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Sunday, February 23, 2020

Mexican American Studies for Texas Schools Implementation Packet

I just attended the truly wonderful 50th Anniversary Conference Mexican American School Board Association in San Antonio, Texas.  Congratulations to President Jayme Mathias and his team for a great job pulling it all together.

As expected, many are specifically interested in implementing Mexican American Studies (MAS) in their school districts.  This website has been a collective effort involving members of the NACCS Tejas-Foco of which I am a member.  UT Rio Grande Valley Professor Dr. Christopher Carmona, in particular, has dedicated his time and resources to this website over the years. 

No need to start from scratch, my friends.  Moreover, it's always good and advisable to connect to a credible source.

It's so exciting to see our board members equally excited.  

It feels like a new day! 🙂

-Angela Valenzuela

#ApproveMAS #MASTejas #RepresentationMatters #EthnicStudiesNow! #MASBAGold #MASBA #MASBAGold ⁦ @UTAustin ⁦ @utexascoe
⁩ #AcademiaCuauhtli #NLERAPP #MASBABoard #SOMOSMas ⁦
@UT_DDCE
⁩ ⁦
@TXLatinoEdu
⁩ #TxEd #TxLege

https://mas4txschools.org/implementation-packet/

Implementation Packet

WHAT IS MAS?
MAS is the acronym for Mexican American Studies. Mexican American Studies, also known as Chicano Studies, Chicana/o Studies, and more recently, Chicanx Studies in some institutions, is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that examines the Mexican American/Chicanx people in all of its many facets, including their history, language, literature, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and the fine and performing arts (visual arts, music, dance, drama and performance art). Since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Chicano/Mexican American Studies programs and courses have been offered primarily at colleges and universities across the nation. Within the last five years, there has been a more intensive effort to implement MAS courses in Texas and the nation from Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade.
WHY MAS FOR TEXAS SCHOOLS?
Because studies (Cabrera in Tucson, Arizona and Dee/Penner at Stanford, see links below) show and prove that these MAS courses help our students to succeed in school. Students who took MAS courses, regardless of ethnicity, scored higher on standardized tests, graduated at higher rates, increased their attendance, and were more academically engaged and did better in their other courses as well.
HISTORY OF MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES IN TEXAS
*  Escuelitas: 1880s-1950s
*  The Chicano Civil Rights Movement of the 60s-70s and the creation of Chicano Studies   and Bilingual Education programs across the nation.
*  First Chicano/Mexican American Studies courses and programs in Texas: UT Austin &  Texas A&I.
*  National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS)/Tejas Foco.
*  Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approves Mexican American Studies  (MAS) as a Field of Study in 2003 which allows community colleges across the state to offer courses and an Associate of Arts degree in MAS.
*  NACCS Tejas Foco fight for MAS with the Texas State Board of Education:
– Request for a MAS History course for high school students in 2013-2014
– Proclamation 2016 and a call for textbooks for Mexican American, Native  American, African American and Asian American Studies.
– The racist Mexican American Heritage textbook fight in 2016.
– Historic approval of a MAS History course, a pathway for the development of other Ethnic Studies courses, and the name change battle.
– Final approval of an Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies History course  in 2018.
– Four Statewide Summits on Mexican American Studies for
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE AND RESOURCES ON HOW TO IMPLEMENT MAS COURSES AND PROGRAMS IN YOUR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY:
THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL ETHNIC STUDIES: MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES HISTORY ELECTIVE COURSE APPROVED BY THE TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO BEGIN IN JULY, 2019
The Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) code for Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies is 03380084. Course Abbreviation is ESMAS.
Texas Education Agency link to TEKS standards for Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies:
file:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/19_04_113-50%20(1).pdf
1) Find a teacher who wants to teach the course: the teacher should have the minimum certification of  either a Social Studies Composite or a History 8-12 certification.
2)  Teacher should then compile a list of students who are interested in taking the class (different districts have different class minimums, but 15 should be a safe number).
3)  Approach the principal with the list (so that the principal can see that there is student interest) and explain the benefits of taking MAS for students: higher test scores, higher graduation rates, etc. (see above links to Cabrera and Dee studies).
4)  The most important part after you have approval is to go to the head counselors with the list, they are the ones that register students for classes and they will make or break the class. Make sure you keep communication with them to ensure that students get placed in the course.
Contact Dr. Juan Carmona:  jpcarmona74@gmail.com
HIGH SCHOOL MAS DUAL CREDIT COURSES AND PROGRAMS
The high school MAS Dual Credit and Early College Program (see below) are offered in conjunction with local community colleges and universities. Students who take these courses get credits towards their high school graduation, as well as getting credit for college level courses. These college Dual Credit and Early College courses are free for those high school students, usually juniors and seniors, who qualify.
