In our last episode, this season we ask the question "Should Black parents have the right to opt-out their children from taking standardized assessments?" Though mostly defined as a white, suburban, and upper-income-led movement, Black parents are beginning to use the opt-out movement as one of the many ways to resist education reforms that prioritize standardized exams over student learning. Our co-host and EdD Leadership and Policy NYU Steinhardt candidate Fawziah Qadir is in the hot seat to talk about her research in standardized exams and Black resistance in the opt-out movement. Fawziah Qadir is an EdD Leadership and Policy candidate at NYU Steinhardt. She is a Teacher's Assitant at both NYU and Barnard College. Anderson, J. D. (1988). The education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. Univ of North Carolina Press. https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/03/28/low-income-parents-are-caught-between-the-growing-opt-out-movement-and-the-citys-attempts-to-clamp-down-on-dissent/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

If you read or watch the news, you would easily believe that Black boys and men's educational trajectories are bleak and that they are impervious to success (Harper, 2012). While Black boys and men are one of the most marginalized groups in the U.S., the perception that they do not care about education is not true. In an effort to dispel these stereotypes and perceptions, we center the lived experience of an early-career Black male scholar and professor. Listen as we unpack what it means to be a Black man on campus, from Black identity formation as an undergrad student at a Historically Black University (HBCU) to completing advanced graduate degrees at a Predominately White Institution (PWIs), and everything else in between. To discuss this journey, we are joined by Dr. Christopher Johnson. His dissertation, Negotiating Black Male Identity While Navigating Predominately White Institutions, explored Black male doctoral students' strategies and behaviors to manage their interracial interaction with their White faculty and peers at a Predominately White Institution (PWI). Dr. Johnson is an assistant professor at Coe College, where he teaches Sport and Black Culture, Interracial Communication, and interracial interactions. You can find him on Instagram @DeepAsEmptyPockets. Resources Harper, S. R., & Davis III, C. H. (2012). They (Don't) Care about Education: A Counternarrative on Black Male Students' Responses to Inequitable Schooling. Educational Foundations, 26, 103-120. Johnson, C. O. (2016). Negotiating black male identity while navigating predominately white institutions (Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia). --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

Black and Latinx communities are the core of Race Through Education. When we started this podcast, we wanted to make sure that we were amplifying the voices and centering Black and Brown learners' lived experiences. And what better way to do that than through your own voices? Over the spring and summer of 2020, we spoke to our communities and prompted them with questions related to intersections of race, racism, and their educational experiences. What we heard back was fascinating. On some level, the common theme was that each of our community members experienced a racialized education experience. Some were as subtle as being the only Black and Latino kid in your class, to the extreme of being referred to by a fellow student by the N-word. What does this mean for our communities? Is there an expectation that schooling in the US will come with different experiences for Black and Brown students? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

Homeschooling in the United States is generally perceived as a white, middle-class, religious-based schooling phenomenon (Fields-Smith, 2015). National estimates put the number of homeschooled students at 3% of the population, about two million students (Redford, Battle, and Bielick, 2017). Black parents are increasingly homeschooling and in the last 15 years, their numbers have doubled from 103,000 to about 220,000. Black parents’ reasons for electing to homeschool are increasingly related to issues of racism, segregated schools, and a lack of culturally relevant curriculum. We are joined this week by Dr. Cheryl Fields Smith, associate professor at the University of Georgia, Mary Frances Early College of Education. A former elementary school teacher in Connecticut, her research interests include family engagement and homeschooling among Black families. Her dissertation explored family engagement from the perspective of 22 Black middle-class families. Later, she received a Spencer Foundation Grant to conduct a two-year study focused on homeschooling among 46 Black families. From this study, Dr. Fields-Smith has published several journal articles and chapters, which among them includes the first empirically-based publication to focus exclusively on Black homeschool families. Her research on homeschooling among Black families has most recently been featured in a PBS NewsHour report and the Atlantic. Dr. Cheryl Field Smith recently published the book, Exploring Single Black Mothers’ Resistance Through Homeschooling, which expands on contemporary Black homeschooling as a form of resistance among single Black mothers. It corroborates many of the issues that plague the education of Black children in America, including discipline disproportionality, frequent referrals to special education services, teachers’ low expectations, and the marginalization of Black parents as partners in traditional schools. This book challenges stereotypical characterizations of who homeschools and why. You can learn more about her organization called Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars (BFHES) on  Facebook and the website is http://www.blackfamilyhomeschool.org/. You can also find her on Twitter @drcherylfields. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

