Becoming a Civil Rights Data Advocate
Equal and fair treatment of all students is not something that can be taken for granted. It must be monitored. And for that we need access to data – data that is correct, reported on a regular basis, and interpreted properly. Data advocacy has long been a part of civil rights work, whether in the arenas of housing, employment, or education. Since about 2009, the flow of education data coming out of the federal government has allowed us to document the school-to-prison pipelin
ACLU Handbook Informs Students of Their Rights
The ACLU of Pennsylvania has just published a new edition of Know Your Rights: A Handbook on the Rights of Public School Students in Pennsylvania. The guide covers a board range of issues faced by public and charter school students: First Amendment rights, privacy, use of social media, student searches, dealing with police, the right to be treated fairly, and the right to have access to sexual health information. Information is presented in a convenient Q&A format with lots
Does Exposure to Teachers of the Same Race Affect Discipline?
A recent study of the experiences of North Carolina students explores this issue. The answer seems to be yes, especially for elementary school students taught by black teachers. In general, black teachers rely less on exclusionary discipline than white teachers, regardless of the race of their student. Researchers Constance Lindsey and Cassandra Hart examined the disciplinary records of more than two million 1st-12th grade students over a six-year period (2007-2013). The stud