Undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic is how our students should be able to communicate to us; yet this is not the reality for many. There are an estimated 65,000 undocumented students who graduate from high schools every year in the United States, and another 7,000 to 13,000 enrolled in colleges and universities. As of September 2017, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has granted about 800,000 individuals deferment from deportation. DREAMers are those brought to this country, are out of status, and likely also qualify for the DREAM Act if it were passed. Many undocumented students in general are prone to experiencing stress that exists as a result of their immigration status. Fear and concerns about physical safety cause many students to keep their status a secret from peers, school personnel, and even close friends. Their fears are rooted in a system that separates families, imprisons migrants without due process, and incites violence against those who are undocumented or are perceived to be, in this country. Thus, navigating life in the shadows for them is understandable; but doing so also comes with real consequences, negatively impacting them academically, socially, and psychologically. The purpose of this study is to seek to understand the experiences of Latinx undocumented college students in the current political climate and under the current administration in terms of how their student experiences and overall wellness as Latinx undocumented students are being impacted. The study was guided by several questions: a) How do Latinx undocumented students talk about their experiences on the college campus? b) How do Latinx undocumented students perceive how the institution responds to issues they face due to their undocumented status? c) What incidents in particular have most impacted them as college students? And, d) How do students describe their own sense of efficacy and self-care as they navigate college within this current climate? Through the lens of Latino/a Critical Race Theory and semi-structured interviews with college students in New England and California, coupled with reflections from field experiences, analysis of multiple forms of data, and the researcher’s personal connections to immigration via family history—findings of this study illuminate the lived experiences, challenges, and trauma faced by these students within the ongoing political divisiveness around matters of immigration. It is important that we as higher education and student affairs personnel understand the lived experiences of these students so that we can more compassionately and competently serve the community while also enabling their success and wellness. It is intended that the findings from this study will illuminate the experiences of undocumented students and provide new ways to support and guide these students.

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a school disciplinary framework seen as an effective tool to replace school disciplinary practices that contribute to the school to prison pipeline (STPP). While evidence suggests that SWPBIS can help improve school discipline and lower suspension/expulsion rates, it has not been shown to consistently decrease racial disciplinary disparities. This study thematically analyzed semi-structured interviews of educational staff at one high school at the outset of SWPBIS implementation to understand their perceptions of school discipline and the potential for SWPBIS to address root causes of racial disciplinary disproportionality. Using a critical race theory analytical lens to center issues of race and racism, the findings revealed a school that is deeply structured in Whiteness. Participants described the school as “two schools in one”—one that is largely White, affluent, and high-achieving and another that is predominantly Black, economically disadvantaged, and achieving at lower levels. Educators were open to key elements of SWPBIS, such as positive discipline and school-wide consistency in disciplinary practices. And while many participants identified systemic barriers to achieving equity, they simultaneously relied on discursive strategies that upheld Whiteness. These findings suggest that SWPBIS has the potential to be an alternative to punitive school discipline, but faces multiple barriers in addressing disciplinary disproportionality. The segregated and stratified school structure raises questions about whom SWPBIS is for and who will bear the burden of implementation.

This study includes the experiences of six first-generation Latinx alumnae who attended three private, predominantly-White universities in Southern California. It applied a critical race theory (CRT) framework and an anti-deficit ideology to their experiences. Importantly, because the participants and the researcher are of different identities, the study employed principles of culturally responsive methodologies (CRM). Most quantitative research and existent theory concerning first-generation Latinx collegiate women excludes the voices of first-generation Latinx alumnae, so this study included the telling of their counter-stories concerning their undergraduate experiences. These experiences included identity-threat, microaggressions, and the enactment of White privilege. Additionally, their counter-stories contradict majoritarian stories concerning first-generation students and their families, as well as institutional values of fairness, meritocracy, colorblindness, and diversity. The methodology of the study was CRT counter-storytelling. Concepts of narrative inquiry informed the research design. Counter-stories of the participants were shared during conversations and interviews, then interpreted using the framework of CRT and a method of thematic analysis. All members of the study have graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and their experiences provide direction for additional research concerning first-generation theory as it applies to Latinx collegiate women, as well as implications for policy and praxis regarding the future experiences of Latinx students on U.S. higher education campuses.

