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Today represents an awesomely new beginning for
our district with our leadership making the wise decision to pilot an Ethnic
Studies course in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) at six high
schools beginning in the 2017-18 year as follows: Anderson, Akins,
Austin, LBJ Early College, Reagan Early College, and Travis High Schools. By
Fall 2018, the district plans to implement it at all high school campuses
district-wide. Here's how the district officially describes it:
You can read more about yesterday's December 12,
2016 AISD Board Session item on Ethnic Studies here.
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Front,
Brenda Rubio & Anita Quintanilla; Second row: Modesta Treviño, Alejandra
Garza, Martha P. Cotera, Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Dr. Lisa Goodnow, AISD Trustee
Paul Saldaña, Back row: María Hammack, AAABE President Patricia Nuñez, Dr.
Emilio Zamora, Education Austin Vice-President Montserrat Garibay & Texas
State Board of Education District 1 Member Georgina Cecilia Pérez.
There is, of course, voluminous scholarship in Ethnic Studies that easily tracks back to the Civil Rights Movement and the establishment in the late 1960s and early 1970s of centers and departments in African American studies, Asian American studies, Native American studies, and Mexican American Studies, together with significant support from the Ford Foundation. That said, I'm happy to share a few recent published, peer-reviewed articles that I recommend that you read:
Cabrera, N. L., Milem, J. F., Jaquette, O., & Marx, R. W. (2014).
Missing the (Student Achievement) Forest for All the (Political) Trees
Empiricism and the Mexican American Studies Controversy in Tucson. American Educational
Research Journal, 51(6), 1084-1118.
Dee, T. & Penner, E. (2016). The causal effects of cultural
relevance: Evidence from an Ethnic Studies curriculum. National Bureau of
Economic Research, Working Paper 21865. http://www.nber.org/papers/w21865
López, F. (2016). Teacher reports of culturally responsive teaching and
Latino students’ reading achievement in Arizona. Teachers College Record,
118(5)
López, G. E. (2004). Interethnic contact, curriculum, and attitudes in
the first year of college. Journal of Social Issues, 40(1), 75–94.
Sleeter,
C. E. (2011). The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies: A Research
Review. National Education Association Research Department.
Retrieved on February 19, 2016 http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/NBI-2010-3-value-of-ethnic-studies.pdf
A few of us made presentations in
this work session. My fellow
co-presenters did an outstanding job.
These were Edmund R. Oropez, Chief Officer for Teaching and Learning,
James Maxfield, Austin High School Teacher, and Dr. Lisa Goodnow, Executive
Director for Academics & Social Emotional Learning.
I was able to provide an initial layout, as well, on our nascent and
evolving community-based initiative to grow our own educators and was pleased
to see that it was well received. There are lots of reasons why we should
grow our own teachers and I've posted on this several times on this blog [keyword
search: GYO], but what comes into real focus at the moment is that in light of
the extant groundswell for Ethnic Studies across the U.S.—particularly in such
states as California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas—we need to simultaneously
address the capacity in the educator workforce to meet the demand. I’ll share more details on this later as the
framework matures. In any case, it is
very exciting and encouraging to think that we can couple Ethnic Studies (that
already includes bilingual/dual language education) with growing our own
critically conscious teachers to actually teach and expand the curriculum that
we are devising.
Another
possible merger that comes to mind is with the movement opposing high-stakes
testing of which I have not only been and continue to be a part but which
actually also led to the establishment of this blog back in 2004.
All
of our movements—Ethnic Studies, bilingual education, growing our own
educators, and the high-stakes/opt-out movements—share a deep concern with the
de-contextualized fragmentation of curriculum and instruction that has resulted
in increased, rather than decreased, inequalities due to a test-driven
curriculum that marginalizes both knowledge and children.
Stated
differently, we will never test our way to equity. So now is our opportune moment to join the
movements and re-make ourselves from within, beginning with an Ethnic
Studies curriculum to which no high-stakes tests are—or will ever be— attached
if our communities and movements continue to have a say on this.
Better
yet, these efforts can work in tandem so that we can eliminate high-stakes
testing altogether. Please note that I
am not calling for an end to standardized testing, but rather to position them
as useful, albeit limited, tools when used appropriately. Look no further than the testing companies
themselves that say as much. (As have
many others, I’ve blogged on this ad
nauseam so do avail yourself therein.)
There
are always unsung heroes in initiatives like these. I would like to do a shout out here to
Jessica Jollife, AISD Social Studies Supervisor, who masterfully convened us with an
actionable blueprint for the development of curriculum.
Other wonderful members of our team are retired
AISD World Geography teacher and Curriculum Supervisor Joe Ramirez, UT Professor and
Curriculum and Instruction Department Chair Dr. Cinthia Salinas, Associate High
School Superintendent Miguel Garcia, Texas State University Associate Professor
of Social Work Dr. Raphael Travis, Jr., Anderson High School Ethnic Studies teacher
Elizabeth Close, Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness Director Angela Ward (mi tocaya/my namesake), and Austin High School African American Studies teacher James Maxfield, and
me.
Special thanks, as well, to Trustee Paul Saldaña
for his leadership, as well as Superintendent Paul Cruz, Trustee Ted Gordon, Associate
Superintendent Edmund Oropez, as well as the entire board of trustees of the
Austin Independent School District for leading and expressing their support for
this.
A final word of thanks to our community for a great
showing yesterday evening. Being present
matters. These included members of Academia Cuauhtli/Nuestro Grupo, undergraduate and graduate students from both the Center for
Mexican American Studies and the Education Policy and Planning Program at UT,
the Austin Area Association for Bilingual Education, Education Austin, and
members of the Raza Roundtable for their presence yesterday evening. It was also a special treat having Texas State Board of Education District 1
Member Georgina Cecilia Pérez in the audience.
I hope that like me, you woke up this morning
pinching yourselves wondering whether all of this had really happened or
whether it was just a dream. We owe much
indeed to our ancestors, elders, and intellectual forbears for keeping hope
alive.
I am confident that everybody’s love, passion, and
commitment to a more just and caring world will continue to nourish this seed
of a humble beginning into a force of good will that continues to motivate and
inspire.
Sí se
puede! Yes we can!
Angela Valenzuela
c/s
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