The Scale-Up of Ethnic Studies Across California

• In Event: Ethnic Studies Access, Considerations, and Cultivations in Times of Uncertainties Across State and District Contexts

Abstract

Theoretical Framework and Objectives:
High school ethnic studies grew out of activism calling for courses that center the histories and experiences of communities of color. Such courses use interdisciplinary methods to center the study of race and interrogate and dismantle systems of power (Hu-Dehart 2004; Lachica Buenavista, 2016). A growing base of causal, descriptive, and case study research demonstrates the positive impact of ethnic studies on a host of social, behavioral, and academic outcomes (Bonilla, Dee, & Penner, 2021; Cabrera et al., 2014; de los Rios 2013; Dee & Penner, 2017; Sleeter, 2011; Sleeter & Zavala, 2020).
In California, ethnic studies has expanded from small-scale course offerings to a recently-adopted high school graduation requirement that will go into effect statewide in 2025. The effort to expand access to ethnic studies also presents a unique policy challenge in which a large number of California districts must provide instruction in a novel subject area with particular pedagogical demands in a relatively short period of time against a political backdrop of coordinated opposition to ethnic studies (Smith, 2021).
This study seeks to examine the preparedness of California districts for the impending graduation requirement, detailing patterns in high school ethnic studies course access, course-taking, and predictors of the likelihood that a district has already offered the course to its students. It will inform efforts to roll-out ethnic studies courses throughout the state, highlighting key areas of success and needs for additional support.

Data and Methods:
We use multiple data sources to triangulate high school ethnic studies course access, enrollment, and predictors of existing course availability. We use data from the California Department of Education on courses offered, course enrollment, student and staff demographics, and school characteristics. We also use data from the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) on high school courses approved to satisfy the UC A-G subject requirements for admission. The resulting panel data covers over 1000 public high schools in California from 1997 to 2021.

Preliminary Findings and Implications:
Our results show a modest and stable trend in ethnic studies access and enrollment until 2014 and then a steady rise in both starting in 2015, particularly among students of color. By 2020, roughly 35 percent of high school students were in schools that offered ethnic studies and roughly .2 percent of all high school students were enrolled in an ethnic studies course. We also examine predictors of the availability of ethnic studies at a given public high school. These results suggest that schools with higher shares of Asian, Hispanic, or Black teachers are more likely to offer ethnic studies. Geographically, schools in suburban areas are less likely to offer ethnic studies than schools in urban areas.

These patterns may be indicative of the role of teachers of color in creating opportunities for students to take ethnic studies and suggest that additional attention may be needed throughout the state to increase access and enrollment, especially with predominantly white staff or in suburban areas will meet the state requirement for offering ethnic studies by the 2025–26 school year.

Authors

• Emily K. Penner, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Dan Ma, Harvard University
  Presenting Author