As the student population in public schools throughout the United States continues to increase in ethnic diversity, the number of college students of color majoring in teacher education have remained stagnant. The local problem addressed in the study is that despite intentional recruitment efforts, college students of color are not majoring in teacher education at a university in Ohio. Bell's critical race theory was used throughout this basic qualitative study to explore what issues influence students of color to choose majors other than teacher education. Individual student interviews with 8 students of color were conducted to answer the research question regarding issues that have influenced students of color to choose majors other than teacher education at one university in Ohio. Transcripts from interview sessions were coded and analyzed to identify emerging patterns and themes. Member checks were used for accuracy in analysis, and maximum variation, with participants from 7 different majors, served to enhance credibility. At the local setting, the implications for positive social change may include bringing awareness to issues that students of color have encountered while enrolled at the study site. A broader implication for social change may be that institutions of higher education with similar demographics could benefit from the results of this study to address similar issues regarding students of color not choosing teacher education programs.

This paper takes a cultural materialist approach in analyzing the hegemonic purpose of using Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird in American education. Ideas from critical race theory and Lee’s second novel, Go Set a Watchman, are used to reveal obfuscated aspects of Mockingbird’s narrative. These aspects have been repurposed to fit a Eurocentric palate, and have let the book achieve success under the guise of being a progressive and multiculturalist work. Mockingbird’s narration, marked by childlike innocence, has been used to obfuscate Eurocentric ignorance of racial and economic inequality. The text has also been used to divert blame from those in power onto those oppressed by a hegemonic system. Racism is in Mockingbird inaccurately described as an individual moral issue, rather than a system of discrimination which is deeply ingrained in every aspect of U.S. society. The liberal moderate ideology which informs Atticus character has historically been ignored due to his unquestionable, near-mythical position as a moral role model. The paper finds that Mockingbird has been used as part of a greater Eurocentric narrative which positions the Civil Rights Movement as a white movement of moral improvement.

This study is the first to analyze news coverage of a hegemonic struggle over a crisis that threatened to close a Southern safety net hospital. Such closure could have left indigent, African American men and women without health care access. The study utilizes critical discourse analysis to focus on news portrayals of patients and the struggle over whether the hospital would continue to be governed by a majority-Black, public board of directors or a nonprofit, private board recommended by a majority-White civic group. Results indicate that newspaper coverage privileged the elite, White view, while stereotypically representing indigent, Black patients as problematic. Coverage legitimized privatizing the hospital’s board through a neoliberal discourse that also portrayed its majority-Black board as incompetent.

This dissertation examines the rhetorical strategy by which groups unite against common enemies as it appears in a series of judicial cases between 1878 and 1952 deciding whether petitioners for naturalization in the United States were "free white persons" as required by the United States naturalization act at the time. Beginning in 1870, the naturalization act limited racial eligibility for naturalization to "free white persons" and "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." Based on the conclusion that Asians were neither "white" nor African, many courts interpreted these provisions to reflect a policy of Asian exclusion. As the distinction between "white" and Asian became increasingly disputed, however, the racial eligibility requirements of the act raised difficult questions about the boundaries of whiteness. I examine the rhetorical strategies adopted in a series of these cases between World War I and the early cold war involving Asian Indian, Armenian, Kalmyk, and Tatar petitioners who were represented as political or religious refugees at risk of becoming stateless if they were denied racial eligibility for naturalization in the United States. I argue that by representing the petitioners in the cases as victims of persecution by the nation's adversaries, the cases reflect a rhetorical strategy of uniting against common enemies which is also prevalent in the legislative, executive, and judicial discourse surrounding the act. I argue that the prevalence of this rhetorical strategy in racial prerequisite discourse suggests that a martial ideal of citizenship often influenced racial classifications under the act and that by recognizing the ways in which this discourse adapted to the rapidly changing enmities of the early twentieth century, a rhetorical interpretation of the cases offers advantages over other interpretive approaches and highlights the value of a rhetoric of law. / text