This week’s episode is a continuation of our discussion on Centering Blackness in Education. We are joined again by Dr. Lamar L. Johnson of Michigan State University to discuss Black Language, also known as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Ebonics. In 1996, the Oakland, California School District allowed Black English to be used in classrooms as a bridge for students to leverage their AAVE to learn Standard English. Along with Dr. Johnson, we explore how Black English is an important element of Black education and how it can be used to expand Black students’ educational experiences. Lamar  L. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Language and Literacy for Linguistic and Racial Diversity in the Department of English at Michigan State University. He is interested in the complex intersections of race, language, literacy, and education and how English language arts (ELA) classrooms can become racial justice sites. Sources Baldwin, J. (1979), If Black Language Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? New York Times, 29 July, 1979.  Grieve, J., Nini, A. & Guo, D. (2018). Mapping Lexical Innovation on American Social Media. Journal of English Linguistics, 46(4), 293 - 319. Smitherman, G. (1998). Ebonics, King, and Oakland: Some folk don't believe fat meat is greasy. Journal of English Linguistics, 26(2), 97-107. Woodson, C. G. (1933). The Mis-Education of the Negro. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

In this week’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Lamar L. Johnson of Michigan State University to discuss Blackness - what it is and what it isn’t - in the classroom. How Blackness is centered in English education and the field of English language literature. Dr. Johnson redefines Blackness to show its complexities and how that must be captured in our curricula. We discuss Black Lives Matter in School curriculum, the impact of Covid-19 on Black learners, and much more. Lamar  L. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Language and Literacy for Linguistic and Racial Diversity in the Department of English at Michigan State University. He is interested in the complex intersections of race, language, literacy, and education and how English language arts (ELA) classrooms can become racial justice sites. Resources Baker-Bell, A., Butler, T., & Johnson, L. L.  (in press 2017). The pain and the wounds: A call for Critical Race English Education in the wake of racial violence.  English Education. Dumas, M. J., & Ross, K. M. (2016). “Be real black for me” imagining BlackCrit in education. Urban Education, 51(4), 415-442. Glass, K. “Black families were hit hard by the pandemic. The effects of children may be lasting” New York Times. 29 June 2020. Johnson, L. L., Jackson, J., Stovall, D. & Baszile, D. T.  (in press 2017).  “Loving Blackness to Death”:(Re)Imagining ELA classrooms in a time of racial chaos.  English Journal. Johnson, L. L. & Bryan, N.  (2016).  Using our voices, losing our bodies: Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and the spirit murders of Black male professors in the academy.  Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(2), 163-177. Johnson, L. L.  (2016).  Using critical race theory to explore race-based conversations through a critical family book club. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 65, 300-315. Love, B. L. (2016) Anti-Black state violence, classroom edition: The spirit murdering of Black Children. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 13(1), 22 - 25. Love, B.L. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press. Parolin, Z., & Wimer, C. (2020). Forecasting Estimates of Poverty during the Covid-19 Crisis. Retrieved from New York, NY: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5743308460b5e922a25a6dc7/t/5e9786f17c4b4e20ca02d16b/1586988788821/Forecasting-Poverty-Estimates-COVID19-CPSP-2020.pdf Roberts, D. E. (1999). Killing the black body: Race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty. Vintage. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

