Ninth-grade ethnic studies helped students for years, Stanford researchers find

Friends:

To know why Ethnic Studies works, read these articles that explain why. I'm so glad that Dr. Eliza Epstein shared it with me and others while reminding us of our own struggle in Texas to advance Ethnic Studies citing, "'Never Without a Fight': How Texas Has Stood Up for Ethnic Studies, by Maribel Falcón.

Dr. Epstein also shares this in-depth, authoritative piece published by the National Education Association authored by leading scholar Dr. Christine Sleeter titled, What the Research Says About Ethnic Studies that is also great for the college classroom, together with works cited herein.

Why does it work? The short answer to this question is that all of these pieces collectively speak to the importance of a curriculum that not only fosters positive pro-social and communitarian values but as importantly, speaks to the situated experiences of the children and youth in the classroom.

The jury is in. Ethnic Studies changes lives and promotes college-going. The reason we have to struggle for it is therefore less about evidence than it is about politics. This is the story for quality, well-funded, and staffed Bilingual Education, too. Yet both offer such potential and richness to culture and society.

I remain encouraged by the ongoing activism around it.

This morning I read a Bible verse that says, "God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6)

Regardless of religion, faith, or creed, this is who we are in the Ethnic Studies struggle. We hunger and thirst for justice. We advocate for our children, youth, and communities. We care deeply about the future. This shouldn't even be a struggle to begin with. 

It's a lifelong quest that will most certainly continue until we are satisfied. In some sense, for those of us knee-deep into the movement, it already is. We love the work we do in our communities like we do at Academia Cuauhtli, our Saturday school in Austin, Texas, to offer a nurturing, culturally resonant pedagogy and vision for the future. At this school, we combine Ethnic Studies, Bilingual Education, and Indigenous pedagogy into a beautiful curriculum for elementary school youth that motivates and inspires. There needs to be more Academia Cuauhtlis in the world.

I've always said that someday, Ethnic Studies will just be called a "good education." Thanks, Dr. Epstein. I always appreciate a fresh reminder of why we do what we do.

-Angela Valenzuela


Ninth-grade ethnic studies helped students for years, Stanford researchers findSeptember 6, 2021

A new study shows that students assigned to an ethnic studies course had longer-term improvements in attendance and graduation rates.


A ninth-grade ethnic studies class has a remarkably prolonged and strong positive impact on students, increasing their overall engagement in school, probability of graduating and likelihood of enrolling in college, according to a new study of a curriculum offered at the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).

A new Stanford study found that students assigned to an ethnic studies course had longer-term improvements in attendance and graduation rates. (Image credit: Getty Images)

The findings, which follow up on earlier research by two of the authors indicating short-term academic benefits of the course, appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Sept. 6.

The study provides “compelling and causally credible evidence on the power of this course to change students’ life trajectories,” said Thomas S. Dee, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR).

Dee co-authored the study with former GSE doctoral student Sade Bonilla, now an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emily K. Penner, an assistant professor at the University of California at Irvine and former postdoctoral researcher at the GSE.

Lasting gains

The study was done in collaboration with SFUSD as part of a research-practice partnership with the GSE that began in 2009. In 2010, SFUSD launched a pilot program in which students were automatically assigned to an ethnic studies course as their first-year social studies requirement if they had a GPA of 2.0 or less. About nine in 10 were Hispanic, Black or Asian.

In 2017, Dee and Penner published a study showing academic gains at the end of ninth grade (e.g., higher attendance, grade-point averages and credits) among students encouraged to take the course. The researchers weren’t sure the gains would last over time, as countless promising academic interventions fade quickly.

But this one stuck. For one thing, attendance improved: Students who participated in the course came to school more often during their remaining time in high school, for a total of one additional day of school every two weeks.

By their fourth year of high school, the students had also passed six more courses than a comparison group. More than 90 percent graduated within five years, versus 75 percent of their peers. They were also 15 percent more likely to enroll in college within six years. (At the time of the study, they were not yet old enough to graduate college.)

Parallels with psychological interventions

How could one class in ninth grade have such a large effect? While there are many theoretical perspectives on the academic impact of ethnic studies, Dee underscored its parallels with recent insights from social psychology. Targeted psychological interventions that promote a sense of belonging in school, affirm personal values and forewarn about stereotypes have all shown promise in improving student engagement and motivation.

Dee noted that ethnic studies share these features and resemble “an unusually sustained and intensive social-psychological intervention.”

