The resource directory is searchable and contains articles, tools, recordings, and links to websites. The resources are also categorized by topics, including the five Focus Areas suggested by the California Department of Education. Use the Search box below or click on the topical links to access the resources. (Hint: Once you have done an initial search, you will be able to sort the results by Resource Name or Publication Date.)
This text integrates school improvement and systems change efforts with the provision of classroom supports, the building of meaningful parent and community engagement, and neighborhood crisis intervention, all within a context of equity. The authors recognize that creating efficacious academic and behavioral supports is the avenue to better student outcomes and pronounced educational and societal change. Readers will be able to review how multiple schools and districts have undergone these momentous paradigm shifts to reduce systemic inequities.
Adelman, Howard S., and Linda Taylor. 2018. Transforming Student and Learning Supports: Developing a Unified, Comprehensive, and Equitable System. San Diego, CA: Cognella Academic Publishing.
A guide designed to assist local and state leaders in initiating critical conversations within their schools and communities about disproportionality.
National Education Association (2007).
There are large racial disparities in school discipline in the United States, which, for Black students, not only contribute to school failure but also can lay a path toward incarceration. Although the disparities have been well documented, the psychological mechanisms underlying them are unclear. The authors argue that race not only can influence how perceivers interpret a specific behavior, but also can enhance perceivers’ detection of behavioral patterns across time.
Okonofua, J. A., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2015). Two Strikes: Race and the Disciplining of Young Students. Psychological Science, 26(5) 617–624.
The book provides a comprehensive overview of health, social, emotional etc. issues facing Latino males in America. It is useful for practitioners who seek to further understand prevalent issues affecting Latino males in America.
Noguera, P., Aida Hurtado and Edward Fergus Eds. Understanding and Responding to the Disenfranchisement of Latino Males: Invisible No More. New York: Routledge, 2011.
The authors analyzed the delayed identification of Black and Latinx students post elementary school and the disproportionate eligibility outcomes as compared to their white peers.
Cruz, R., and Firestone, A. (2022) Understanding the Empty Backpack: The Role of Timing in Disproportionate Special Education Identification. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Vol. 8(1) 95–113
This volume examines the interconnected concepts of punitive school discipline and early introduction to the criminal justice system. The authors review how improved understanding and amended practices are integral to eliminating the current trajectory of students into the penal system.
Fasching-Varner, Kenneth J., Martin, Lori Latrice, Mitchell, Roland W., Bennett-Haron, Karen, ed. Daneshzadeh, Arash, ed. (2017). Understanding, Dismantling, and Disrupting the Prison-to-School Pipeline.Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
School suspension and expulsion are important forms of punishment that disproportionately affect Black students, with long-term consequences for educational attainment and other indicators of wellbeing. Prior research identifies three mechanisms that help account for racial disparities in suspension and expulsion: between-school sorting, differences in student behaviors, and differences in the treatment and support of students with similar behaviors. The authors extend this literature by (1) comparing the contributions of these three mechanisms in a single study, (2) assessing behavior and school composition when children enter kindergarten and before most are exposed to school discipline, and (3) using both teacher and parent reports of student behaviors.
J. Owens, S. S. McLanahan, Unpacking the Drivers of Racial Disparities in School Suspension and Expulsion. Soc. Forces 98, 1548–1577 (2020).
Considers the degree to which poverty contributes to disproportionality in special education.
Russell J. Skiba et al. (2005) The Journal of Special Education.
This series of articles on Inequities in schools takes a close look at some schools and districts that are engaging in hard work of embracing the goals of equity and turning them into action steps that are benefiting students. The articles discuss that black, Hispanic or low-income students schools may not have the same advanced courses as white, more affluent peers, teachers with long track records of effective teaching or are more likely to face harsher discipline. Articles: 1. In Pursuit of Equity 2. Data Reveal Deep Inequalities in Schools 3. How Onw District is Raising Math Rigor and Achievement for Students of Color 4. Access to Quality PD Is an Equity Issue, Teachers Say 5. The Simple Policy Change That's Getting More Students of Color in Advanced Courses 6. The Art of Making Science Accessible and Relevant to All Students
Samuel, C.A., Schwartz, S., Blad, E., Gewertz, C. 2020. Uprooting Inequities in Schools. Bethesda, Maryland: Education Week http://e-news.edweek.org/hostedemail/email.htm?CID=41632109141&ch=555AE40C00CA2111F027762D339E115D&h=090c7478f5f0b706ad27de4da5c61b08&ei=7f7OBGlxN&st=04-MAR-20
The Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative is comprised of approximately 100 U.S. urban school districts. The organization stresses the need for inclusion, including access to rigorous academic content, for all students. It defines itself as a forum for professional growth for teachers and administrators concerned about special education.
Urban Collaborative: Leading Equitable and Inclusive Education. 2016. https://www.urbancollaborative.org/who-we-are (accessed April 6, 2018).
