2012 UCEA Convention

Engaging School Staff in Difficult Conversations about Race as Related to Student Discipline Disproportionality. Scott C Woods, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
Leadership for social justice in the school setting begins with the principal’s leadership and willingness to allow for a space and time to engage in difficult conversations. The purpose of this presentation is to generate discussion on how principals can develop a concept of anti-racist pedagogy by entering into dialogue with school staff about the connections between racial prejudice and the overrepresentation of African American and Latino students in office discipline referrals.

Mission Possible. Dr. David Parker, University of Utah Middle school and high school students who come from low-income and/or non-white families have limited vision of their post-secondary futures due to a multitude of factors, including limited personal experience resulting in low efficacy and disconnection from school as early as middle school (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001; Battin-Pearson et al., 2000). Mission Possible helps to increase student achievement, raise awareness, and raise student efficacy for a broad range of positive post- secondary options.

The Enduring Race: Benchmarks in Urban Education for Black and Bilingual Students. Lolita A. Tabron, Texas A&M University; Paige Perez, Texas A & M University; Terah Talei Venzant Chambers, Texas A&M University
This presentation provides a snapshot of legal benchmarks that have led to the current state of affairs for urban education students, specifically Black and Hispanic ELL students. We consider claims made about the Brown decision—was it really a turning point in educational opportunities for urban students? Have we really come as far in offering educational equality and, more importantly, equity, to Black and bilingual students as we would like to say we have?

Transformative Dialogue: Raising Issues of Race and Social Class. Jason Andrew Swanson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Institutional leadership is highly influential, if not the strongest factor, in the promotion and realization of school success, particularly in championing students of poverty and color (Mckenzie & Schuerich, 2004, 2007). Therefore, the principal is responsible for facilitating discussions of oppressive policies, procedures, and practices. This session will illuminate one example of how a principal can provide professional development on issues of race and social class in a non-stereotypical.

Creating the Future from the Past: The Road Not Taken in Educational Leadership. Barbara Pazey, The University of Texas at Austin; Patricia Guerra, Texas State University
Many leadership preparation programs (LPP) have adopted social justice perspectives for training leaders to meet the diverse needs of their students. Faculty must model the principles they teach. The stories of 2 assistant professors are provided to provoke the creation of LPPs that are equity-oriented and adhere to the principles of social justice. Participants will be invited to delve into their own inquiries to move themselves and their practice toward the creation of quality LPPs.