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What is the difference in rates of suspension at Linda Vista versus PYLUSD versus California?

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What is the difference in rates of suspension at Linda Vista versus PYLUSD versus California?

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Action: school sites and district needs to report more accurate data of suspensions, including grade level breakdowns.

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Bryley, Emma, & Stephanie

How does LEP enrollment in the Fullerton School District as a whole compare to three individual elementary schools?

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With over half the students in the school being ELs, is there a specific curriculum that must be used in classrooms to serve these students?

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With over half the students in the school being ELs, is there a specific curriculum that must be used in classrooms to serve these students?

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Rio Vista Elementary
Katherine Trejo
Karina Lomeli
Rachel Gallo

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What percentage of students at West Orange are identified as Gifted and Talented?

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What percentage of students at West Orange are identified as Gifted and Talented?

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In order to further support Gifted and Talented Students, educators must understand the necessity of providing materials within their curriculum that challenge these students to reach their full potential. While this modification does require additional work on the teacher’s end, these students deserve the attention in order to further discover their strengths. Doing so can provide life-long motivation to reach higher.

Claudia
Betsy
Giuliana

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Do all Title 1 schools in PYLUSD have over 50% Latinx students?

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Do all Title 1 schools in PYLUSD have over 50% Latinx students?

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Maddie, Ashley, Kelsey.

How can we take action?
While it may seem daunting to take on the redlining of districts, there are still ways to combat poverty in the classroom. As a teacher, it is absolutely vital to create a safe space where students can feel at home. For many students, especially in Title 1 schools, there are many factors that can prohibit their school performance outside of the classroom. One important task teachers can take upon themselves is to provide snacks and food resources for their students. Oftentimes, students in poverty also experience food insecurity and may be hungry in class. Being well fed and cared for can set these students up for success.

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Mathematics Education through the Lens of Social Justice

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Choose a topic and then "data tables"

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The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy.

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National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

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National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

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Social Justice: A Collective Call to Action (Book Study, webinar group)

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Mathematics and Social Justice Resources:  A Collaborative Site

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Mathematics and Social Justice Resources:  A Collaborative Site

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Math and Social Justice: A Collaborative MTBoS Site

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A collaboratively designed collection of resources for exploring social justice issues in the math classroom and striving for equity in math education.

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How does the demographics change in less than a 5 mile radius in the same school district (Tustin Unified)? 

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How does the demographics change in less than a 5 mile radius in the same school district (Tustin Unified)? 

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Grace, Rachelle, Diana

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Money that Fullerton schools spent on Instructional Aides

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Money that Fullerton schools spent on Instructional Aides

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Isabel, Mellodee, Iliana, Katherine

Looking at the amount of students with disabilities (IDEA and 504), how much money does Woodcrest Elementary, Orangethorpe Elementary, and Pacific Drive Elementary spend on instructional aides?

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Two schools only 7 minutes apart in the same school district have very different populations when looking at ethnicity and free and reduced lunch. These schools separated only by a freeway separate two populations from each other. How can a one mile difference result such a different population? How are the boundary lines mapped for attendance areas? These two questions should be answered and made public. As teachers we must advocate for all student populations.

Whitney Anderson, Arianna Haft, and Emily Flores

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What is the percentage of chronically absent students at west orange vs. chronically absent students at other schools in the district?

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What is the percentage of chronically absent students at west orange vs. chronically absent students at other schools in the district?

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Action: Creating attendance competitions amongst grade levels to promote overall class improvement. The winning classes would be provided a prize at the end of the year.

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What is the average grade that EL students are reclassified 

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What is the average grade that EL students are reclassified 

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Putting "pizza party" math to rest by David Stocker

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Guided Search "Fact Finder"

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American FactFinder is your source for population, housing, economic and geographic information.

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Networks: Education for Liberation NYCoRE Teaching to Change LA Campaigns : Cross City Campaign Curricula/Project Resources: Teach...

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Hicks Canyon vs. TUSD

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Why is there such a large disparity between schools in the Fullerton School District in the number of students enrolled in the GATE program?

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Why is there such a large disparity between schools in the Fullerton School District in the number of students enrolled in the GATE program?

