Feasibility of Middle School Ethnic Studies Implementation

• In Event: Freedom Dreaming Towards Ethnic Studies in Tumultuous Times: Teacher-and-Researcher Reflections on Race, Pedagogy, and Power

Abstract

This paper presents a feasibility study of a district-level effort to implement Ethnic Studies in middle schools through a collaboratively designed curriculum. Rather than evaluating student outcomes or classroom instruction, this study examines the practical, political, and infrastructural dimensions of launching a justice-oriented curricular initiative from the ground up. We argue that the successful implementation of middle school Ethnic Studies depends not only on co-constructing curriculum but also on the relational and organizational conditions that allow educators to navigate resistance, adaptation, and collaboration.

Situated within the district’s broader Ethnic Studies initiative and the sociopolitical context of statewide curricular expansion and local demands for racial justice, this study adopts a practitioner-centered, contextually grounded approach (Paris & Alim, 2017; Tintiangco-Cubales et al., 2014). Data sources for this study include planning documents, teacher reflections, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, and internal meeting notes. At the heart of the project was a vision for middle school Ethnic Studies grounded in student identity, local histories, and community knowledge, co-constructed among teachers, researchers, and district leaders. We frame middle school Ethnic Studies implementation as a dynamic negotiation of district policies, school cultures, and teacher capacities rather than a linear process.

The study addresses three research questions: 1) What conditions enabled or constrained the implementation of this Ethnic Studies initiative?; 2) How did feasibility shift across diverse school and teacher contexts?; and 3) What relational and organizational strategies supported adaptation in the face of local and national barriers? Our analysis examines three key feasibility domains: 1) project design and timelines; 2) district policies and scheduling constraints; and 3) communication and administrative structures that shaped daily decision-making. A central finding is the shifting landscape of middle school implementation, where feasibility shifted depending on grade level structures, existing school culture, and varying levels of teacher buy-in.
Findings reveal both barriers and points of resilience. Logistical and relational challenges included compressed curriculum development timelines, limited funding, delayed teacher recruitment, and uneven administrative support. Yet the study also highlights moments of adaptive possibility: reworking timelines to meet school needs, building trust across teacher and district teams, and cultivating shared commitments that anchored the project despite uncertainty. These findings highlight that feasibility is as much a relational practice as a technical or logistical matter.

We argue that middle school Ethnic Studies implementation succeeds when districts attend to both structural and human conditions. The paper concludes with recommendations for educators and district leaders pursuing similar initiatives: 1) Align project timelines with teacher capacity and school schedules, 2) Build sustained structures for collaboration and relational trust, 3) Involve administrators early and intentionally to secure structural support, and 4) Cultivate flexible, equity-centered leadership that can navigate uncertainty.
By situating feasibility at the intersection of policy, practice, and relationships, this study illuminates the conditions necessary for middle school Ethnic Studies to move from aspiration to implementation. It offers practical guidance for justice-centered curriculum initiatives while contributing to scholarship on educational equity work's organizational and relational dimensions.

Author

• Gabriela López, Stanford University