In this week’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Sonya Douglas Horsford of Teachers College at Columbia University to discuss rising inequities for Black and Latinx communities and the role of reform and policy in public education. We discuss education reform since the Reagan Administration and the publication of A Nation at Risk (1983) and what it has meant for the direction of public education since. Discussions of neoliberalism lead us into topics like school choice and learning pods in the Covid era. Dr. Sonya Douglass Horsford currently serves as Associate Professor of Education Leadership in the Department of Organization and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on the politics of race in education leadership, policy, and reform. She is the Founding Director of the Black Education Research Collective (BERC) and Co-Director of the Urban Education Leaders Program (UELP) at Teachers College – an Ed.D. program for aspiring urban district leaders. Prior to joining Teachers College, she served on the educational leadership faculty at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her latest book, The Politics of Education Policy in an Era of Inequality: Possibilities for Democratic Schooling (with Janelle T. Scott and Gary L. Anderson offer a critical analysis of education policy amid widening social inequality, ideological polarization, and the dismantling of public institutions in the U.S.A. Resources A Nation at Risk (1983) President Reagan’s Radio Address to the Nation on Education on April 30, 1983.  Secretary Betsy DeVos Prepared Remarks National Alliance of Charter School “The Huge Problem with Education Pandemic Pods Suddenly Popping Up,” The Politics of Education Policy in an Era of Inequality: Possibilities for Democratic Schooling RTE --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

Race Through Education, Episode 3: Latinx Beyond Immigration In this episode, we focus on Latinidad and identity formation among Latinx populations in the United States. Acknowledging that there is diversity within the Latinx community, we discuss how students navigate their Latino identity and how it impacts their learning experiences. Fawziah and Madison unpack how Madison grew up in Spanish Harlem as a half Black and half Puerto Rican kid that didn’t speak Spanish and his development. Dr. Eddie Fergus (Temple University) helps us better understand Latinidad from an academic perspective. Through his research, Dr. Fergus explores the effects of educational policy and practice as it intersects the lives of populations living in vulnerable conditions. More specifically, his policy work extrapolates the relationship between discipline codes of conduct, gifted program practice, and academic referral processes and the educational outcomes of low-income and racial/ethnic minority student populations. This work also outlines policy and practice changes in order for schools to develop as protective environments for vulnerable populations. Resources English proficiency of Hispanic population in the U.S., 2017 Fergus, E. (2009). Understanding Latino students’ schooling experiences: The relevance of skin color among Mexican and Puerto Rican high school students. Teachers College Record, 111(2), 339-375. Fergus, E., Noguera, P., & Martin, M. (2014). Schooling for resilience: Improving the life trajectory of Black and Latino boys. Harvard Education Press. Noguera, P., Hurtado, A., & Fergus, E. (Eds.). (2013). Invisible no more: Understanding the disenfranchisement of Latino men and boys. Routledge. Ogbu, J. U. (1981). Origins of human competence: A cultural-ecological perspective. Child development, 413-429. Ogbu, J. U., & Simons, H. D. (1998). Voluntary and involuntary minorities: A cultural‐ecological theory of school performance with some implications for education. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 29(2), 155-188. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

In this bonus mini-episode from our interview with Dr. L'Heureux Lewis-McCoy, we discuss The Doll Test. The Doll Test was designed by Dr. Mamie Clark, a Black woman, and used by her husband, Dr. Kenneth Clark, in the Supreme Court Case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The Doll Test was the first time a social science study was used in a Supreme Court case. Several researchers later replicated the Test. But Dr. Lewis-McCoy pushes back, why are we using White lenses to understand how Black children see themselves? Should we instead focus on how we understand Black identity formation and self-worth from a non-deficit approach? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support

We all know the famous Brown V. Board case. We all know that it was suppose to desegregate schools legally. Everyone talks about the South but not enough is discussed what happened in the North. In this episode of Race Through Education, we speak to R. L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy, an Associate Professor of Sociology of Education at New York University, to discuss what happened in the North and why we should pay more attention to our own Northern backyards. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/racethrougheducation/support