BOULDER, CO (October 19, 2021) – In this month’s episode of NEPC Talks Education, NEPC Researcher Christopher Saldaña interviews Sade Bonilla and Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales about how ethnic studies curriculum and responsive pedagogy may increase student academic engagement and attainment. Dr. Bonilla is an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales is a professor of Asian American Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies and a faculty member in the Educational Leadership program at San Francisco State University.
Tintiangco-Cubales explains that ethnic studies courses are designed to include the voices and histories of students whose identities and experiences are not represented in mainstream K-12 curriculum. She also describes the political challenges faced in designing and implementing ethnic studies programs in San Francisco and California.
Bonilla discusses the findings of her study of the effect of the San Francisco ethnic studies curriculum on longer-run student academic outcomes. Using a regression discontinuity approach, Bonilla and co-authors found that students who met GPA requirements and enrolled in the ethnic studies course experienced a significant increase in graduation rates and postsecondary enrollment relative to peers with similar characteristics who narrowly missed qualifying for the course. She cautions, however, that the methodological approach focused on a narrow subset of students transitioning from middle to high school whose teachers received strong support in the implementation of the curriculum. Bonilla explains that contextual factors require further study to establish more clearly any relationship between ethnic studies and student academic outcomes.
As researchers delve deeper into the determinants of the relationship between ethnic studies and student academic outcomes, Bonilla encourages policymakers and school leaders to use that evidence to support the expansion and design of ethnic studies courses. Tintiangco-Cubales challenges researchers and policymakers to consider other student and school outcomes. For example, she argues wellness—which she conceptualizes both as student well-being and their relationship with family and community—as an important metric to study when evaluating the success of ethnic studies courses.
A new NEPC Talks Education podcast episode, hosted by Christopher Saldaña, will be released each month from September through May.
Don’t worry if you miss a month. All episodes are archived on the NEPC website and can be found here.
NEPC podcast episodes are also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher, under the title NEPC Talks Education. Subscribe and follow!