1) Interested teachers or administrators should contact your high school and local nearest community college or university Dual Credit Program Coordinators, and ask them if they offer MAS courses for Dual Credit? These courses can include Mexican American History, Mexican American Fine Arts Appreciation, Mexican American Literature, or Introduction to Mexican American Studies. If the local colleges/universities don’t offer these MAS courses or degrees (Associate of Arts or Bachelor of Arts), you might try another college or university in your area to see if they do). If not, then you won’t be able to implement a MAS Dual Credit program or course in your school. See list of colleges/universities with MAS programs at this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xby6fmxfdzvf1gp/List%20of%20MAS%20College%20University%20Programs%20in%20Texas.docx?dl=0
2) If your local college/university does offer degrees and courses in MAS, ask their Dual Credit Coordinator if they offer these MAS courses as part of their Dual Credit Program? If they do, tell them that you would like to begin a MAS Dual Credit Program or course in your school. They should help you to work with your high school, or district, Dual Credit Coordinator to begin this program. If your local colleges/universities offer MAS courses and programs, but don’t offer MAS as part of their Dual Credit Program, ask them if it is possible to offer a MAS course through their Dual Credit Program? They will let you know if this is possible and the steps that will be required to make this happen.
3) If your local college/university does offer MAS for Dual Credit, set up a process with your high school, or district, Dual Credit Coordinator to begin plans to implement a MAS Dual Credit course in your school. Things to consider: a) You will need a qualified teacher at your school (with at least 18 hours towards a Master’s degree in a MAS related field of history, bicultural studies, humanities, art, literature, etc.), to teach this course. If there is not a qualified high school teacher that is willing to teach this course at your school, then sometimes the college/university can provide a professor to teach this course at your school. Sometimes high school students can take these courses at the colleges or universities, or online options might be available. b) The high schools will usually need to provide classroom space for this course, as well as the textbooks for this college courses for the students, and other tech needs.
Here are two programs in Texas that offer MAS courses as Dual Credit:
–  South Texas College in McAllen with Donna High School/Mexican American History           course.
Contact Dr. Trinidad Gonzales: tgonzale@southtexascollege.edu or Dr. Juan Carmona: jpcarmona74@gmail.com
–  Palo Alto College in San Antonio with Southwest High School/Mexican American Fine Arts Appreciation course. Contact Magdalena Yznaga: maggieyznaga@yahoo.com
or Dr. Diane Gunnoe: dgunnoe@swisd.net
HIGH SCHOOL MAS EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAM
1) Seek out the Early College High School Counselor at the particular Early College High School and ask them about adding MAS into their students’ degree plans.
2) Seek out the Early College High School Coordinator at your particular college/university. Discuss with them the possibility of integrating the Intro to MAS, Mexican American History or Mexican American Fine Arts Appreciation courses into their student’s degree plans.
3) Work with the particular MAS program/department at the colleges/universities to be able to designate a class for those Early College High School students.
Contact Dr. Christopher Carmona:  christopher.carmona@utrgv.edu
HIGH SCHOOL AND MIDDLE SCHOOL MAS INNOVATIVE, SPECIAL TOPICS AND OTHER COURSES
High school MAS Innovative courses require approval from the Texas Education Agency and the Texas State Board of Education. There is an application process and timeline that is required. MAS Special Topics in Social Studies courses can be developed in the individual high schools with the approval of the principal and school district. Here is the link to the Innovative Course Application at the Texas Education Agency: https://tea.texas.gov/About_TEA/News_and_Multimedia/Correspondence/TAA_Letters/2018-2019_Innovative_Course_Application/
Other MAS courses, such as the two listed below, are implemented by individual teachers through existing English and Social Studies programs, with the approval of the school principal.
Mexican American Literature course at Stevens High School in San Antonio, Texas
1)  Before students pick classes in the spring for the upcoming year, coordinate with department coordinator, counselors, and administration regarding including a Mexican American Literature class as a Literary Genres or Humanities elective on the course selection cards. Determine whether the course will be a semester or year-long course.
2)  Develop a course description that is student-friendly. Build interest for (and understanding of) the course by visiting English classrooms. Develop flyers and posters to share at elective fairs. Collect names of interested students. These steps will help ensure that enough students enroll and that the class makes.
3)  If the class makes, develop a plan for resources. Many useful resources can be found online, but also consider using crowd-sourcing to purchase books.
Mexican American History course at Bonham Academy Middle School in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio Independent School District MAS Summer Leadership Institute 2019 at Bonham Academy for Middle and High School Students
A first-of-its-kind two-week camp for middle and high school students that will engage them in unique experiences where they will explore Mexican American culture through a hands-on study of the arts, food, history, language, math and science. Experiences will include field trips, guest speakers, and student-led projects that will be showcased in a culminating family and community celebration.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MAS CURRICULUM, LESSON PLANS, BOOKS, FILMS, MUSIC AND ARTS RESOURCES THAT CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO THE PRE-K-5TH GRADES, SPECIFICALLY IN SOCIAL STUDIES, LANGUAGE ARTS AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND CLASSES
Academia Cuauhtli in Austin, Texas is an innovative elementary (4th grade) MAS program in partnership with the University of Texas in Austin, Austin Independent School District and community-based organizations that can serve as a model for other school districts. More info at their website here:  https://sites.edb.utexas.edu/tcep/academia-cuauhtli-eagle-academy%E2%80%A8%E2%80%A8/