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Chelsea, Jen, Nicole, and Yong.

Between schools in the Fullerton School disctrict there are large disparities between the number of enrolled students and number of students in the GATE program. At Orangethorpe Elementary there are 17 students in the GATE program, Pacific Drive has 8, Woodcrest has 7, and then Goldenhill has 98. Each school has between 500 and 700 students enrolled. Since each school is part of the same district, they have the same requirements and process for enrolling students in the GATE program. What curriculum and materials has Goldenhill adopted that supports their students to reach their full potential?

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Title I school vs. non-title I school regarding LEP and Free and Reduced lunch 

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Title I school vs. non-title I school regarding LEP and Free and Reduced lunch 

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Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Data in Title 1 schools vs Non-Title 1 schools in Orange Unified School District (Ryan, Maria, Jason)

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What is the demographic breakdown of Linda Vista, PYLUSD, and the state of California?

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What is the demographic breakdown of Linda Vista, PYLUSD, and the state of California?

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Action: we need a better system of reporting on demographics for more accurate data

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A Guide for Integrating Justice into Mathematics

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A Guide for Integrating Justice into Mathematics

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National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (The Condition of Education)

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National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (The Condition of Education)

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The Condition of Education - At a Glance

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Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) Career/Technical Education Statistics (CTES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) more...

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Solving World Problems:  Social Justice Math

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Solving World Problems:  Social Justice Math

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When people talk about equity in math education, they are often talking about more equal access to high-quality mathematics instruction, better resources, and advanced courses. They might also mean higher achievement for historically low-performing students, like Black students or students from low-income backgrounds. Equitable teaching practices, like these key ideas about mathematics teaching & collaborative math, can go a long way towards helping every student have access to high-quality mathematics learning, and consequently higher achievement. But that's only part of the picture.

An overemphasis on access and achievement through "good" math teaching ignores the fact that the school math curriculum is ripe with political, racial, gender, and other biases. How and what students are expected to learn inherently gives some students easier access than others. The mathematics that we value, and therefore use to gauge achievement, reflects the viewpoints of the dominant group in our society (e.g., white, middle class, heterosexual, able-bodied, male). The existing math curriculum sends strong messages about who is capable of learning math. It's no wonder that some students struggle to succeed in math and that others actively choose not to engage.

For example, consider the following question:

It costs $1.50 to travel each way on the city bus. A transit city "fast pass" costs $65 a month. Which is the more economical way to get to work, the daily fare or the fast pass?

Answer:

5 workdays in a week x 4 weeks per month = 20 workdays in a month

20 days x $3 roundtrip = $60, so the daily fare is cheaper Source

This problem was taken from a district-wide assessment (Tate, 1997), which unfairly relies on assumptions that middle-class students would make. To get the correct answer, you must assume a 5 day workweek. But students from lower income families might ask: How many jobs does this person have? How many days a week do they work? The problem also assumes that the "fast pass" will only be used for commuting to work. But families without a car may use the city bus for grocery shopping and for other trips.

Approaches to math teaching that don't question the math curriculum itself have severe limitations. "Good" teaching alone doesn't necessarily help students overcome inequities in society at large, which stem from racism, classism, sexism, and other sources of marginalization. Students need more critical awareness of how to advocate for themselves - for their own mathematics learning in other math classes or for more equitable opportunities in general.

Focusing on social justice in mathematics education provides an alternative approach to promoting equity.

Teaching mathematics for social justice identifies two pedagogical goals: (1) high quality mathematics instruction for all students; (2) development of sociopolitical consciousness and praxis through mathematics study. Social justice teaching in mathematics focuses on promoting equity within the mathematics classroom, but also on empowering students to understand and confront inequities outside the classroom. It's this second goal that this site is designed to help you with.

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When people talk about equity in math education, they are often talking about more equal access to high-quality mathematics instruction, better resources, and advanced courses. They might also mean higher achievement for historically low-performing students, like Black students or students from low-income backgrounds. Equitable teaching practices, like these key ideas about mathematics teaching & collaborative...

