Education Commons^™

In Defense Of Public Schools: A Toolkit From The Midwest, Ferial Pearson, Ann Hunter-Pirtle

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

One of the defining features of public schools is that they operate at the will of the people, with public oversight from elected school boards. In addition to being free and open to all, free from religious affiliation, and promoting civic understanding and participation, much of what makes public schools public happens through the democratic process. We have noticed that many teachers are so overworked and overwhelmed - rightly focused on their own classrooms and their own students’ day to day struggles - that it’s not easy for them to engage and advocate for themselves and their students in the …

Building Visible Allies For Safe And Supportive Environments: Systemic Implementation Of The Out For Safe Schools Campaign, James Marshall, Rachel Miller

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Contemporary data illustrate a greater risk in school environments for students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, or queer (LGBTQ). Verbal or physical harassment, and feeling generally unsafe in school, can lead to higher absence rates and lower levels of academic performance for these youth, when compared to their heterosexual peers. School districts across the country are responding to this challenge. This article profiles an implementation of the OUT for Safe Schools Campaign which is designed to provide visible adult allies for LGBTQ students throughout a school district. It highlights the systemic nature of both the OUT for Sale …

What Is Your Social Justice Iq: Leading Social Justice In Higher Education, Janice M. Garnett, Germaine W. Huber

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

This article describes an experience originating in the College of Education to explore a process for the college’s social justice efforts to lead and guide administration, faculty, and staff in their day-to-day decision-making. This educational process examined in the article was introduced through the College of Education’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee to engage administration, faculty, and staff in using their various perspectives focused on social justice to help them shift the college's current paradigm from understanding to action. The authors incorporated a conceptual framework as the foundation to develop the collaborative process to engage education professionals in gaining a greater …

Understanding School And Community Contexts: Leading For Success Along The Texas-Mexico Border, Erin D. Atwood

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Enacting social justice leadership requires that school leaders understand social, political, and historic contexts of the communities and schools where they lead. This paper examines the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan area and highlights some of these issues within this particular community along the Texas-Mexico border. This description of the area provides understanding of the uniqueness of borderlands contexts and allows us to better understand the social justice work of one local school district in leading for success in this context.

Becoming A Trauma-Informed School, Lisa Epp

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

According to the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health, more than 46% of children across the U.S. have experienced at least one Adverse Childhood Experience or ACE. Adverse Childhood Experiences can have detrimental, long-term effects on a child’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Becoming a trauma-informed school can change the negative outcomes for those students who have been impacted by traumatic events. The focus of this literature review will explore trauma-informed practices and frameworks currently being used in schools across the U.S.; and the benefits of using positive education paradigms that incorporate trauma-informed care within the educational setting.

Family Engagement: Finding Parents’ Perspectives, Melissa Frans

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The purpose of this classic grounded theory study is to define family engagement in a child’s education from the perspective of a mother. This study will bring to the surface what parents believe their role is in their children's education and develop an understanding of the gap between what research says that parents should do at home and what parents believe they should be doing at home. At this stage in the research, family engagement is a recommended focus for schools, and Steven Constantino (2016) goes as far to say that schools should establish a relationship with every family.

This …