Contact Angela Valenzuela:  valenz@austin.utexas.edu
MAS SCHOOL CLUBS AND AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Mexican American Literature Circle at Henry B. Gonzales Elementary in San Antonio, Texas
1) Get 2-3 teacher sponsors. Decide the purpose of the club or program, and when, where, and what time you will meet. For example, every week, or once a month. Plan 6 months in advance what you will do before approaching administration for permission.
2)  Meet with principal to present the ideas and plan, and hopefully the principal will approve and offer support and ideas.
3)  Invite students to participate and have permission slips ready for them and their parents.
Link to power point:
Contact Anita Cisneros:  xic_anita_power@hotmail.com
Ballet Folklórico After-School Program at KIPP Middle School in San Antonio, Texas
Contact Keli Rosa Cabunoc:  kelicabunoc@gmail.com
TWO MODEL PROGRAMS FOR IMPLEMENTING MAS IN TEXAS SCHOOLS
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s (UTRGV) Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) hosted a Mesa Comunitaria, May 2019, in which representatives from 13 different school districts attended to hear from parents, students and community organizations on the need for MAS and how to implement MAS in their schools. Districts left with plans of action that they co-constructed with participants on how to implement MAS in their school district.
UTRGV CMAS is a partner with UTRGV Center for Bilingual Studies that has been awarded an almost $100,000 NEH grant to hold 2 teacher institutes with select dual language teachers from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD & Harlingen ISD to create MAS curriculum in both Spanish and English. One of the principals on this grant is NACCS Tejas Foco Member & MAS K-12 Committee Member; Stephanie Alvarez, PhD
The UTRGV B3 Institute was awarded a $2 million dollar grant to work with over 70 teachers from Edinburg ISD and Brownsville ISD to create place-based and culturally relevant bilingual MAS curriculum over the next three years. One of the principals on this grant is NACCS Tejas Foco Member & MAS K-12 Committee Member, Maritza De La Trinidad.
All curriculum developed from these two grants will be bilingual and be made available online.
Contact Dr. Stephanie Alvarez: stephanie.alvarez@utrgv.edu
Texas Ethnic Studies Network
The mission of the growing statewide Texas Ethnic Studies Network is to strengthen collaborations between Native American/Indigenous, African American and Africana, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Mexican American/Chicanx/Latinx, and other intersectional studies, including Gender and Sexuality Studies, for the purpose of promoting Ethnic Studies as a culturally and socially relevant curriculum through grades Pre-K-12 in the state of Texas. While still in its early stages, the Texas Ethnic Studies network aims to bring together district leaders, university and community college educators, community leaders, parents and students to transform Texas curriculum so that it more accurately reflects the social, cultural, and intellectual identities of PK-12 students.
Contact Orlando Lara: olaraza@gmail.com
RESOURCES TO ASSIST YOU IN IMPLEMENTING MAS COURSES AND PROGRAMS IN YOUR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY
         *   MAS Teacher Training and Professional Development:
–  UTSA MAS Teachers’Academy:  marie.miranda@utsa.edu
http://education.utsa.edu/mas/social_studies_teachers_academy/
–  Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) MAS K-12 Professional
-Development Workshops:  Lilliana.saldana@utsa.edu
Flyer:                              https://www.idra.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/02/MAS_SpringPD_Flier.pdf
–  IDRA MAS Community of Practice:  https://idra-community-of-practice.mn.co/groups/771994/about
–  UTRGV MAS Programs:  stephanie.alvarez@utrgv.edu
*   NACCS Tejas Foco Clearinghouse of Resources:  www.mas4txschools.org
–  Texas schools Pre-K-12th grade that offer MAS programs and courses: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/172986Z3elOILXqoHc7bQL5umzM9h_TUNVziTcZRw3Hg/edit#gid=967551230
–  Texas colleges and universities that offer MAS degrees: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xby6fmxfdzvf1gp/List%20of%20MAS%20College%20University%20Programs%20in%20Texas.docx?dl=0
–  Resources, broken down by grade levels, for MAS textbooks, films/videos,                              bilingual and Chicanx literature, etc.:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FNdTERl3ZgxPceclUC6Y5vNDlKYvg4_YUXoUQ7zhEHs/edit#gid=0
– Texas Mexican American/Chicanx/Latinx arts and cultural organizations                               that can assist you in providing co-curricular cultural and artistic programs                         for your classrooms, schools and communities (provided by the National                                Association for Latino Arts and Culture): https://www.dropbox.com/s/9s75lcjclgwd9f1/List%20of%20Chicanx%20Latinx%20Arts%20%26%20Cultural%20Organizations%20in%20Texas.xlsx?dl=0
*  Other important contacts:
–  National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Tejas Foco Committee                         on Mexican  American Studies Pre-K-12: Chair, Dr. Christopher Carmona:                             christopher.carmona@utrgv.edu
–  Somos MAS/Mexican American Studies San Antonio, Tejas:
juantejeda@sbcglobal.net
–  Rio Grande Valley Coalition for Mexican American Studies Pre-K-12:                                       christopher.carmona@utrgv.edu or stephanie.alvarez@utrgv.edu
–  Tony Diaz “El Librotraficante” & Nuestra Palabra in Houston:  aztecmuse@aol.com
–  Texas Ethnic Studies Network in Dallas/Ft. Worth: olaraza@gmail.com
– MAS for the Masses in San Antonio: masforthemasses@gmail.com or
moniavila@gmail.com
SAMPLE RESOLUTION TO TAKE BACK TO YOUR SCHOOL BOARDS, PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS TO GET THEM TO COMMIT TO IMPLEMENTING MAS IN YOUR CLASSROOMS, SCHOOLS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND COMMUNITIES
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Thursday, February 20, 2020

