Sustaining Ethnic Studies as It Grows

• In Event: Unprecedented Times Call for Unprecedented Solutions: Critical Ethnic Studies as a Call to Action and Resistance

Abstract

Theoretical Framework
The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) was among the first districts to develop a high school ethnic studies course. Quasi-experimental evaluations of the program pilot (2010-11 to 2014-15) indicate positive, lasting impacts on students’ academic outcomes (Bonilla, Dee, & Penner, 2021; Dee & Penner, 2017). The district subsequently approved the expansion of the course to all district high schools and a graduation requirement. Despite evidence of the efficacy of ES in SFUSD and elsewhere (Cabrera et al., 2014), we lack evidence of such scale-up efforts. The purpose of this study is to build an understanding of whether and how SFUSD is supporting scale-up efforts and how students and teachers participate in those efforts.
This program and its growth, draw heavily upon the critical, ethnic studies, community responsive, and Pin@yist pedagogies at its roots (Freire, 1970; Tintiangco-Cubales & Duncan-Andrade, 2021; Tintiangco-Cubales et al., 2015; Tintiangco-Cubales & Sacramento, 2009). We attend to their cultivation of students’ literacies to interrogate and dismantle white supremacy, colonialism, heteropatriarchy, and intersectional forms of oppression (Annamma, Ferri, and Connor, 2013), and the critical agency used by this community or practice to reflect and struggle together (Freire, 1970; Gherardi, 2009).
Data and Methods
This investigation describes trends in ES enrollment and offerings overall and by demographic groups using data from from 2010-11 to 2020-21. We complement this description of the expansion of the program with teacher and program leader interviews as well as observations of planning meetings and professional development to understand how program growth has been cultivated and sustained.
Preliminary Findings and Implications
Program participation has grown substantially from the end of the pilot phase when roughly 8 percent of students were enrolled in or had taken ES to 2021 when 25 percent of students were in ES or had already taken it (see Figure 1). Hispanic/Latino and African American students are overrepresented in ES compared to the district while Asian students are underrepresented in ES compared to the district (see Figure 2). A greater proportion of ES teachers are teachers of color than high school teachers overall, although their racial/ethnic composition shifts overtime (see Figure 3).
From its inception, ES program leaders have worked with educators and ES experts to develop unit plans, lesson plans, and an overarching framework for the course. Each element has evolved over time. Program leaders provided mentorship and professional development opportunities to ES teachers. This support has taken various forms over time, but has included opportunities for critical self-reflection, deepening ES pedagogical practice, forming connections with community resources and social movements, and sharing resources among teachers. Creating and sustaining a community of practice among ES teachers and bringing new educators into it has been central to the growth of the program. However, several policy challenges facing the district have interfered with these efforts and contributed to ES teacher turnover. Results suggest that consistent support for the professional community of ES teachers and the continued development of their practice is integral to the success of ES expansion efforts.

Authors

• Emily K. Penner, University of California - Irvine

• Ha Eun Kim, University of California - Los Angeles (Center for the Transformation of Schools)

• Jomar M. Lopes, University of California - Irvine

• Biraj Bisht, University of California - Irvine

• Adriana Villavicencio, New York University

• Amy Gong Liu, University of California - Irvine