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Stefani
Stephanie
Diana G.
Sydney
Noelle

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Rate of chronically absent students between a high-income and a low-income school

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Rate of chronically absent students between a high-income and a low-income school

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Are Hispanic/Latino parents of Pacific Drive Elementary lacking resources to get their students to school compared to the parents of Sunset Lane Elementary?

Students whose parents/guardians have to go to work early must also wake up early in order to be dropped off at school early or on time. Although, if the students do not wake up early enough with their parents, then they are at risk of being absent from school for the day.

Plan for action:
Open up TheLAB Before & After School Program at Pacific Drive Elementary School, like Sunset Lane Elementary has. If parents cannot afford the tuition and have low-income, then free or partially paid tuition can be provided. As well, certain schools can provide for more Saturday School locations and offer transportation or have a carpool sign up.

- Paulina Phlong & Kevin Park

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Comparison of students that receive Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) at a Title I school vs. Magnet school in Orange Unified School District. 

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Comparison of students that receive Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) at a Title I school vs. Magnet school in Orange Unified School District. 

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We are comparing students who receive FRPL at McPherson Magnet school and Lampson elementary (Title I) to demonstrate the diversity of the school’s demographics. Eela, Courtney, Valerie, and Kiley.

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What is the average grade that EL students are reclassified?

Action: look at the reclassification tests and identify what about the tests inhibit the students from passing, and make necessary changes.

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YouTube Video

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This story map was created with the Story Map Series application in ArcGIS Online.

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Middle School:  Racial Profiling while Driving

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Middle School:  Racial Profiling while Driving

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The purpose of this project is to investigate racial profiling, or Driving While Black or Driving While Brown (DWB/DWB). African Americans and Latinos/as have complained, filed suit, and organized against what they believe are racist police practices-being stopped, searched, harassed, and arrested because they "fit" a racial profile-they are African American (Black) or Latino/a (Brown). But is this true? How do we know? And can mathematics be a useful tool in helping us answer this question?

YEAR/GRADE: 6-9 (originally created for 7-8, can be modified)

CURRICULAR TOPIC: Data analysis (collecting, analyzing data); Probability (simulations, law of large numbers, theoretical/experimental probabilities)

Students learn: (a) how to analyze data collected from a probability simulation; (b) how to set up their own simulation; (c) about the law of large numbers; (d) about the relationship of theoretical probabilities and empirical data.

Students use mathematics to analyze racial profiling data and compare actual data to results of a probability simulation about racial profiling. This then becomes an entry point into a discussion about whether racial profiling is a real issue, is racism a factor, why does it occur, and if it's a problem, what can one do about it.

PART I. Review basic probability ideas. To understand racial profiling, students need to understand several concepts: randomness, experiment, simulation, sample size, experimental and theoretical probability, and the law of law numbers (i.e., the more experiments you run, the closer you come to theoretical probabilities). One way to begin discussing these ideas is to have pairs of students toss a coin 100 times (the experiment) and record results, then combine the class data and have the whole class together examine how the combined data comes closer to a 50-50 split than do the individual pairs (the law of large numbers).

PART II. Find Chicago's racial breakdown. Give each group of students a small bag with colored cubes to match the racial breakdown. I used 9 black (African Americans), 9 tan (whites), 6 reds (Latinos/as), and 1 yellow (Asians/Native Americans) to approximate Chicago racial proportions. Do not tell students the total number of cubes nor how many of each color. Students pick one cube without looking, record its color, and replace the cube. They record the results of each 10 picks in the chart below (tally marks work well). Each line in the chart below is the cumulative total of picks. Tell students that they are conducting an experiment (picking/replacing 100 times), collecting data (recording each pick), and analyzing data (determining from their simulation, how many there are of each color, and the total, and what are the Chicago racial/ethnic percents.

Make sure students record the fraction and percentage of each race/ethnicity for every 10 picks in the chart.

Questions for each group. Emphasize thorough written explanations for all questions.

1) Without opening up the bag, how many cubes of each color do you think are in it? WHY???

2) What happened as you picked more times, and what you think will happen if you pick 1,000 times?

