At the core of our work is the production of critical, cutting-edge research that is not only squarely dedicated to finding solutions in urban education and promoting the voices of marginalized peoples, but to pushing the methodological and epistemological boundaries of what rigorous research in education looks like. Scroll our projects below or search to learn more.
Together, this groups are focused on building an accessible website filled with digital teaching resources that guide users through histories of two areas of civil rights activism: state-sponsored racial segregation and the varied, creative, and persistent effort of community activists to challenge it, and disability rights activists work to secure equitable schooling. The project team is currently developing teaching resources that feature primary sources - photographs, videos, maps, government reports, newspapers, and more - as well as shareable lesson plans. This project, which is funded in part by a grant from the National Archives and Records Administration/National Historic Records Preservation Commission, promises to fill a needed gap in current curricula for New York City schools.
Co-Directors Ansley Erickson, Brian Jones (New York Public Library), Jeanne Theoharis (Brooklyn College).
Two research questions guide the inquiry: (1) What is the impact of COVID-19 on the education of Black children and youth in the United States? (2) How should educators and community leaders respond to calls for change and action? Informed by the latest news and publicly available reports on COVID’s impact on Black communities and the state of Black education before the outbreak, this study draws from Sharpe’s (2016) conception of Blackness as life “in the wake” and uses historical trauma theory (Sotero, 2006) to contextualize Black education in the COVID moment. The study will use a mixed-methods research design, collecting data through documents, online surveys, and virtual interviews (focus group and individual) with students, parents, teachers, education and community leaders, and policymakers across the U.S.
Sonya Horsford, Principal Investigator.
The main objective of the Nov.1, 2019 conference was to stimulate professional conversations and inquiry, with workshops designed to identify practical applications of theories regarding assessments that educate as well as measure. Pursuant to a grant extension from the NSF, subsequent research is being conducted in advance of the publication of findings.
Edmund Gordon, Principal Investigator.
One promising way to expose teachers and students to a variety of images and diversity of models of mathematics is to include images of diverse people telling their stories about their doing and knowing of mathematics. Although storytelling is a natural part of human activity and is used extensively in other elementary school subjects like social studies and language arts, it is not usually found in elementary mathematics. The project team will collect and curate digital stories of diverse mathematicians sharing stories of their learning within and beyond schools. Then, these short videos will become part of a more extensive digital database of mathematics stories that will be aligned with K-8 mathematics topics and materials developed for teachers to use. Throughout this work, the project team will explore the use of mathematics storytelling on K-8 teacher and student mathematics learning and engagement.
Erica Walker, Principal Investigator.
Sugar Hill is a historically rich community that has evolved into a culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhood. While there has been some attention to physically preserving the architecturally and historically significant structures that exist, we argue that it is also important to preserve the social, historical, and cultural knowledge associated with these structures, especially as demographic changes through gentrification continue to impact Sugar Hill and many other NYC neighborhoods. Additionally, there are important architectural structures that still exist, though their use may have changed. We seek to eventually provide an engaging, richly resourced, educational online resource for multiple audiences: highlighting the neighborhood not only as an important physical geographical location, but also as an exemplar cultural space to disseminate important ideas about art, architecture, politics, history, and education, in addition to other topics and themes.
Cally Waite and Rae Alexander-Minter, Co-Principal Investigators.
Young students will investigate stories from their families and local communities that help them better understand, appreciate, and become interested in how STEM knowledge and skills directly impact their lives and could lead to potential career paths. Utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) and digital mapping technologies, students in grades 3-5 at two public elementary schools will conduct multi-modal research projects to illuminate examples of STEM engagement in their own communities. With the aid of their teachers and university-based researchers, students will examine the science and mathematics embedded within the activities and resources of their local communities.