In SFUSD’s ethnic studies class, for example, students examine the role that their ancestors played in history, getting into the experiences of groups that have been literally pushed to the margins of textbooks. They study, in-depth, discrimination against various groups of people based on their race, social group, ethnicity or country of origin.

“The biggest thing that happens in an ethnic studies course, I believe, is that students get to approach an academic course from the perspective of their own experience,” said Bill Sanderson, assistant superintendent of high schools at SFUSD. “Everything is approached in the course from the experience of the students.”

Though the principles of the class remain set, teachers tailor the content to the ethnic and racial communities at their school in order to “to bring relevant curriculum that these students can identify with,” Sanderson said.

Critiquing history cultivated students’ analytical abilities across classes, and the focus on anti-racism catalyzed their idealism. But the work of the course goes far deeper than that, the researchers said.

“There’s long-standing evidence that many historically underserved students experience school environments as unwelcoming, or even hostile,” said Dee. Those in this pilot, particularly, hadn’t done well academically and didn’t feel like they belonged. And ninth grade can be a nerve-wracking, transitional year.

Ethnic studies gave students “the opportunity to see their community reflected in the curriculum,” said Bonilla. Learning about their ancestors’ contributions made them feel proud and made school feel relevant, contributing to a sense of belonging. Learning about oppression and stereotypes in action reminded students that not every failure is an individual’s fault. Students conducted research projects out in the community and connected school with their lives.

Beyond ethnic studies

From there, once a student starts doing well, you’re “starting a stone rolling downhill,” Dee said, catalyzing greater motivation.

“There’s a basis in the science of learning for why courses like this can change students’ learning trajectories,” Dee said. “And if the mechanisms we’re describing are really valid, then this goes well beyond ethnic studies,” encouraging schools to make their teaching culturally relevant across subjects.

Education policymakers have focused recently on “curricula as the low-hanging fruit of education reform,” or something comparatively simple to change, Dee said.

Nevertheless, the results might not be easy to replicate. The district honed the curriculum over several years with faculty at San Francisco State University, home of the nation’s first ethnic studies college program. Many of the initial set of teachers had studied in that department and learned how to manage debate on sensitive subjects, Sanderson said.

Efforts to replicate this success without similar teacher supports and careful implementation are unlikely to be successful, Dee said, and may even trigger unintended and negative consequences. “Consider the potential educational and political fallout of asking teachers to discuss unusually sensitive topics in the classroom without the proper training to do so effectively.”

This is an especially pertinent consideration now, in the middle of a new wave of political controversy about history curriculum. While states and school districts are increasingly adopting requirements and standards for K-12 ethnic studies, some state legislatures are debating bills to ban the 1619 Project or critical race theory, a scholarly academic analysis of structural racism.

SFUSD, for one, isn’t going back. Its board voted this spring to make ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement.

“Ethnic studies is an important part of every young person’s education,” SFUSD board president Gabriela Lopez said in a statement issued by the district in March, which pointed to research showing the curriculum’s impact on GPA across disciplines, high school graduation rates, college-going rates and sense of belonging.


Media Contacts

Thomas S. Dee, Stanford Graduate School of Education: tdee@stanford.edu

Carrie Spector, Stanford Graduate School of Education: cspector@stanford.edu

'Never Without a Fight': How Texas Has Stood Up for Ethnic Studies, by Maribel Falcón in Remezcla

So happy to come across this piece in Remezcla by Maribel Falcón—a graduate student at the University of Texas and very talented graphic artist. Reading this and seeing how far we in the Ethnic Studies Movement have come in Texas encourages and inspires me all over again.  

Without a doubt, this is the most comprehensive news coverage and analysis of our struggle to date. Great job, Maribel!  Thank you so much!

-Angela Valenzuela

'Never Without a Fight': How Texas Has Stood Up for Ethnic Studies



Remezcla.com | by Maribel Falcón, May 18, 2020

Ethnic studies have never been granted to us without a fight.

From the late 1960s to now, students and educators have slowly seen the implementation of ethnic studies courses at the college level and in some places, high school programs.

"For all people, as with individuals, the time has come when they must reckon with their history."

That opening line to El Plán de Santa Barbara was released just 50 years ago and is considered the foundation of what is today Chicano/a Studies, yet the words continue to resonate with all ethnic groups. However, a K-12 ethnic studies curriculum isn’t yet a priority across the board. That’s set to change, though, as states like California and Texas add the option for ethnic studies courses—a win achieved through extensive community organizing and political activism.