White Teachers Need Anti-Racist Therapy by Dr. Bettina Love

Excellent piece by University of Georgia Dr. Bettina Love on therapy for white teachers that is good therapy for all.  After all, we are all impacted by the ideology of white supremacy.

 -Angela Valenzuela

By Bettina L. Love 
Education Week Feb. 6, 2020

 

Everest/Getty

The overwhelming majority of teachers in this country want to help young people reach their full potential. Making that kind of difference is rewarding. And yet most teachers struggle to find joy. 

A 2017 survey focused on educators' quality of work life revealed that 61 percent of teachers found that their jobs were always or often stressful, and 58 percent cited poor mental health as a result of job-related stress. 

Teacher burnout is a significant problem, and research concerned with teacher wellness tells us that educators are also experiencing secondary traumatic stress, as they take on the wounds their students bring to the classroom every day as a result of poverty, abuse, toxic masculinity, immigration struggles, racism, family mental illness, transphobia, and homophobia. 

To add more to teachers' already full plates, progressive school districts striving to be more equitable are asking teachers to understand how racism functions in their classrooms and to fight for social justice inside and outside school walls. It may sound counterproductive to ask educators to do this work when they have so many issues to tackle every day, but many of their students' traumas are a direct result of oppressive systems and ideologies. Simply stated, teachers' work lives will not improve until educators enter the fight for equity. Smaller class sizes or professional learning communities will help. For the long term, however, the most important step is active anti-racism.

Teachers need more professional development for understanding inequality in order to confront it. But teachers of all backgrounds also need healing because they are trying to fight the biggest problems in this country one student at a time, with little to no emotional support. Yes, educators who are people of color feel the ever-present pain, weight, and torment of racism and need therapy, too, but White teachers have a different task: Many must first win the fight regarding racism within themselves. 

