Research Symposium
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap: A Presentation of Current Research at the intersection of Race, Equity and Education
Breakout Session 1
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
1. Winston-Salem TEACH: Fostering Teacher Diversity through Inter-institutional Partnership
Teacher Recruitment & Education | Wake Forest University & Winston-Salem State University
Dr. Christina Richardson (Wake Forest University), Dr. Kate Allman (Wake Forest University & Winston-Salem State University), Dr. Cynthia Williams Brown (Winston-Salem State University), Alexandra Hoskins (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools), Dr. Rebecca Jordan( Salem College), and Dr. Alan Brown (Wake Forest University)
For over a decade, the K-12 public education system has struggled to attract and retain high-achieving and ethno-racially diverse teachers. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the persistent shortage of highly qualified teachers is an even more urgent challenge in education. This presentation will share a novel inter-institutional approach to teacher preparation called Winston-Salem TEACH that synergizes efforts across three higher education institutions, the local school district, and community stakeholders to recruit, prepare, and retain highly successful and ethno-racially diverse teachers. We will share the Winston-Salem TEACH model and preliminary evidence of its success in recruiting a diverse cohort of future teachers.
2. How “Nice” Hinders Justice: Unpacking and disrupting covert racism in schools
Anti-racism & Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies | North Carolina New Teacher Support Program, UNC-CH
Jackie Aponte (she/her) and Kathleen Harrell
Anyone who spends time working in k-12 schools has likely overheard a colleague say something, seen a lesson or assignment, or caught a student conversation that reflects racist ideas in not-so-obvious ways. Underlying many of these everyday experiences is a belief that it is possible to “not see race” and that when classroom leaders overlook the ways that identity markers like race shape their students’ experiences, there is less conflict and less discomfort. This is a phenomenon that educational leadership and equity scholar Angelina Castagno has termed “niceness,” where good intentions mired in “silence, passivity, denial, and avoidance,” in fact, create very uncomfortable experiences for students, perpetuating racial inequities and harm. By engaging in this session, participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how covert racism operates to perpetuate inequalities in schools. Further, participants will be equipped to notice and disrupt niceness and clandestine racism in future school experiences and beyond.
3. Why is it important to understand the Hispanic/Latine culture to better serve our students?
Hispanic/Latine Students & Public Education | ISLA NC
Maria Lucia Bernal Quintero (she/her) and Soledada Oneto (she/her)
Considering 12 years of building community leadership through implementing educational Spanish language and Latin American immersion programs, ISLA has identified that our families negotiate their immigrant experience from an asset-based approach that considers their diversity and strengths and moves away from a deficit-based approach. Community cultural wealth has become one of ISLA’s core values, and through this presentation, we aim to elevate the wealth that exists in our community. Through the “Maestras con Voz” program, ISLA has led community-based participatory research that centers on the challenges faced by Hispanic/Latine students and their families while bringing and showcasing strategies to support students, family engagement, and culturally appropriate practices in the classroom to educational institutions with a growing Hispanic/Latine students and families population.
4. Black Male Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences in North Carolina Secondary Public Schools
Black Male Educators & Secondary Public Education | UNC Charlotte/B-Strong Legacy, LLC
Dr. Yolanda Blakeney (she/her)
This qualitative study explored the perceptions of seven Black male teachers in a North Carolina secondary public school district regarding equity and access. The research focused on social context (workplace interactions) and instructional leadership roles. While all participants felt overall acceptance, six believed administrators expected them to manage primarily Black male student behaviors, and three felt their cultural identity was undervalued. Organizational barriers challenged their preparedness for and access to instructional leadership opportunities. Recommendations included restructuring the assignment of mentors to Black male students and addressing inconsistent support for Black males entering teaching through alternative licensure.
5. Liberatory Black Educator Retention Framework
School Leadership & Black Educators Retention | Black Educator Advocates Network
Jalisa Evans (she/her)
Efforts to recruit and retain Black educators have been at the forefront of national debate, with less attention given to retention. Addressing both recruitment and retention requires reckoning with the anti-black history that led to the decline of Black educators, which was systemic and by design. The Liberatory Black Educator Retention Framework, designed by a collective of Black educators in California, aims to address this issue. The framework consists of five tenets: eradicating anti-blackness, reconstructing time, educator autonomy, connection to community, and communal care. It serves as a way for schools to design and measure ongoing retention strategies by addressing the roots of anti-blackness and Black educator erasure. The framework is a living, breathing tool that should expand and grow to meet the needs of each school community, centering the voices of the Black educators in the community.