In 2010, the State of Arizona caused a shock throughout Latino/a communities when it passed the notorious Senate Bill 1070 (otherwise known as the show me your papers law). That decision led to a domino effect of racism that reached public education. Local and state wide politicians started a campaign to abolish the Mexican American Studies program at Tucson Independent School District, despite proof of success. Republicans were able to eliminate the program in 2010 by passing HB2811 and withholding state funds. Their victory was short lived, however. In 2017, a federal judge ruled the law unconstitutional and motivated by “racial animus.”

Illustrated by Zeke Peña for Remezcla

The traumatic process of restricting ethnic studies education set an alarming cry to the entire Latinx community. That moment provoked Texas community organizers and educators to make sure their home state did not follow suit.

Meanwhile, Republicans on the State Board of Education at home attempted to rewrite the social studies curriculum standards. They pushed for American individualism, downplayed slavery and attempted to erase people of color’s contribution to history. The 2012 Texas Republic Party platform stated that the “current teaching of a multicultural curriculum is divisive,” though their claims were unfounded.

The statement was followed by legislative action.

In 2013, then State Representative (now Lieutenant Governor of Texas) Dan Patrick proposed SB 1128, a bill which would have effectively limited ethnic studies courses in universities and community colleges. The bill never progressed, but it did expose their agenda.

Despite ongoing opposition by conservative lawmakers, ethnic studies has continued to develop as a field.

They pushed for American individualism, downplayed slavery and attempted to erase people of color’s contribution to history.

 

In Texas, a unique strategy by organizers and educators gained the approval of ethnic studies by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). The SBOE is made up of 15 members elected by their local regions. They meet four times a year and set the standards for Texas public schools. With their approval, students, teachers and educators can now push their school to offer ethnic studies as an elective.

Prior to that, individual school districts like the Houston Independent School District had already started offering the courses successfully. However, without standards set by the SBOE, it was difficult for teachers across the state to obtain resources and approval to implement the courses in their school districts. Educators and members of the National Association of Chicano/a Studies (NACCS) Tejas Foco Pre-K to 12 committee were instrumental in pushing for the approval of ethnic studies.

Illustrated by Zeke Peña for Remezcla

In 2014, in response to a polarizing political environment in education throughout Texas and Arizona, the NACCS Tejas Foco PreK to 12 committee made a specific request to the SBOE to include Mexican American Studies (MAS) as an approved elective. It was a bold move that attracted strong allies. SBOE member Ruben Cortez Jr. formally introduced it as an agenda item to the board. In this meeting, the board denied the request. However, seeing that there was a need for resources, the board set out a call for textbooks that could apply to the ethnic studies course curriculum.

Texas is home to 5 million students and over 1,000 public school districts. Being such a large state, the choices made for the Texas public education system sets a standard across the United States, especially for textbooks.

One book that was formally presented to the state board caused academic outrage. The book, “Mexican American Heritage,” was by a former SBOE member, Cynthia Dunbar. An ad hoc committee of professional educators evaluated the book using standards set by the American Historical Association. Despite obvious factual errors, they found that the authors of the book “failed to engage in critical dialogue with current scholarship and, as a consequence, presented a prolific misrepresentation of facts.”

The choices made for the Texas public education system sets a standard across the United States, especially for textbooks. 

Community uproar combined with expert research could not be

refuted and, after much public testimony, the SBOE rejected the textbook. Instead, the board voted to approve MAS as an elective. However another conservative SBOE member, David Bradley, objected to “hyphenated Americanism” and the course was approved as Ethnic Studies: Americans of Mexican Descent. That name, of course, did not go over well.

Again, organizers had to react to their adversaries. Even if the course was approved, what would that mean if the name was offensive to the community it was meant to serve?

Community members across the state, once again, organized to make it right. The dread of community outrage at yet another SBOE meeting, caused members to hesitantly consent to their demands by voting to change the name back to its formal name as a field of study—Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies.

According to 2018-2019 data, Latinx students accounted for the largest percentage of total enrollment in Texas public schools at 52.6%. Meanwhile, the State of Texas loses 11 students to dropout every hour—that’s 1 out of every 5 students with Black and Latino/a students being more than twice as likely to not graduate.

The good news is, research shows that students who take culturally relevant courses are more likely to be engaged with their education than those who do not. With that in mind, educators and community organizers in Texas worked hard to push the effort forward.

The State of Texas loses 11 students to dropout every hour—that’s 1 out of every 5 students with Black and Latino/a students being more than twice as likely to not graduate. 