When I travel around the country talking to White teachers about educational justice and anti-racism, I am met with tears by many White educators who understand how racism preys on the bodies, minds, and communities of all their students, but especially their students of color. They know they need to do more, but the question is what does more look like? The "more" is anti-racist therapy and healing moving toward anti-racist actions.

White teachers need a particular type of therapy. They must learn how to deal with what Cheryl E. Matias calls "White emotionalities" and what Robin DiAngelo has termed "White fragility." Emotions of guilt, shame, anger, denial, sadness, dissonance, and discomfort boil up when issues of race and racism challenge their sense of self. Too often, we think the work of fighting oppression is just intellectual. The real work is personal, emotional, spiritual, and communal. 

The shift to anti-racism does not happen overnight or after one professional development session: It happens through a process of self-discovery, healing, and learning to reject and call out racist ideas, people, and structures. Anti-racist teaching is not a teaching approach or method, it is a way of life.

In her new book, The Racial Healing Handbook, Anneliese A. Singh writes: "Healing means you begin to unlearn the stereotyped racial messages you internalized about your own race and the race of others. It means you as an individual learn to recognize the wounds that racism creates in you, whether you are White or a person of color."

Thus, we need therapists who specialize in the healing of teachers and the undoing of Whiteness in education. We need school therapists and counselors who are trained to help White educators and students process their emotions and their fragility. With healing, teachers will better manage their stress, improve their interactions with students, and be able to continue fighting for justice. Teachers should be offered this type of therapy free of charge. 

As I am writing this, I understand education and mental-health systems often lack the resources to offer teachers anti-racism therapy at schools. Still, there are things we can do. Individuals can seek their own therapy provided by professionals who specialize in anti-racism. Teachers can listen to anti-racism podcasts. Another approach is to form racial affinity or book-study groups focused on healing from racism. (See below for resources.) Teachers can become part of anti-racist social movements such as Black Lives Matter at School, United We Dream fighting for justice for immigrants, or Land Rights Now promoting the land rights of indigenous people.

I have also found the work of Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, a professor at Teachers College, helpful. In a process she calls "Healing Through the Archaeology of Self," Sealey-Ruiz asks teachers to dig, reflect, and discover their identities in relationship to their students, systems of oppression, and how teachers can be interrupters of the status quo.

The work of anti-racism cannot wait. For ourselves as educators, our families, and our students, we must heal.


Bettina L. Love is an associate professor of educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia. This is the fourth in a series of essays she is writing about race in America for Education Week.
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Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Taking Equity-Minded Action to Close Equity Gaps by Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux | 2017

Equity is a big word in K-12 and higher education today.  Here is a good piece that drills down on the concept. -Angela

Association of American Colleges & Universities

A VOICE AND A FORCE FOR LIBERAL EDUCATION

Taking Equity-Minded Action to Close Equity Gaps 

Spring 
2017, 
Vol. 19, 
No. 2
By: Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux | 2017