6. Advancing Representation in Education: Fostering Equity and Empowerment for Students of Color
Representation, Curriculum & Instruction | Pre-K - 12 Educator
Dr. Kenya K. Grant (she/her) and Mr. Quadric D. Witherspoon (he/his)
Ensuring representation in education is vital for equitable learning environments and the academic success of all students. This initiative addresses this by focusing on four key areas: curriculum representation, instructor diversity, student support, and research. We seek to integrate diverse perspectives into the curriculum, provide a diverse teaching staff, implement support programs, and evaluate our efforts rigorously. By doing so, we aim to foster greater engagement and academic achievement among students of color, narrowing the achievement gap. Ultimately, we aim to create inclusive learning environments where all students feel valued and supported in their academic pursuits. We strive to contribute to equity and inclusion in education through these concerted efforts.
7. Whose Voice Matters? Examining the Relationship Between North Carolina’s Parents’ Bill of Rights and Book Banning
Parent/Community Advocacy & Involvement | the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlitta Hatch (she/her)
This study examines the tension between North Carolina's "Parents' Bill of Rights" (Senate Bill 49) and the inclusion of diverse literature in K-12 classrooms. The legislation's emphasis on parental control intersects with the growing trend of book banning, particularly of culturally relevant materials. Educators face challenges incorporating diverse voices while navigating concerns about Critical Race Theory and call for inclusive classrooms.
The core issue is the importance of early exposure to diverse books in fostering reading proficiency and positive self-identity. There should be considerations in amending the Bill of Rights to clarify parental limitations on curriculum content, empower educators to deliver state-approved materials in culturally responsive ways, and provide ongoing diversity training for educators. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve a balance that respects parental rights while ensuring equitable representation in classrooms, promoting a society that embraces diversity.
8. Inside Secondary Math Teachers' Sensemaking About Teaching Linguistically Marginalized Students
Multilingualism & Math Education | North Carolina State University
Amelia Rivera (she/ella), Patricia S. Ambrosio (she/ella), Samantha Marshall (she/they) and Sunghwan Byun (he/him)
Students face regular marginalization in mathematics because of their languaging practices (e.g., Wilson & Smith, 2022). Mathematics teachers, however, rarely receive adequate preparation for teaching linguistically marginalized students (Santibañez et al., 2022). To design necessary support for teachers, we investigated the research question: how do practicing secondary mathematics teachers make sense of teaching linguistically marginalized students? We applied sociopolitical perspectives that situate learning in systems of power, privilege, and marginalization (Gutiérrez, 2013), investigating teachers’ contextualized negotiation of meaning (Greeno, 1998). All four teachers in our study lamented the lack of support they have received in teaching linguistically marginalized students. They highlighted some of the specific challenges, such as solving word problems with students. The deficit perspectives conveyed by several teachers showed the need for anti-bias and anti-racist professional development. Findings provide essential guidance for professional development designers, school leaders, and teacher educators.
Breakout Session 2
1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
9. Building Bridges: The History of West Charlotte High School as an Integration Success Story
School Integration & School Climate | Davidson College
Mills Jordan, (he/him), Liz Varela (she/her) and Kenzie Leonard (she/her)
Our student group from Davidson College conducted research on the history of West Charlotte High School during integration. The story of West Charlotte High School (WCHS) is one of an African-American school segregated by law, which transformed into an integrated success story, and today has ultimately returned to de facto segregation. We provided a brief overview of several landmark cases that affected WCHS, highlighted WCHS's integration efforts, and discussed the policies that led to resegregation and the impact it continues to have on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS). We used news articles, government data, historical books, and interviews with WCHS alumni and current staff. Findings show that school choice and race-blind admissions threaten the equitable distribution and availability of resources throughout the CMS district. However, the successes of past integration efforts in WCHS offer lessons for future initiatives aimed at building community among diverse groups of students, teachers, and families.