 

One of the key leaders in this movement is renowned author and educator Dr. Angela Valenzuela who serves as the director of the Texas Center for Educational Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. She argues in her most recent work that, throughout this process, the NACCS Foco Pre-K to 12 committee “side steps the colonial matrix of power”—which she defines as consisting of the Texas State Board of Education, the Texas State Legislature and large corporate interests in education.

“Organizing is key. Working as a collective is key,” she stated when asked about what led to their success. “What folks need to know is that when they want to accomplish something, they need to work in concert with each other. For this to happen, it takes a lot of trust. And trust is something that we built up over many months and years that we convened to address our absence in the curriculum. Many in the organization were already friends through NACCS national and so there was a solid root of not only scholar-activist identities, but friendship, as well. Working like family is what made, and continues to make us powerful.”

The good news is, research shows that students who take culturally relevant courses are more likely to be engaged with their education than those who do not.

 

National organizations like the NACCS were vital in providing the foundation for community amongst the movement’s organizers. Several representatives from the Texas Legislature and other affiliated organizations such as the Latino/a Education Task Force, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, the Senate Hispanic Caucus, House and Senate Democratic Caucus and the Legislative Study group aided the effort by publishing supportive policy agendas and writing official letters of support for the course. State universities, like the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at San Antonio along with community colleges like Palo Alto Community College in San Antonio, were also instrumental in providing resources and support for the organizers.

Tony Diaz, founder of Librotraficante, is a key organizer in the movement and notes that it is the community’s cultural capital that has made this effort succeed. Their community-focused organizing was extensive in all major Texas cities, including all day arts and cultural events, poetry readings, pláticas and more. Their political activism was well organized and also state-wide. Strategic use of social media, informational websites and traditional print sources and radio programs were also utilized in informing the public about this issue. All this worked together to push this effort forward. Though this list is not exhaustive, as with any major victory, there are countless community members who dedicated endless hours of labor and love to the cause.

Now that Mexican American studies is approved by the Texas State Board of Education, what’s next?

The growing Texas Latinx population will reportedly outnumber white residents and shows the most increase amongst its younger population. This means upcoming generations of Latinx students have the opportunity to take culturally relevant courses, and see themselves reflected positively in their textbooks. Several of the existing MAS courses offered by school districts also allow for the elective to count towards college credit—which is yet another incentive for students to take the course.


Ethnic studies courses benefit teachers as well. The elective course encourages teachers to incorporate creative ways of critically engaging students with the curriculum. For community minded educators, this means introducing the work of local artists into their lesson plans. A method educator Celinda De La Fuente uses in her Mexican American Literature class. De La Fuente teaches at her alma mater, John Jay High School in San Antonio, Texas, and is a graduate of the UTSA Mexican American Studies Teacher’s Academy. When asked about this experience teaching, she stated,


“Of course I teach them what I am supposed to teach. But then I bring other pieces that can connect to the themes, like Amalia Ortiz who is here in San Antonio. She has a book of poetry called Rant. Chant. Chisme. and I brought in a poem called ‘Colors’ that is about the San Antonio West Side and I let them know that. As they are reading it they say ‘oh this is about us, she's talking about us.’ and they truly appreciated that poem. So when I bring in other poetry written by Chicanx authors, they really have more appreciation for it. It’s almost like a reverence,” De La Fuente states.


Of course, not everyone in the class is Mexican and folks respond to the content differently.


“At first they were like ‘I’m not Mexican, why am I reading this?’ and I said, think about your own culture, how does this relate to it? I had to ask that question and then they understood,” she said. “I tell them that everyone has a story, everyone has a narrative. What’s yours? History and literature are related—you can't have one without the other. If I wasn’t an English teacher, I’d be a history teacher… We talk about the different types of history. In my class I'm gonna talk about African American history, I’m gonna talk about the Japan concentration camps, I talk about all these different things depending on what we are reading and how the walks are very similar.”

Texas is setting an example in public education by offering students the opportunity to learn about the shared struggles and victories between people of color and thus, enriching the education of new generations to come. 

Ethnic studies does not end with Mexican American studies, as thi

SBOE approval has opened up possibilities for additional courses to be approved. In September 2019, the board began to discuss African American studies based on the curriculum set by the Dallas Independent School District and on April 17, 2020 in a unanimous vote, the Texas State Board of Education approved African American studies. Now Texas students can take a second ethnic studies course beginning in the 2020-2021 school year and it doesn't stop there. Native American studies is also on it’s way to be proposed and ultimately approved by the SBOE. In these courses, Texas is setting an example in public education by offering students the opportunity to learn about the shared struggles and victories between people of color and thus, enriching the education of new generations to come.