Inequality is one of the most enduring features of our nation’s higher education system. Racial/ethnic and class-based disparities in college access, enrollment, and completion persist despite years of programmatic and policy efforts to counteract them. Though it is true that racially minoritized and low-income students are more likely to enroll in some form of postsecondary education than in years past, their likelihood of completing a bachelor’s degree once enrolled in college falls far below that of their white and economically privileged counterparts (Carnevale and Strohl 2013; Perna and Finney 2014). The differences in college enrollment and college completion among historically marginalized and white and affluent populations have widened (Witham et al. 2015), suggesting that postsecondary education remains “separate and unequal” (Carnevale and Strohl 2013). Clearly, American higher education has an equity problem.
An Increased Focus on Equity
The silver lining to this situation is that policymakers and institutional leaders increasingly recognize the urgent need to focus their efforts and resources on creating equity in higher education. Several states have acknowledged the need to make their higher education systems more equitable for African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, low-income students, and other historically marginalized populations. For example, California has spent nearly $400 million to fund student equity efforts at the state’s community colleges over the past three years. To receive the funding, each of California’s 113 community colleges was required to develop a detailed student equity plan in which they presented institutional data for key outcomes, identified which demographic groups were experiencing inequities, set goals for closing those equity gaps, and proposed specific activities to reach those goals.
Higher education organizations and private foundations also play an important role in creating equitable outcomes by undertaking initiatives aimed at informing equity-focused policy and practice. In 2015, for example, the Lumina Foundation and the Center for Urban Education (CUE) began a partnership to increase the number of states that incorporate closing equity gaps into their policy goals. AAC&U’s Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence project, funded by Strada and Great Lakes, provides a model of how higher education associations and private foundations might partner to guide the design and implementation of institutional equity efforts. As discussed in this issue of Peer Review, thirteen institutions with diverse missions and student bodies received funding to develop campus action plans to close equity gaps experienced by racial/ethnic minorities, low-income students, first-generation students, and adult learners.
These kinds of investments in equity efforts, whether by state governments or philanthropic organizations, reflect an increased focus on equity as a legitimate priority. Further, the growing presence of equity in policy discussions indicates that more leaders realize that national and state-level priorities to increase degree attainment and improve student success require the elimination of equity gaps experienced by African Americans, Latinas, Latinos, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Southeast Asian students. Similarly, unless and until low-income and first-generation students experience equitable outcomes in degree attainment, the nation’s ambitious college completion goals cannot be realized.
For nearly twenty years, CUE has conducted socially conscious research and developed tools that help institutions of higher education produce equity in student outcomes. Estela Bensimon, CUE’s founder and director, developed the Equity Scorecard™ process to promote practitioner learning that brings about the major changes in institutional practices, routines, and culture needed to obtain equitable outcomes for historically marginalized and minoritized populations (Bensimon and Malcom 2012). CUE’s approach frames inequity as a problem of practice rather than a problem with students, emphasizing the responsibility of higher education institutions, faculty, staff, and leaders to eliminate disparities in educational outcomes and create equity for all students.
Through the study of their own institutions, practitioners can identify ways that existing policies and practices inadvertently create or further inequity. Faculty, staff, and institutional leaders engage in the inquiry process with a goal of “remediating” their own practices and mindsets to close equity gaps (Bensimon and Malcom 2012; Dowd and Bensimon 2015). Using CUE’s data and inquiry tools, our institutional partners have developed and implemented equity-minded practices and policies, and have become more effective at narrowing racialized equity gaps. Though the specific changes implemented at CUE’s partner institutions have varied widely depending on each institution’s inequitable outcomes, local context, and priorities, their actions were guided by the principles of equity-mindedness. Described below, these five principles outline a different way of thinking about inequities and educational practice that has been demonstrated to be effective at closing racialized equity gaps.
The Principles of Equity-Mindedness
When practitioners confront any kind of challenge on their campuses, they interpret that challenge using a schema, or cognitive framework, to make sense of the problem. That schema informs an individual’s understanding of the problem—its causes and effects—and guides their thinking about potential solutions and actions to be taken related to the problem (Gioia and Poole 1984). When it comes to the problem of educational inequities experienced by African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and other minoritized populations, the schema often used to understand the problem treats inequities as an unfortunate, but unavoidable, phenomenon, whose fault lies with students, their families, and communities (Bensimon and Malcom 2012). As evidenced by the persistent nature of racial/ethnic educational inequities, this deficit-minded approach has served neither us nor our students well.
Equity-mindedness is a schema that provides an alternative framework for understanding the causes of equity gaps in outcomes and the action needed to close them. Equity-mindedness encompasses being (1) race conscious, (2) institutionally focused, (3) evidence based, (4) systemically aware, and (5) action oriented (Bensimon and Malcom 2012; Center for Urban Education; n.d.; Dowd and Bensimon 2015). Based on our research and work with over one hundred institutional partners, we suggest that reducing inequities experienced by African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans requires that practitioners become more equity-minded and embed equity-mindedness in practices and policies across the institution. Each of the principles of equity-mindedness is discussed in more detail below.
1. Equity-Minded Practitioners, Practices, and Polices Are Race-Conscious in an Affirmative Sense.
Race-consciousness in an affirmative sense involves noticing racial inequities in educational outcomes and experiences, naming those specific racial/ethnic groups that are experiencing equity gaps, and shying away from euphemisms often used to avoid open and honest discussions of the roles that race and racism play in the perpetuation of educational inequity. Equity-mindedness necessitates talking about race in meaningful ways. Certainly, talking about race may be uncomfortable for some and can be fraught with potential rhetorical landmines. Yet, these conversations are critically important. The problem of race-based inequities in educational outcomes cannot be solved if we do not even have the will to name the problem. Using euphemisms like “diverse students” or “underrepresented students” prevents practitioners from understanding that current practices and policies may have a disproportionately negative impact on African American, Latino/a, and Native American students.