10. The Perception of Police-Community Relations by Black Women in Mid-Atlantic Urban Communities
Opportunity gaps & racial justice | University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP)
Dr. Mecca K. Terry (she/her)
There is an exhausting amount of literature on the perception of police. Minority groups such as LGBTQ+ individuals, Arab Americans (also referred to as MENA–Middle Eastern North American), and minority women’s perceptions have little to no representation in the literature. No research exists specifically for minority women on the perceptions of police-community relations. Therefore, this study focused on Black women’s perception of police-community relations in Mid-Atlantic urban communities. The study was a generic, qualitative study supported by a grounded theory, theoretical foundation, and thematic analysis. The findings of the research study revealed that the perceptions of police-community relations by Black women in Mid-Atlantic urban communities vary by location, thus providing recommendations for effecting change, direct interactions with law enforcement, and indirect experiences with law enforcement affects perceptions. Being the first study of its kind, this study provided the foundation for future research on police-community relations and the perception of Black women.
11. Integration Now
School Desegregation & Education Policy | Founder of The 1868 Project
David Cooper (he/him) and Dr. Laura Handler (she/her)
Resegregation of schools is driven by white resistance, cessation of judicial pressure, disenchantment among communities of color, and lack of local buy-in for desegregation policies. To counteract these factors and establish integration as a structural transformation, we propose innovative strategies. These include networked schools that rotate students through buildings to prevent racial characterization, collaborating with communities to build popular support for equitable schools, correcting public education's original sins by including people of color in decision-making and curriculum design, and engaging the community in the design of their schools. We will support educators and school boards in building sustainable community models for integration. A pilot project will test the effectiveness of our model and disproportionality as a measure of integration, while community-based participatory research will evaluate the benefits valued by the community and the standards required by the State.
12. Ladies who lead! How Teachers of Color Can Become Amazing Administrators of Color
Teacher of Color Retention & School Leadership | Wake Forest University
Christina Richardson (she/her)
“What are your career goals for the next five years? ” While this is a common interview question and one I had posed as a Black woman educator, not all educators feel they can choose their career paths. Teachers of Color can have a personal vision for the next stage in their careers, but they do not always have the freedom to create their desired opportunities and outcomes. I believe promotion to a new position should be based on merit, experience, and explicit qualifications. A person’s racial and gender identity should not be a hindrance or an advantage in getting a new position. Overwhelmingly, women, women of color, and more specifically, Black women are underrepresented in school leadership roles. This presentation examines the common barriers internal and external barriers women face as well as strategies to overcome them.
13. Integrating Wellness into Black Male Initiative Programs
Black Male Students & Wellness | Beyond Wellbeing, PLLC
Felix Morton (he/him)
Black Male Initiative programs have been highlighted in higher education primarily because of their positive influence on Black male students' academic and social engagement outcomes. However, due to the ongoing threats to mental health and well-being faced by students, primarily students of color, there is a need for more wellness-focused considerations within student services and academic settings. In this discussion, participants will examine the components of Black Male Initiative programs, review wellness across service and educational contexts, explore wellness as a construct in relation to our work as educators, and discuss best practices across diverse contexts.
14. “So I don’t have to switch up who I am?” Black Mathematics Teachers’ Use of Black Language for Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy
Black Educators, Mathematics & Language | North Carolina State University
Amelia Rivera (she/her) and Samantha Marshall (she/they)
Black students are marginalized at every turn in mathematics education in the U.S., including through their language. Despite this well-documented phenomenon, there is little research on how mathematics teachers are prepared or supported to serve Black Language (BL) speakers. Because BL is a significant sensemaking resource for Black students in mathematics, we investigate how BL-speaking mathematics teachers use their language to support BL-speaking students. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with ten Black Language speaking mathematics teachers, we find through thematic analysis that these teachers use Black Language flexibly in three ways: (1) Black Language as access, (2) Black Language as community, and (3) Black Language as liberation. These findings provide important implications for teachers of Black students, including familiarizing themselves with Black Language, using language to connect with students, making space for Black language in the mathematics discourse community, and disrupting the marginalization that happens through language.
15. Race Matters: Color My World Preparing Teachers of Color For All StudentsBlack Educators, Mathematics & Language | North Carolina State University
Teacher Preparation | Winston-Salem State University
According to Morgan (2020), “The disproportionate representation of students of color in special education has been a concern about the education of students from low-income families for many years. Low-income students are more often identified in subjective disability categories, such as emotional disability and intellectual disability, and more frequently placed in separate classrooms.” Winston-Salem State University launched the R.A.M.S.E.S. program to counter this trend and narrative. RAMSES - Residency & Apprenticeship Model: Supporting Equity in Schools: A Model to Prepare Special Education Teachers. RAMSES is designed to “help address state-identified needs for personnel preparation in special education and ensure that those personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge, derived from practices that have been determined through scientifically based research, to be successful in serving those children.”