Resources

Studying the Struggle: Contexts for Learning and Identity Development for Urban Youth

Activism and organizing can be a fertile subject matter for young people to study. This article presents a case study of a summer seminar in which urban high school students examined the historical struggle for educational justice in their communities. Adopting a “communities of practice” approach to learning, the article documents the changing participation of seminar participants and the changing identities and skills that this entailed. During the seminar, students took on identities as “critical researchers”— skilled investigators who produce and share knowledge relevant to social change. In the process, seminar participants developed and deployed high-level academic skills in language arts, social studies, and mathematics. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

Becoming Critical Public Historians: Students Study Diversity and Access in Post “Brown v. Board” Los Angeles

Anniversaries of major historical events, such as the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, provide social studies teachers with the opportunity to connect their classroom study to broader public conversations about the event and its significance. This article reports on the one such effort – an intensive five week summer seminar in which urban high school students produced original historical research on the legacy of Brown in greater Los Angeles. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

“More Justice”: The Role of Organized Labor in Educational Reform

This article explores the potential role of low-wage service sector unions in engaging in equity-minded school reform. The members of many such unions are parents of children attending poorly resourced public schools. In seeking to address the interests of their members, labor unions can draw upon resources, organizing strategies, and political relationships to contribute to grassroots campaigns for educational equity. Data gathered in Los Angeles from labor and civic leaders, as well as janitors belonging to the Service Employees International Union Local 1877, reveal possibilities for low-wage service sector unions to build alliances around educational reform issues and support their members’ individual capacities to advocate for their own children in schools. At the same time, low-wage service sector unions face challenges to participating in school reform efforts, including prioritizing education issues among other competing interests and identifying common ground with teachers’ unions. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

Unions and Education Justice: The Case of SEIU Local 1877 Janitors and the “Parent University”

The third brief in the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment’s (IRLE) series of Research and Policy Briefs highlights the work of the Service Employees International Union Local 1877, the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, UCLA School of Law’s Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, and the UCLA Labor Center in understanding and addressing the educational issues facing union members’ children. SEIU Local 1877 has sponsored “Parent University” workshops which teach members about topics that will help them to support their own children’s academic success and advocate for school improvements. SEIU Local 1877 is also working with a collaborative of unions and community groups to expand upon the Parent University work and stay involved in children’s education. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

Just Schools Project

Just Schools California supports a broad-based coalition of community-based groups, youth organizations, civil rights advocates, teachers, researchers, and policymakers eager to participate actively in providing Californians — especially low-income students, English learners, African American and Latino students — with high quality schools. We provide research necessary for understanding the conditions and outcomes of California schools and analyzing the impact of state policies. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

Organized Labor and School Reform

This project explores the potential role of low-wage service unions to use their organizing and political skills to promote educational justice. It considers whether the participation of low-wage sector unions in educational reform can: (1) build the power and capacity of both the union and its members and (2) expand educational opportunity for the children of union members. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

How Students Are Leading Us: Youth Organizing and the Fight for Public Education in Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s students have long been a major force in the battle for public education, and for the past decade and a half they have fought valiantly against the encroachment of neoliberalism, the idea that market-based logic can solve non-market problems more efficiently and effectively than governmental or public sector agencies. Leading this charge have been two prominent youth organizing groups, the Philadelphia Student Union (PSU) and Youth United for Change (YUC). Both PSU and YUC have been at the forefront of recent organizing efforts to protest and propose alternatives to the shuttering of 23 schools, the firing of 3,859 educators and support staff, and the elimination of extracurricular programs and arts education from the public schools for the 2012-2013 school year. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

Promoting Environmental Justice Through Community-Based Participatory Research: The Role of Community and Partnership Capacity

This article presents the results of a cross-site case study of four Community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships in the United States that research environmental health problems and worked to educate legislators and promote relevant public policy. The authors focus on community and partnership capacity within and across sites, using as a theoretical framework Goodman and his colleagues’ dimensions of community capacity, as these were tailored to environmental health by Fruedenberg, and as further modified to include partnership capacity within a systems perspective. The four CBPR partnerships were situated in New York, California, Oklahoma, and North Carolina and were part of a larger national study. Case study contexts and characteristics, policy-related outcomes, and findings related to community and partnership capacity are presented, with implications drawn for other CBPR partnerships with a policy focus. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago

Promoting Health and Safety in San Francisco’s Chinatown Restaurants: Findings and Lessons Learned from a Pilot Observational Checklist

In collaboration with university and community partners, the San Francisco Department of Public Health used an observational checklist to assess preventable occupational injury hazards and compliance with employee notification requirements in 106 restaurants in San Francisco’s Chinatown.  Supported by a larger community-based participatory research process, this pilot project helped to spur additional innovative health department collaborations to promote healthier workplaces. (more…)

By anaantunes, ago