Education Commons^™

Building Civic Capacity: The History & Landscape Of Nyc Integration Activism 2012–2021 [Post-Print], Mira Debs, Molly Vollman Makris, Elise Castillo, Alexander Rodriguez, Ayana Smith, Josephine Steuer Ingall

Faculty Scholarship

Background: New York City is one of the most segregated school districts in the country, but in the last nine years, school integration has moved from being marginal to a central education policy. Existing narratives have emphasized parents, school and political leaders, downplaying the significance of citywide coalitions of activists, especially youth activists.

Purpose: We examine how grassroots activists contributed to transform school integration policy, and the opportunities and challenges as a result through urban regime theory and specifically civic capacity, which highlights how various constituencies build a shared agenda for policy change.

Research Design: Working in partnership with …

Integration Versus Meritocracy? Competing Educational Goals During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elise Castillo, Molly Vollman Makris, Mira Debs

Faculty Scholarship

Alongside the immediate challenges of operating schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, over the past year, parents, students, and policymakers around the country have also debated equity and access to some of the country’s most elite and segregated public schools. This qualitative case study examines how New York City activists conceptualized educational equity during the pandemic. Conceptually framed by Labaree’s (1997) typology of the three competing purposes of education—democratic equality, social efficiency, and social mobility—we document different lessons learned from the pandemic by integration activists, who emphasized school integration for democratic equality; and meritocratic activists, who prioritized retaining the existing stratified …

Dual-Language Advocates And Their Arguments: A Comparison Of Utah And New York, Minying Cao

Senior Theses and Projects

This project investigates and compares the arguments that advocates for Spanish-English dual-language programs use to persuade others and gain support in racially diverse New York City vs. predominantly White Utah. In addition, it seeks to understand the challenges that advocate face when attempting to persuade different audiences to support dual-language schooling. The results of this research suggest that he primary argument voiced by advocates was economic. Dual-language immersion programs were defined as an economic asset to benefit both the students and the nation at large. Following the economic argument, a cultural argument was also used to promote dual language immersion …