PART III. Investigating DWB/DWB. Here are sample Illinois data based on police reports from 1987-1997. In an area of about 1,000,000 motorists, approximately 28,000 were Latinos/as. Over a certain period of time, state police made 14,750 discretionary traffic stops (e.g., if a driver changes lanes without signaling, or drives 1-5 mph over the speed limit, police may stop her or him but do not have to). Of these stops, 3,100 were of Latino/a drivers. Have students use what they learned in Part II and set up their own simulation of the situation using cubes (they may will need more cubes, but you can let them figure this out. In my class, they either used 3 different-colored cubes of 100, or 1 of 36-this part is very difficult!). Have them pick and replace, record the data, and calculate the results of simulating 100 "discretionary" stops.

3) What percentage of the motorists in Part III were Latino/a?

4) What percentage of the discretionary traffic stops were Latino/a?

5) How did you set up the simulation for problem #3 (how many "Latino/a" cubes and how many total?)? Why did you choose those numbers?

6) How many Latinos/as were picked out of 100 picks, and what percentage is that?

7) Do your results from your simulation experiment (#6) support the claim of racial profiling? Why or why not?

Combine individual groups' results and analyze as a whole class.

1. What did you learn from this activity?

2. How did mathematics help you do this?

3. Do you think racial profiling is a problem, and if so, what do you think should be done about it?

4. What questions does this project raise in your mind?

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CURRICULUM: Driving While Black/Driving While Brown: A Mathematics Project About Racial Profiling

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The purpose of this project is to investigate racial profiling, or Driving While Black or Driving While Brown (DWB/DWB). African Americans and Latinos/as have complained, filed suit, and organized against what they believe are racist police practices-being stopped, searched, harassed, and arrested because they "fit" a racial profile-they are African American (Black) or Latino/a (Brown).

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Demonographics of different schools (2 from PYL, 1 from Santa Ana)

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Demonographics of different schools (2 from PYL, 1 from Santa Ana)

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Madison, Hayley, Juliana

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How does the rate of students who receive in school suspension compare to those who receive out of school suspension? What is the disparity?

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How does the rate of students who receive in school suspension compare to those who receive out of school suspension? What is the disparity?

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Amber, Kristina, Teri

In-school suspension percentage for Black is 2.8%, for White is 22.5%, for Asian is 11.3%, and for Hispanic is 2.8%.
Out-of-school suspension percentage for Black is 6.9%, for White is 14.9%, for Asian is 6.9%, and for Hispanic is 67.6%.

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Skyler
Jenny
Rojelia
Molly

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How does West Orange Elementary compare to the overall District in terms of free & reduced lunches?

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How does West Orange Elementary compare to the overall District in terms of free & reduced lunches?

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West Orange Elementy has 67.2% of their student population on free or reduced school lunches, while OUSD has 44% of the total student population on free and reduced school lunches. This displays a 30% different between West Orange and the district itself. This shows that there is a range of income levels throughout the district which effects our data results.

-Alane Dolensky and Claire Lyon

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What percentage of the ELs at Topaz Elementary are Hispanic?

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What percentage of the ELs at Topaz Elementary are Hispanic?

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TED Talk:  Math as Social Justice (Gina Cherkowski)

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TED Talk:  Math as Social Justice (Gina Cherkowski)

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Math as Social Justice | Gina Cherkowski | TEDxRundleAcademy

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(Try: Special Reports for Schools and Districts)

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A Collection of Resources for Teaching Social Justice 

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A Collection of Resources for Teaching Social Justice 

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(Not just math) Cult of Pedagogy

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Ask teachers to describe the impact they hope to have on their students, and most will eventually say something along these lines: I want my students to grow into responsible citizens. I want my students to participate in society in an active, productive way.

And maybe: I want my students to change the world.

But how many of us know how to make that happen, really? Can we explicitly teach students how to change the world? If this question has been whispering in the back of your mind, the resources in this collection will help.

What is social justice, and how does it fit into the curriculum?

The National Association of Social Workers defines social justice as "the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities." To study social justice is to learn about the problems that dramatically impact quality of life for certain populations, and how people have worked to solve those problems.

