Consequential Research for Youth Programs: Insights About Racial Reckoning and Equity From Scholars, Youth Workers, and Young People

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

This session is consequential for the education research field in two ways. First, we share findings about the current landscape of community-based education for racially minoritized youth in the US based on research with various actors in the OST sector, including scholars, practitioners, youth participants, and policy influencers. Given how the contemporary moment of hyper-partisanship, hyper-polarization, and mis/disinformation has amplified inequities between social groups and further silo competing perspectives (Klein, 2020), bringing together various stakeholder perspectives is critical work. Second, presentations draw explicitly on varied theoretical and methodological approaches, including critical race theory, sociology of education, learning sciences, and participatory action research, to surface tensions and contradictions facing the OST sector. The following questions guide the research presented in this session:

1. What are the leading ideas and exemplary practices in OST programming for young people from historically marginalized communities?
2. What are the pressing problems of practice that organizations leading highly regarded and innovative programs grapple with? What measures or contextual factors help these leading programs address challenges that others continue to struggle with? What are the challenges of shifting to more equitable practices in programs that operate at scale? What are the gaps in the knowledge base that, if answered, could advance practices designed to better support young people from historically marginalized communities in community-based learning? What further studies should advance the field?

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chairs

• Bianca Jontae Baldridge, Harvard University

• Deepa Sriya Vasudevan, American Institutes for Research

• Daniela Kruel DiGiacomo, University of Kentucky

• Ben Kirshner, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Sam Mejias, Parson School of Design

Papers

• Understanding and Mapping the Field: Toward an Expanded "Out-of-School Time" Typology - Bianca Jontae Baldridge, Harvard University

• Interrogating Program-Level Practices Toward Equity: Fostering Dignity and Belonging in Community-Based Youth Work and Out-of-School Time - Sam Mejias, Parson School of Design; Ben Kirshner, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Bright Spots, Pain Points: Youth Perspectives on Race and Belonging in Out-of-School Time Programs Youth Participatory Action Research Team (New York, Colorado, and Kentucky) - Daniela Kruel DiGiacomo, University of Kentucky; Spandana Pavuluri; Syeda Safwath-Tabassum

• Equity Starts at Home: Reimagining the Workforce and Youth Worker Well-Being - Deepa Sriya Vasudevan, American Institutes for Research

Discussants

• Deb Maroney, American Institutes for Research

• Nichole D. Pinkard, Northwestern University

• Jane M. Quinn, City College of New York - CUNY

• Vanessa Roberts, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Na'ilah Suad Nasir, Spencer Foundation

• Vanessa Roberts, VOYCE

• Kris D. Gutiérrez, University of California - Berkeley