iCount: An Action Research Data Quality Initiative for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

• In Event: 29.040 - Action Research Transforming Education Policy and Practice

Abstract

The model minority myth is a stubborn and persistent stereotype that has plagued the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community for over five decades. The greatest perpetuator for this label is the collection and use of aggregate data that categorizes the heterogeneity within the AAPI community under one umbrella. This method of representation has masked the diverse cultures, histories, languages, and immigration patterns of specific ethnic subgroups that fall under the AAPI category and more adversely, has hindered those groups’ ability to gain access to the educational resources. Although AAPI scholars have recognized and cited the need for more accurate data over the past thirty years (Endo, 1980), it has remained a bullet point that has been relegated to the recommendation or conclusion sections of AAPI scholarly research. As the fastest-growing ethnic population in the United States and an increasingly large proportion of the higher education student demographic, it is more critical than ever that data disaggregation efforts are advanced beyond research and policy recommendations.

Thus, iCount, a data quality campaign that aims to raise awareness about and bring attention to the ways in which AAPI student data, collected and reported in the aggregate, conceals significant educational disparities and outcomes between AAPI subgroups, was created. iCount engages a systemic action research approach that relies on institutional partnerships, collaborative investigation, and locally-driven efforts to investigate the multiple factors that impact how campuses collect and utilize data (Burns, 2014). Working with both two- and four-year institutions representing the broad spectrum from non-selective public to highly selective private and located in multiple regions across the United States, the iCount initiative reaches broadly across the education sector. iCount engages in work with institutional leaders, community organizations, and federal agencies that are central to defining the outcomes of the initiative and have thus, informed the institutional and state data changes that have emerged to date.
Using social network theory (Daly, 2010) as a framework in which to conduct this work, iCount cultivates the capacity of institutions to serve their students through a process of collaborative research and inquiry in regard institutional, system and state data policies. Engaging with regional partners, iCount facilitates action research to conduct needs assessments, engage campus stakeholders in the development of data strategies, and implement action plans.

Preliminary findings indicate that 1) data disaggregation is a need and area of concern for institutions serving large concentrations of AAPI students; 2) institutions, systems and states desire the collection and utilization of more accurate data to better serve AAPI students; and 3) political will remains the greatest barrier to achieving improved data policies. Thus, institutional partners seek the opportunity to engage in a partnership with our research team, as well as with other institutional partners across their network, which drives the action research that builds political will to impact their data policies.

Author

• Bach Mai Dolly Nguyen, University of California - Los Angeles