The struggles of Latino males along the education pipeline have been well documented in recent history. Despite this increased research focus, gaps continue to exist in the literature on Latino males in education settings. Currently, the literature predominately centers on the Latino male experience in the K-12, community college, and 4-year college environments. The educational experiences of Latino males in doctoral education settings have not yet been presented. This study examines and provides insight into the Latino male doctoral student journey by detailing Latino male doctoral student experiences and perceptions at a predominately White, research-intensive, public university. In light of the deficit model research surrounding men of color, it is imperative to present the narratives of successful, high achieving Latino males along their pursuit of a doctoral degree. This study critically examines the experiences and perceptions of Latino males in pursuit of a PhD within the humanities or social sciences at a predominately White, research-intensive, public university. The mission of the study was to shed light on thematic influences, factors, and emotions that led these individuals to take interest and pursue a doctoral degree. The study's findings are presented under the lens of Latino critical race theory and gender role conflict in order to develop a thorough understanding of the internal and external influences on the Latino male doctoral student experience. My dissertation's unique contributions are its addition of the Latino male doctoral student experience to the literature on Latino males in educational contexts. Furthermore, this study's unique contributions include a new perspective on how Latino males perceive their gender roles and responsibilities as successful doctoral students. The Latino male doctoral students in this study displayed resilience during moments of vulnerability and embrace responsibility during challenging circumstances. These actions were efforts to maintain control of their doctoral education experience and to create a new image for Latino masculinity. As the findings indicate, the Latino male doctoral student experience at a large predominately White, research-intensive, public university is filled with complexity, adversity, and determination. / text

In the United States, diverse learners, defined by race, ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status, do poorly in mathematics in disproportionate numbers. Research suggests that teachers who use instructional practices that build on the cultural strengths of racial and ethnic minorities can increase academic achievement for these students. Using culturally relevant pedagogy as a theoretical framework, this qualitative case study investigated the equity pedagogy of three secondary mathematics student interns in an alternative teacher preparation program during their student teaching experience. The following research questions were also investigated: What school factors do the interns perceive to influence their decisions in implementing equity pedagogy? Which aspects of the teacher education program do the interns perceive to most influence their implementation of equity pedagogy? For the purpose of this study, equity pedagogy is defined as modifying instructional practices in order to facilitate the academic achievement of students from diverse racial, ethnic, and/or socioeconomic backgrounds by applying the components of Zeichner et al.'s (1998) curriculum and instruction principles specifically to the secondary mathematics classroom. Data collected through videotaped classroom observations, field notes, semistructured interviews, and examination of the participants’ reflective journals were analyzed and categorized as follows: building on prior knowledge, high expectations for diverse learners, knowing students well, culturally responsive pedagogical skills, critical consciousness, sharing of power, and multiple funds of knowledge. Data analysis showed evidence of all seven aspects of equity pedagogy by one or more of the participants, although they demonstrated these practices to varying degrees. Colorblindness, lack of appropriate mentors, time constraints, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards (NCTM, 2000), and culturally responsive pedagogical skills that had been modeled in their mathematics methods courses most affected the interns’ implementation of equity pedagogy. These results indicate that preservice teachers need a framework to critically reflect on issues of equity in education, time to develop equitable teaching practices, and teacher educators that go beyond didactic discussions of inequity to make explicit the equitable teaching practices they want their students to learn.

American and German educational systems have both experienced an increase of ethnic groups in the classrooms; however, in both countries the increase in ethnic groups is not matched by increases in the numbers of minority teachers (NEA, 2005). Therefore, challenges such as interracial tensions and conflicts, an increasing percentage of second language learners, and continuous gaps in achievement suggest that an increase in the numbers of minority teachers is imperative as the twenty-first century begins (Gay, 2000; Luchtenberg, 2004). These increases suggest a need for a more thorough understanding of minority teachers’ viewpoints as they serve as role models, mentors, and activists (Carrington & Skeleton, 2004). Two naturalistic case studies based on critical theory, critical race theory, and feminist theory will examine perspectives on, challenges of, and opportunities regarding cross-cultural issues among a German and an American minority teacher and their views on multicultural education. The following questions guided the study: 1) What are the challenges and/or support experienced by a German and an American female minority teacher who attempt to implement multicultural principles in their classrooms? 2) What are the similarities and/or differences experienced by a German and an American female minority teacher regarding the implementation of multicultural principles into their teaching practice? 3) To what extent are the teachers’ beliefs and actions shaped by their subject positions as minority females? During each two-month period of investigation, qualitative data methods such as observations, semi-structured interviews, daily field notes, lesson plans, telephone conversations, emails, and the researcher’s reflections were used to gather data. Data were analyzed using constant comparison methods (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to identify codes and categories and to develop emergent themes. Analysis revealed following themes: life and classroom experiences, opinions related to differences and similarities, and participants’ subject positions as female. Both teachers’ experiences emphasized a culturally sensitive pedagogy toward minority students.