Despite numerous policy efforts what we know, and some of our most recent news stories bears this out, is that educational, economic, political, and social inequality persist.
From the inadequate and unequal opportunities to learn that heavily shape the academic and life outcomes of historically marginalized students, to the denial of many DACA students to accessing higher education, to the persistent killings of Black lives by police officers, including, most recently, the shooting and killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, what we know is that there is much work to be done.
April 11th Saturday Scholars - Beyond the Good Intentions of Policy: Research for Equity and Impact by Adai Tefera, Ph.D.
1. Beyond the Good Intentions of
Policy: Research for Equity and
Impact
Adai Tefera, Ph.D.
April 11, 2015
Research for All
Photo taken from Christopher Connor, Urban Narratives: Portraits in Progress,
2007
5. Findings
❖ False Notion of Policy Neutrality Given Students’ Material Realities
❖ Institutional Limitations led to Incorrect Policy Implementation
❖ Flawed Assumption about Motivation
❖ Double Marginalization for Students of Color with Disabilities
6. Implications for Policy & Practice
❖ Provide space for students to be meaningfully involved
❖ Improve professional development for general and special
educators
❖ Redefine equity beyond equality
❖ Collect data on students at the intersection
Introduction:
Good morning everyone and thank you all for being here. I want to spend my time this morning sharing a little about what inspires my research, how I’ve come to do this work, some findings from my research focused on high stakes testing, and then I want to end by providing a few thoughts about what we’re doing at edXchange to increase the impact educational research.
So I’ll start by saying my research is motivated by a deep commitment to understanding the connections and the relationship between federal and state policies, urban schooling, and inequality in this country.
Despite numerous policy efforts what we know, and some of our most recent news stories bears this out, is that educational, economic, political, and social inequality persist.
From the inadequate and unequal opportunities to learn that heavily shape the academic and life outcomes of historically marginalized students, to the denial of many DACA students to accessing higher education, to the persistent killings of Black lives by police officers, including, most recently, the shooting and killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, what we know is that there is much work to be done.
So while I want to share a little about my research with you today, I am also caught in a moment of reflection, asking myself questions, as I’m sure are many of you: Questions such as: Why do we do this work? Does it even matter? And how can the work we do matter more if even just in a small way?
Opening Story:
Before I discuss my research and some ideas about how we might increase impact, I want to start by sharing my own story.
My journey to doing this work really began with my parents who immigrated from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and eventually found their way to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the place I call home. It was my family’s experience with my sister’s placement in special education, along with my own experience as a Black student in U.S. public schools that brought educational inequality front and center in my life, and made me question the role of policy in alleviating and sometimes even perpetuating inequality.
While state and federal reforms - both historic and contemporary - including policies such as No Child Left Behind, the Common Core State Standards, Race to the Top, A-F school grading, Structured English Immersion, and the list goes on, have all aimed to, among other things, close so called achievement gaps, what we know is that disparate outcomes persist based on race, income, gender, and ability labels.
Context:
The common narrative in educational policy is that students, particularly students of color are not competitive enough in an increasingly global economy. Disparate test outcomes such as this one on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (or NAEP) demonstrate some of these academic disparities.
Context (cont):
But equally and arguably more important are the contextual factors that contribute to these unequal outcomes.
Factors that include growing racial segregation not only in our urban centers, but suburban communities as well.
Income, health, and housing inequality each contribute to student success, and are critical, particularly given our ever growing and diversifying student population.
And yet, federal and state policies continue to focus narrowly on tests to measure learning, and attach high stakes consequences to them.
The focus of my own research has been on how African American and Latina/o students labeled with disabilities - those students who have been at the margins of educational opportunity - experience these high stakes exams - a perspective that I found was missing in educational policy research.
So in my research I asked, how did the California High School Exit Exam affect African American and Latina/o students labeled with disabilities? What were students’ experiences and perceptions of the exam? And what can we glean from their experiences to improve policy and practice?
Findings:
My findings help to…good intentions are not enough…we should do…
What my data revealed was that despite the “good” intentions of policy to include all students, particularly students of color with disabilities, it was often the case that students did not have access to the curriculum needed to pass;
Teachers were not prepared to implement these policies, which led to many students not receiving their legally afforded accommodations;
That despite families and students caring deeply about passing the exam, larger structural barriers heavily influenced students’ abilities to pass.
And finally students’ intersectional identities mattered, identities that do not fit neatly in standardized and narrowly designed boxes, which resulted in students being caught between converging and often contradicting policies.
Implications:
But why is this important, and what can we do? My findings suggest that:
It’s important to provide a space for students’ experiences and voices to be meaningfully heard in schools;
That we should consider how to improve professional development for both general and special educators;
That we must not only understand but also address the disparate opportunities to learn both in and out of school when considering the creation, adoption, and implementation of multiple and inter-connected policies.