Rubrics are a commonly used tool to evaluate student work in the introductory communication course. Although rubrics may appear objective, they are continually interpreted by both instructors and students, often reflecting traditional classroom power dynamics. In order to understand how rubrics constrain as well as expand opportunities for the…

Identity has emerged as a compelling force in understanding leadership. Situated within the identity approach to leadership, this study explored identity within the context of leadership for both assigned (i.e., positional) and emergent (i.e., nonpositional) student leaders. Findings from this study suggest that a distinct set of a leader's…

We investigate fifth-grade students' identity work and science learning at the margins of a science classroom. By "margins" we refer to activities unrelated to formal classroom instructional content and practices, and which unfold across many settings and contexts, including the classroom itself, but also multi-party, social group…

Black and Brown men continue to be underrepresented in engineering. One explanation for the dearth of Black and Latino men in engineering is that engineering (and STEM) identity often is not inclusive of People of Color. As a result, Black and Brown boys may be less likely to become interested in STEM subjects. The purpose of this study, then, was…

Gender bias, reduced sense of belonging, and lower physics self-efficacy are among the challenges faced by women who choose to study physics. Prior studies focusing on this underrepresented group have examined the experiences and impacts of formal educational settings, leaving the impact of informal physics programs, frequently called outreach…

Despite dedication of tremendous resources to developing literary proficiencies, advanced readers may remain an underserved and understudied population. This qualitative study included nine preadolescent participants aged 10-12 years who demonstrated reading comprehension abilities within the top 10% on a national normed achievement battery. The…

This article explores how a Chicana/Mexicana teen parenting educator along the U.S./Mexico border crafted her pedagogy from personalized care, conceptualized as "borderland pedagogies of cariño" (care). This approach is rooted through the teacher's interactions with teen mothers who straddle contradictory identities like the boundary of…

The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to explore differences in students' STEM identities, game play motivations, and game preferences. The need to grow and support STEM education and careers in the U. S. is a widely-held concern for those in leadership, industry, and education. A purposeful sample of 167 9th grade-12th grade…

Sustained academic growth of the Mexican population in the public schools of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas has precipitated a need for new and innovative ways to effectively educate English-language learners (ELLs). In place of common external factors typically used such as attendance, socioeconomic status, and test scores to address ELL's…

Ethnic identity (EI) affirmation has been related to positive academic outcomes for Latina/o youth. However, there is a dearth of research examining mediating mechanisms to this relationship. To address this gap, we examine psychological functioning (depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) as a mediator in the relationship between EI…

Building on prior analyses of storytelling in migrant and transnational contexts (e.g. Baynham, 2014; De Fina, 2003; Haviland, 2005; Warriner, 2013), this article draws on research with "transfronterizo" (border-crossing) university students in South Texas to explore how transnational speakers use narrative to craft moral arguments in…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational camps and fellowships that specifically target underrepresented populations in STEM fields, such as Latinas, have become more common place across the United States. In this article, we analyze multimodal ways of representing, opportunities, and role-models present at these camps,…

Historically, schools have been designed with a Eurocentric vision of what counts as education, smartness, and success (Collins, 1991; Hatt, 2012, 2007; Luttrell, 1997). Deliberately and inadvertently, this schooling design has been used to regulate black and brown bodies in the US, from the miseducation of Indigenous people (Grande, 2004), to the…

In order to promote effective learning, individuals must feel fully appreciated within their own unique identities (i.e., ethnicities, language differences, socioeconomic status, gender, religions). Culturally competent educators employ practices that acknowledge and build on cultural diversity and that identify students themselves as resources…

This article is a collective narration of our work in a prekindergarten and its curriculum, designed to employ student choice as a connection-making mechanism. We describe a series of "boundaries," social constructions, recognitions and physical barriers to illustrate the movement of the students within the curriculum, their negotiation…