and xenophobic policies and practices occurring in Alabama is one indicator of how the demographic transformation of the country is received by certain regions.

The demographic transformation facing the country is no more apparent than in the K-12 public school system.  Census data shows that Latina/o children now comprise of 1 in 5 public school children and 1 in 4 kindergartners. And while growing as a population, educational attainment outcomes have not been commensurate.  Latinas/os have the highest dropout rates and lowest college going rates compared to all other groups in the U.S.  Research shows that Latina/o students attend some of the most over-populated middle and high schools across the country, experience unqualified teachers in the classroom, and face limited opportunities to learn such as accessing a high quality college-preparatory curriculum.  As a demographic group, Latina/o adults have the lowest levels of educational attainment directly impacting quality of life issues for this community.  For instance, Latinas/os are among those who are least likely to own a home, have health insurance, or own a business.

Thus, it should not be surprising that the Latina/o education crisis has received considerable attention in the education research and policy development (Gandara & Contreras, 2009).  It is also within this context that many students enter institutions of influence, such as Harvard, to study and engage in initiatives that can help facilitate deliberate change in these very institutions and in communities that struggle each day.
Role of Shaping and Driving Policies and Practices at HGSE

The work of the Alumni of Color Conference has undoubtedly impacted policies and practices at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In organizing this conference alone, the presence of students of color and issues around race and class in the education sector are amplified. AOCC unquestionably puts our collective voices on the radar as consistent stakeholders whose interest and presence should be considered and given deserved attention by HGSE faculty and administrators when making important decisions such as hiring new faculty, providing tenure, recruiting, accepting new students, and establishing new programs, coursework and areas of study.

Though many factors and groups have contributed to the shift in policies and practices at HGSE and there is no direct correlation between AOCC and the changes HGSE has implemented over the past ten years, we would argue that the Alumni of Color Conference has played a significant role. For example, in 2003, students of color represented 23% of the student body and today embody 31.5%. There is a similar trend for the faculty of color, which has increased from 16.7% to 24.2%, according to the Harvard Faculty Census that tracks women and minorities. In fact, HGSE’s newest program, the Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) degree integrates the fields of education, business, and public policy in visionary ways, offering students access to the vast intellectual and professional resources of HGSE, the Harvard Business School, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the other schools at Harvard. AOCC Tri-Chair Nancy B. Gutierrez is a member of the inaugural cohort where 56% of the astounding 2.6% of the program applicants admitted to the EdLD program are students of color. Other examples include the emergence of the Student of Color Orientation and the Dean’s Advisory Committee in Equity and Diversity (DACED), programs and initiatives brought together and initiated by many groups, like AOCC, whose efforts are specifically focused on addressing issues of race and class at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Perhaps even more important is the impact that the Alumni of Color Conference has had on the culture of HGSE.  For instance, the conference serves as a yearly barometer check on issues of equity and diversity at HGSE.  At each conference, current students have the opportunity to report their challenges and breakthroughs, and alumni have the opportunity to share stories, and provide support and mentorship to current students.  The conference also serves as a yearly reminder of the on-the-ground challenges, research, and best practices from alumni that travel from across the country.   Alumni of color typically return to communities of color and use AOCC as a platform to inform the HGSE community about issues vital to their respective communities.  In a sense, the Alumni of Color Conference almost serves as a 2-day workshop that addresses issues of race, class, gender, power, identity, and voice that is often lacking in HGSE’s curricular offerings.   And because the demographic transformation facing the country suggests no indication of slowing down, recognizing and sharing pertinent information with an influential community of scholars proves to be beneficial not only to their intellectual and scholarly focus but also to the communities that many current students endeavor to serve post-degree.

Indeed, the Alumni of Color Conference represents a legacy of resistance, voice, presence, and continuing need to push for diversity and equity. In fact, AOCC is a way to ensure that these issues do not get lost from HGSE’s institutional memory. Thus, all alumni who get connected to AOCC, lead the organizing efforts, or simply attend the conference, serve in an important function to keep the memory and work alive permanently.

The Need for Cross-Racial Collaboration Writ-Large:

The Alumni of Color Conference is quite unique among colleges and universities across the country, particularly in the field of education.  As current and former conference chairs, the experience of organizing the conference itself, while intensive, is quite transformative and poises us as scholars, thought-leaders, practitioners, and policy-makers to effectively serve our communities by drawing on this powerful experience.

Another way the conference helps us inform educational and social policy is to help bridge the network of a powerful student and alumni of color community.  As we deliberately create opportunities to bridge these two worlds for a weekend during the conference, we pave the way to strengthen the social capital of current students and alumni far beyond the one weekend.  For instance, alumni can return to HGSE and share their work about research and advocacy for out-of-school and out-of-work youth.  Current students who have interest in the topic may find an ally, a contact, and possibly and future colleague in the field.

Ultimately, the cross-racial nature of the conference essentially trains the conference organizers and attendees to deliberately and strategically work with other communities of color.  In a time of economic, social, political, and global crises, the need to collaborate across racial, ethnic, economic, and linguistic lines is vital.  Our ability to collaborate with Allies of Color and White Allies “trains” us in ways that we might not experience in classes.  We learn group dynamics and development, democratic voice and process, and advocacy for the whole rather than individual groups.  Because we are more powerful with a united voice, we leave the conference and HGSE with a set of solid organizing, advocacy, and leadership skills that only benefit our work in our respective communities post-HGSE.  In other words, our work as researchers, scholars, practitioners, and organizers in our respective communities position us to advocate for educational and social policy that benefits the Latina/o and other communities of color.

 

PRAXIS at Harvard

PRAXIS at Harvard

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