According to new data from UMass Amherst, enrolling 9th graders who are failing academically in an ethnic studies course increases their chances of graduating from high school and enrolling in college.
Sade Bonilla, an assistant professor in the College of Education, collaborated on a study on the longer-term effects of ethnic studies requirements with Thomas S. Dee of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education and Emily K. Penner of the University of California Irvine’s School of Education, which was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A central contribution of our work is the causal evidence that anti-racist pedagogy and curricula promoted engagement and persistence in school.
Sade Bonilla
In one California school system, 9th students with a 2.0 or below GPA were automatically enrolled in an ethnic studies course. According to the findings, enrolling in ethnic studies boosted high school graduation, attendance, and the likelihood of enrolling in college. There was no causal evidence supporting the favorable academic benefit of ethnic studies prior to this study.
“A central contribution of our work is the causal evidence that anti-racist pedagogy and curricula promoted engagement and persistence in school,” said Bonilla.
The researchers looked at the records of over 1,400 pupils in San Francisco, California, where the school board authorized an ethnic studies requirement for academically challenged 9th graders in 2010. The researchers discovered that low-income students and students of color engaged in the ethnic studies course had better academic outcomes, as evidenced by local and state data. Students were also more likely to enroll in college after graduating from high school, according to the researchers.
Ethnic studies curriculum are meant to be a rigorous, college-prep course that stresses culturally relevant and critically engaged topics relating to social justice, anti-racism, stereotypes, and contemporary social movements. They are built on anti-racist ideas.
Ethnic studies courses, in general, focus on the history of historically marginalized populations, stimulate civic involvement and community-responsive social justice, and enhance students’ critical knowledge of social concerns. According to Bonilla.
It assists kids in learning about various ethnic histories as well as non-white ethnic groups’ contributions. Supporters argue that it helps children understand who they are and how they fit into the greater American society.
“The current debate about critical race theory is regrettably dishonest and politically-driven,” Bonilla said. “There is overlap between the theory and ethnic studies in that the curricula use a critically aware and historical perspective of prior events and the systems we have in place today.”
While there is a growing interest in anti-racist education, the researchers point out that it has been politically divisive. They note that anti-racist curriculum and teaching approaches can help schools better promote a fair society and enhance educational achievements for low-income and minority pupils.
“Our results point to this approach having important impacts on students’ high school graduation and college enrollment which is critically important given the relevance of educational attainment on economic success and other socially relevant outcomes like civic engagement and mental health,” Bonilla said.