Students will interview family and community members about how they use mathematics and science in their daily lives, and the focus of their scientific and mathematical inquiries will vary by grade level to align with the specific science content emphasized across grades and the developmental levels of the students. Teachers will incorporate student findings into class-related activities, and students, working closely with their teachers and researchers, will produce multimedia artifacts that include an interactive map embedded with student-created pins linking each student's STEM story project, including visuals, audio files and reports. These artifacts will be showcased during school-wide presentations to engage parents and community members in breaking down racial and cultural divides. Student research will also be posted on the school websites and shared with other educators via social media and publications.
The Harlem Education History Project’s website is a common point of access and a meeting ground for the multiple generations of scholars and community members connected to our project. The project’s Digital Collection makes primary sources in Harlem’s educational history public available, including school yearbooks, newspapers, oral history interviews, and other relevant documentation. The website also features archival materials and oral histories, alongside analytical exhibits created by Teachers College students and participating scholars, high school students, and community members.
The project’s youth-centered component, Youth Historians in Harlem (YHH), brings high-school aged students into our multi-generational learning community on Harlem’s educational history by shaping their own research projects on the history of their school and their community via collaboration with their teachers and school communities. In 2020-21, we are partnering with students and teachers at Wadleigh Secondary School for the Visual and Performing Arts and Central Park East High School.
CFJ apprentices NYC city High School youth, incarcerated youth, and NYC teachers as critical researchers through the use of hip hop, spoken word, digital literacy, and critical social research methods. Founded within the tradition of Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), the efforts of the CFJ program have been dedicated to sustaining the cultures and literacies of youth in connection with developing academic research skills and literacies for social action. Produced by a talented group of IUME players, each semester CFJ facilitators cultivate an intergenerational community of practice, which brings youth research participants together with adult research participants, who serve as facilitators in different content areas. The CFJ team is led by coordinators, Drs. Jamila Lyiscott (IUME Senior Research Fellow) and Limarys Caraballo (IUME Senior Research Fellow); facilitator Mikal Amin Lee; TC students Joe Riina-Ferrie and Danielle Filipiak and Mijin (MJ) Yeom.
As the education research community continues to quantify, analyze, and contend with the perennial disparities, disproportionalities, and disadvantages associated with the education of Black children, the knowledge base upon which these studies are conducted remain limited and disconnected from the everyday needs of Black students and communities. Indeed, the marginalization of Black knowledge claims and perspectives in education research has undermined the field’s ability to translate study findings and policy recommendations into meaningful change for the populations they are purported to serve.
The Black Education Research Collective (BERC) takes up this unresolved dilemma of Black education by deepening and enriching education research with the intellectual contributions, research perspectives, and lived experiences of Black scholars, educators, and activists.
This two-phase project involves archival research about courses, curriculum, department structure, and faculty and students associated with mathematics at key HBCUs, as well as the creation of a digital library of resources and multimedia artifacts related to the history of African American mathematicians, organizations, and institutions instrumental in facilitating excellence in mathematics research, teaching, and learning. This project reflects an interdisciplinary approach to the history of (mathematics) education in general, drawing on the fields of mathematics, history, history of science, and education, and using multiple approaches to curating information and research. Click here to read a blog post about our recent work with the National Association of Mathematicians.
In 2011, TC launched the Raising Educational Achievement Coalition of Harlem (REACH). REACH aims to improve students' educational outcomes in a group of high-need PreK-12 schools in Harlem. It seeks to demonstrate how universities can effectively and strategically partner with public schools in sustainable and cost-effective ways to help address the needs of children and families in distressed communities.
The collective breadth and depth of faculty expertise on issues of race and education at Teachers College, Columbia University is unsurpassed. Our team of TC-affiliated faculty and graduate students from seven different departments has constructed an interdisciplinary, research-based and holistic vision of professional development that enables educators to become more culturally relevant in their practice and tap into the educational benefits to racially and ethnically diverse student populations.
We are both excited and proud of the ways that our faculty work collaboratively in leading a national conversation on these timely issues by leveraging their research and expertise.