If you teach social studies, you'll have no trouble finding direct curricular links to social justice. The National Curriculum Standards for the Social Studies includes Civic Ideals and Practices as one of its 10 Themes of Social Studies, and this includes an emphasis on learning how to get involved in influencing public policy. In history and social studies class, social justice teaching is a natural fit.

In other content areas, teachers disagree over whether social justice has a place. We put ourselves in a vulnerable position by exploring issues that are seen as more controversial than others (a topic I will get into in the next section), and some teachers prefer to completely steer clear of those kinds of complications. For others, social justice was a driving force in why they became teachers, and they weave it into whatever content they are teaching. If you choose to address some or all of these issues in your classroom, the next section offers some tips for doing it effectively.

Some Advice for Teaching Social Justice

As an undergraduate, I served as a student counselor for three years and a resident assistant (RA) for one. I regularly delivered workshops on social justice topics, and I learned a few important lessons along the way. Here are some things to keep in mind when studying social justice issues with your students:

Make getting to know students a key component of any social justice teaching. If you and your students don't spend time examining your own backgrounds, biases, and beliefs, you will be missing an essential component of any social justice curriculum. We all view every social justice issue through the lens of our own experience, and these different lenses can block our growth and learning if we aren't aware of them. If we fine-tune our self-awareness, our individual lenses can richly inform classroom conversations and help us understand issues on a much deeper level, directly from each other.

Know that not all students feel the same way about these issues. Most, if not all, of these resources have been created from a pretty liberal, progressive viewpoint. For example, one of the lessons in the Learning for Justice (formerly known as Teaching Tolerance) series described below is on Confronting Unjust Laws. The lesson uses California's Proposition 8 as an example of an unjust law. But not all of your students (or their families) will see a law like Prop 8 as unjust. In fact, some may strongly oppose same-sex marriage. That doesn't mean you can't talk about controversial issues; in fact, teaching students how to respectfully discuss an issue with people who don't see things the same way is a lesson that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Familiarize yourself with the material before teaching. Sometimes we just skim materials before we teach. With social justice topics, this would be a mistake. Not knowing exactly what's in all of your teaching materials, including the texts or videos you and your students will be looking at, can leave you vulnerable to problems when unexpected content pops up.

Keep your administrator in the loop. As with any potentially controversial lesson, it is essential that you talk to your administrator about it ahead of time. Show the curricular connections between your planned lessons and the standards you're teaching. Talk about potential problems or objections that may come up and how you both plan to address them. That way, if your administrator gets a phone call from a concerned parent, she or he won't be blindsided.

Featured Resources

When I set out to find good resources for social justice teaching, I was looking for classroom-ready materials, lesson plans with supplementary texts or videos that would prompt students to learn about, think about, and talk about social justice issues. I also hoped to find some that would actually teach students about activism, about how a citizen zeroes in on a problem, formulates a solution, then does the grassroots work necessary to see that solution come to life.

Some of these resources fit the bill perfectly, especially the first one on the list. Others do not include lesson plans at all, but serve such an important and innovative role in social justice education, I thought they were essential to include here.

Learning for Justice

This award-winning organization (formerly known as Teaching Tolerance) comes up most often any time social justice teaching is discussed. There's lots to explore on their site, including the Classroom Resources section, which is loaded with lesson plans and other resources teachers can use for free in their classrooms. One of these lessons is Confronting Unjust Practices, where students learn about the anti-segregation actions taken by the Freedom Riders and the attack on one of these buses in Anniston, Alabama (pictured above).

Other lessons from this library include What is Ageism?, Unequal Unemployment, and What Makes a Family? Lessons are available for elementary, middle, and high school students.

DoSomething.org

No lesson plans here: DoSomething.org is an outstanding organization whose goal is to support the work of young people who want to make a difference in their world. Students browse through a big list of campaigns, public education and activism projects students can launch right in their own communities, and choose one or more that they'd like to participate in. Once they have finished a campaign, students submit a photo or video to prove they completed the required steps. This entry makes them eligible to win prizes, including scholarships. Currently, only U.S. students are eligible for these scholarships, but DoSomething.org is expanding into other countries as well.

