Community College Reentry Programs (CCRPs) are campus-based programs that serve formerly incarcerated students by providing targeted services attuned to their needs. Currently, there are 62 community colleges in California that have CCRPs. While emerging research has begun to examine the experiences of students in these programs, little is known…

In this paper we present the Advancing Racial Equity in Community College Model which maps out the organizational conditions shaping institutional transformation. Focused on two dimensions, the level of "organizational support" and "shared responsibility" to enact equity, we describe four quadrants with distinct organizational…

State education finance sets the stage for what is possible in schools. Too many state education finance systems today are inequitable, outdated, and inadequate, and there are often significant political barriers to change. Advocates for educational equity can and should play an essential role in shaping the allocation and structure of state…

This article traces the state takeover and neoliberal reconstruction of a mid-size urban school district in the California Bay Area. Aligning with research on social networks in school reform, it identifies three organizational nodes of power operating within the takeover and post-takeover landscape: venture-philanthropic capital, the Teach for…

As an immigrant, born to formerly undocumented parents who left Hong Kong for the United States with barely a middle school education and a pair of tourist visas, Tina Cheuk, was separated from her parents for four years. She later joined them at age seven. Upon arriving in the United States, she was one of three English Learners, (ELs) in her…

My first year as a tenure-track professor has been nothing short of a jaw-dropping experience. From navigating the social and political environment with colleagues and administrators, to building meaningful relationships with pre-service teachers, the COVID-19 pandemic and all its attendant challenges prompted me to examine common institutional…

In spring 2019, without controversy or fanfare and without violating the voter mandate of Proposition 203, emergent bilinguals in Arizona were once again granted unrestricted access to dual language bilingual education after nearly 20 years. The policy change was accomplished through a seemingly small piece of legislation that reduced the daily…

This chapter tells the story of how and why one student who received a ticket for being late to school joined the fight against policies that criminalize students in Los Angeles Unified School District.

For many first-generation college students, the opportunity to participate in education abroad is an important part of college success, achievement, and growth. However, the opportunity may feel unattainable for some. This dissertation examined interviews with selected CSU administrators, a self-study of my work, and first-generation college…

Between 2012 and 2018, the California Community Colleges system underwent significant changes in policy and practice to address student success rates; this article chronicles policies affecting ESL students and how ESL faculty worked to ensure equitable, appropriate implementation for students enrolled in credit ESL courses. The 2018 California…

Economic inequality across the country is growing, and its impact on students' access to educational opportunities is significant. To explore the role teachers can play (and are playing) in ensuring that public education continues to be a forceful driver of social equity and in disrupting the structures, cultures, and practices that effectively…

In "Vergara v. California" (2014), a trial-level court ruled that California laws governing teacher tenure and dismissal were unconstitutional. This study analyzes "Vergara" in light of the shifting use of the courts to promote equal educational opportunities and the changing power bases of educational interest groups,…

Schools should be safe, nurturing, and welcoming environments for all students. Frequently, exclusionary school discipline practices, which remove students from the classroom--even for minor infractions of school rules--through suspension or expulsion, prevent students from participating fully in their education. Suspensions, expulsions, and other…

Lynette Brown-Snow, vice president of marketing and government relations for the Community College of Philadelphia, is one of several community college leaders across the country who have taken up one of the challenges proffered by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in its 2012 report, "Reclaiming the American Dream:…

The onus of this dissertation was to evaluate the educational conditions of Mexican American students forty years after the "Mexican American Education Study" published a six-volume study detailing the findings of the "Mexican American Education Study" (1970-1974). The "MAES" study focused on five southwest states…