Similarly, being equity-minded requires that higher education practitioners and leaders resist the temptation to use socioeconomic status as a proxy for race. Likely due to the political contention around issues of race, many faculty, staff, administrators, and policy makers center equity conversations on the inequities experienced by low-income students, remaining silent on the unique patterns of disadvantage experienced by African Americans, Latinas/os, and Native Americans. Though both race- and class-based inequities in outcomes exist, and some students experience them in combination, they are not the same thing. Numerous studies have demonstrated that when controlling for class, race-based disparities in educational and economic outcomes remain (e.g., Carnevale and Strohl 2013). In other words, low-income white students fare better in college entry, persistence, degree completion, and post-college employment and earnings than their low-income African American, Latina/o, and Native American peers. The same is true of middle-income and upper-income students. This is not to say that higher education institutions and policymakers should not prioritize reducing class-based inequities. Instead, equity-mindedness requires acknowledging that race and class are different, and eliminating race-based inequities will require a different approach.
2. Equity-Minded Practitioners, Practices, and Policies Reflect an Awareness of and Responsiveness to the Systemic Nature of Racial/Ethnic Inequities.
To possess systemic awareness is to understand the ways in which current inequities are related to structural inequalities and the historic and ongoing denial of educational and economic opportunity experienced by African Americans, Latinas/os, Native Americans, and other racially minoritized populations. Our nation’s schools are more racially segregated than before the Brown v. Board decision, with African American and Latino/a children more likely than white and Asian children to attend under-resourced, high-poverty schools (UCLA Civil Rights project). These intensely segregated, under-resourced schools offer students a truncated curriculum, leading to large racial disparities in access to college preparatory and AP coursework (The College Board 2014). Though class plays a part in this process, it is uniquely racialized. Patterns of school segregation are closely related to residential segregation resulting from the legacy of racism and a long history of housing policies that discriminate on the basis of race. Consider that, for example, Black families with household incomes of $100,000 or more “are more likely to live in poorer neighborhoods than even white households making less than $25,000” (Eligon and Gebeloff 2016). Discrimination in employment, lending, voting, and a host of other areas contribute to the racial inequities observed today. The underlying point is that systemic racial/ethnic inequities did not just happen—they were created over time through policy and entrenched racism. Acknowledging this enables equity-minded practitioners to situate present inequities within the sociohistorical context of the United States, and to understand that they are a dysfunction of structures, policies, and practices.
3. Equity-Minded Practitioners View Inequities as Problems of Practice and Feel a Personal and Institutional Responsibility to Address Them.
Equity-mindedness emphasizes institutional responsibility to create equity and directs practitioners to focus on what they can do to close equity gaps. Rather than attribute inequities in outcomes to student deficits, being equity-minded involves interpreting inequitable outcomes as a signal that practices are not working as intended. Instead of focusing on “fixing” students, equity-minded practitioners continually reassess their practices and consider how those practices can be remediated in order to achieve institutional equity goals (Bensimon and Malcom 2012). From this perspective, the elimination of inequities comes about through changes in institutional practices, policies, culture, and routines.
Since the founding of the center, CUE has studied practitioners’ conversations about race and equity to understand the explanations that are typically relied upon to explain inequities in student outcomes. We often hear faculty, staff, and administrators argue that inequitable outcomes emerge from deficits in student motivation, discipline, preparation, or study skills. By emphasizing practitioner and institutional responsibility for creating equity for students, CUE encourages practitioners to shift the way that they make sense of and talk about inequitable outcomes. For example, a faculty member who may have previously attributed race-based gaps in developmental math course completion to Black or Latino/a students’ unwillingness to use the tutoring center might now ask herself how welcoming the tutoring center is to minoritized students, whether the hours are conducive to these students’ needs, or question how the racial/ethnic makeup of the tutors compares to that of the student body.
Equity-mindedness does not suggest that student behaviors, motivation, and attitudes are unrelated to their success. However, focusing on students alone, to the exclusion of understanding the ways in which institutions and practitioners can change their practices, policies, structures, and culture to more effectively promote student learning and outcomes, is equally problematic.
4. Equity-Minded Practitioners Rely on Evidence to Guide their Practice.
Equity-minded faculty, staff, and administrators rely on evidence to understand the practice- and policy-related factors that contribute to inequities experienced by their students. Data can help practitioners to truly understand the nature of problematic inequities in outcomes. Similarly, quantitative and qualitative data ought to guide the development and implementation of solutions to close those equity gaps. When practitioners observe equity gaps through the examination of disaggregated institutional data, the first inclination is often to identify “best practices” being enacted by other institutions and to implement them on their campus. Through our work, we have found that campuses who concentrate on identifying “off the shelf solutions” for inequitable outcomes face challenges in closing equity gaps. This best practices approach often presupposes the causes of inequities and prescribes solutions without a true understanding of the reasons that equity gaps exist.
Equity-minded practitioners use inquiry to gather evidence about the problem and to carefully examine existing practices to determine how they may be related to inequities. Additionally, equity-minded practitioners question their assumptions about students, recognize how stereotypes and implicit biases may harm racially minoritized students, and use disaggregated quantitative data and qualitative inquiry findings to guide their practice. By developing the capacity of faculty, staff, and administrators to conduct inquiry, gather data, and make appropriate improvements based on that data, institutions invest in “best practitioners.”
5. Equity-Minded Practitioners Take Action to Eliminate Educational Inequities.
The final principle of equity-mindedness relates to being action-oriented. Equity-minded practitioners feel empowered to take action toward closing equity gaps in educational outcomes. In addition to (1) raising awareness of racial inequities in outcomes, (2) building understanding of the connection between inequitable outcomes and systemic inequalities, and (3) cultivating evidence-based knowledge about the nature of inequities on their campuses, the inquiry process “creates a sense of purposeful agency” among practitioners, motivating them to act (Felix et al. 2015).
Equity-minded practitioners recognize the need to engage their colleagues in institutional equity efforts and devise ways to use their power in intentional ways to promote this engagement (Bishop 2014). Many faculty, administrators, and staff at CUE’s institutional partners have advanced equity on their campuses by leveraging their vested authority. For example, a department chair used his authority over the faculty review process to engage his colleagues in the regular review of course success data disaggregated by race/ethnicity. At another institution with whom CUE has partnered, the provost used her authority over the faculty hiring process to embed equity-mindedness into academic searches for the entire institution.
Conclusion
As detailed in this issue of Peer Review, the institutions involved in the Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence project faced varying equity challenges. The campus action plans reflect a variety of approaches to addressing inequitable outcomes, including providing faculty and staff professional development opportunities, building institutional capacity for data collection and analysis, implementing high-impact practices, and revamping assessment practices. Though the participating institutions vary in their missions, student populations, and strategies for closing equity gaps, keeping the principles of equity-mindedness at the core of campus equity efforts will bolster their chances of success.