Although this site will not help you do any direct instruction about social justice, it provides incredible opportunities for students to actively participate in social justice projects. Most campaigns are just right for high school students, and some would be appropriate for middle schoolers as well. Some topics may be considered risque, so review the content before introducing it to students.

On a related note, DoSomething.org is the organization where Katia Gomez, the college student who started her own school in Honduras (featured in the first Cult of Pedagogy documentary last year), got her start. One more bit of trivia that totally doesn't matter but might if you are a Melrose Place fan: DoSomething.org was co-founded by 90's heartthrob Andrew Shue. Squeee!!

The Global Oneness Project

The Global Oneness Project offers a beautiful collection of multicultural films, photo essays, and articles that "explore cultural, social, and environmental issues with a humanistic lens." Many of the featured stories are paired with a lesson plan for high school or college classrooms, aligned with Common Core and national standards.

One such pairing starts with the film Amar, which follows a young Indian boy living in a high-poverty neighborhood through a typical day that includes rising before dawn to do one of his two jobs and attending school. The accompanying lesson plan is called A Day in the Life, which has students examine the film and other resources related to the economic situation in India.

The films are truly stunning. This collection doesn't include explicit teachings in any kind of civics or grassroots activism, but it will provide students with a deep understanding of lives completely unlike their own. And that kind of empathy is one of the most important building blocks for any kind of social justice action.

Pushing the Edge: Social Justice Resources Collection

Educator Greg Curran's podcast covers a range of educational topics, but quite a few episodes circle around issues of social justice. Recently, he curated these resources into a Social Justice Resources Collection. These episodes will be mainly useful for teachers to educate themselves about social justice education: what complications and questions come up, helpful do's and don'ts, and why it's worth it. He interviews practicing teachers and administrators who are walking the walk with social justice teaching. Listening to them will give you a template from which to build your own practice.

Here's an example of one episode, where Curran interviews Nakisha Hobbs, principal of the Village Leadership Academy, a k-8 social justice school in Chicago.

GLSEN: Educator Resources

For teachers who want to include consideration of LGBT issues in their study of social justice, a great source for materials is GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. offers a nice collection of educator guides and lesson plans.

Here are a few examples: The ThinkB4YouSpeak Guide for Educators includes lesson plans, resources, and tips for teachers for addressing anti-LGBT language in the 6-12 classroom. Unheard Voices is a collection of audio interviews with "individuals who bore witness to or helped shape LGBT history in some way." And the Day of Silence Guide shows educators how to run a Day of Silence awareness campaign in their schools.

Educational Video Center

I love this idea: The Educational Video Center teaches students the skills of documentary filmmaking, telling important stories in the name of social justice. Although the EVC holds after-school workshops only for students in New York City, they do offer professional development for teachers anywhere who want to learn how to teach these skills to their own students.

Alumni of the EVC have created documentaries on everything from criminal justice to domestic violence to mental health. You can view a collection of trailers for student-created documentaries here.

The Two Dollar Challenge

The Two Dollar Challenge is a challenge issued to people who want to make an impact on poverty. The challenge is simple: For 5 days, live on just $2 per day, publicizing the complexities of global poverty and helping to raise funds for a partner organization.

What's most striking about this organization is their emphasis on cultivating a deep respect for people affected by poverty and raising participants' awareness of their own privilege. One look at the project's code of conduct shows just how serious they are about that mission: "At all times participants must respect those nearby who are truly in need. If at any time those taking the Challenge are using resources which are valuable for indigent residents in the area this action must be re-evaluated."

Anti-Defamation League

The ADL's collection of lesson plans explore topics in categories like gender issues, sexism, ableism, religious bigotry, and racism. For example, What is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?, a lesson for high school students, has students study and discuss the impact of zero-tolerance policies in schools, statistics on the connection between school suspensions and the juvenile justice system, and their own school discipline policy. The end of the lesson offers students a choice of next steps for taking action on this issue. Lessons are available for preschool through high school.