References
Bensimon, Estela Mara, and Lindsey Malcom. 2012. Confronting Equity Issues on Campus: Implementing the Equity Scorecard in Theory and Practice. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Bishop, Robin. 2014. "Language and Identity in Critical Sensegiving: Journeys of Higher Education Equity Agents" (doctoral dissertation). University of Southern California.
Carnevale, Anthony P., and Jeff Strohl. 2013. Separate and Unequal: How Higher Education Reinforces the Intergenerational Reproduction of White Racial Privilege. Washington, DC: Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University.
Center for Urban Education. n.d. “What Is Equity-Mindedness?” http://cue.usc.edu/equity/equity-mindedness.
The College Board. 2014. The 10th Annual AP® Report to the Nation. New York, NY: The College Board.
Dowd, Alicia C., and Estela M. Bensimon. 2015. Engaging the Race Question: Accountability and Equity in U.S. Higher Education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Eligon, John, and Robert Gebeloff. 2016. “Affluent and Black, and Still Trapped by Segregation.” New York Times. August 20. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/us/milwaukee-segregation-wealthy-black-families.html?_r=0.
Felix, Eric R., Estela Mara Bensimon, Debbie Hanson, James Gray, and Libby Klingsmith. 2015. “Developing Agency for Equity-Minded Change.” New Directions for Community Colleges 172: 25–42. doi: 10.1002/cc.
Gioia, Dennis A., and Peter P. Poole. 1984. “Scripts in Organizational Behavior.” Academy of Management Review 9 (3): 449–459. doi: 10.5465/AMR.1984.4279675.
Perna, Laura W., and Joni E. Finney. 2014. The Attainment Agenda: State Policy Leadership in Higher Education. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Witham, Keith, Lindsey E. Malcom-Piqueux, Alicia C. Dowd, and Estela Mara Bensimon. 2015. America’s Unmet Promise: The Imperative for Equity in Higher Education. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux,  Associate Director for Research and Policy, Center for Urban Education, and Research Associate Professor,: and Estela Mara Bensimon, Director, Center for Urban Education, and Professor of Higher Education, both of Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California
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