Update: Since publishing this post, a few readers have pointed out that some of ADL's other website content (separate from this curriculum) takes a strong stance on issues relating to Israel and may offend some users. I still feel that this curriculum contains incredibly valuable lessons on very recent events that you won't find anywhere else, but this reinforces my second and third points above: Know your audience, and read through the materials carefully. For more details on this issue, please read the comments below. This article may also shed some light on the topic.

Further Reading

Stirring Up Justice
Laurel Schmidt, Education Leadership, May 2009
Explores the value and process of teaching students about activism. Offers a template for how to engage students in authentic conversations about difficult issues, ask themselves what they can do about social justice issues, consider ways they have already acted in the past, study how other kids and young adults have successfully solved problems, and participate in their own social justice projects.

Turning Current Events Into Social Justice Teaching
Jinnie Spiegler, Edutopia, January 6, 2016
Spiegler, the curriculum director for the Anti-Defamation League (the first resource in this post) offers advice on teaching social justice topics in a way that's both sensitive and productive.

Educolor Resources
Educolor, an organization dedicated to an equitable, just education for everyone, maintains this list of books, movies, articles, and websites that will educate teachers and students on issues of social justice, especially as it pertains to educational equity.

The Best Teacher Resources Sites for Social Justice
Larry Ferlazzo, Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day, July 1, 2008
A big list of resources related to social justice education.
What Are Your Favorite Social Justice Resources?
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you have a resource you like to use for teaching about social justice, please share it in the comments below. ♦

Keep in touch.
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A Collection of Resources for Teaching Social Justice

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Want your students to actively engage in addressing inequality? Explore this annotated bibliography of resources for teaching students about social justice.

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Comparing the enrollment of different ethnicities in three districts compared to California as a whole.

Morgan
Megan
May

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Why does the percentage of out-of-school suspensions increase for Black students while decreasing for White students?

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Why does the percentage of out-of-school suspensions increase for Black students while decreasing for White students?

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Amber, Kristina, Teri

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How does the percentage of LEP students compare from Taft Elementary to Imperial Elementary?

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Is GATE representation proportional by ethnicity to the school enrollment?

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Is GATE representation proportional by ethnicity to the school enrollment?

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Action: Research what the GATE test looks like.

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Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Mathematics: A Critical Need by Shelly Jones, Ph.D.

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Is GATE student enrollment demographics representative of the whole school of Loma Vista? How do GATE student demographics compare to John Muir Across the street?

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Is GATE student enrollment demographics representative of the whole school of Loma Vista? How do GATE student demographics compare to John Muir Across the street?

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We noticed that there was a difference in the ethnic makeup of the GATE population at Loma Vista Elementary in TUSD. We also wanted to compare GATE demographics with neighboring school John Muir, which is in SAUSD.
-Mindy and Cami

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-Bryley, Emma, & Stephanie

How does the LEP enrollment of the Hispanic, Asian, and White ethnicities compare within the three schools?

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Stoddard Elementary vs. Anaheim Elementary District

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Stoddard Elementary vs. Anaheim Elementary District

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Does SES, shown by percentage of students on Free and Reduced Priced Lunch, have a correlation with percentage of students who identify as ELL’s?

Sam
Sam
Morgan
Heidi
Madelyn

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Relative to the total population of a Title one school to one that is not (West Orange / McPherson) how does the hispanic population of GATE students compare?

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Is GATE representation at Morse Elementary proportional by ethnicity to the school enrollment?

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Is GATE representation at Morse Elementary proportional by ethnicity to the school enrollment?

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Action: Research what the GATE test looks like.

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Gifted and Talented Percentages among Asian, Hispanic, and White Populations.

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Gifted and Talented Percentages among Asian, Hispanic, and White Populations.

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Peter's Canyon vs. Bryant Ranch vs. California (statewide)

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Why do some schools in FSD have more English Learners?

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Why are so few LEP’s in Gifted and Talented Programs in PYLUSD?

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Why are so few LEP’s in Gifted and Talented Programs in PYLUSD?

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Based on the data and research, there is a discrepancy between the number of non-LEP students and LEP students in gifted and talented programs. Are these LEPs not being properly assessed and identified for the gifted and talented programs? Are their talents not being identified due to their English Language barrier?

Sady
Cady
Amy

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How does West Orange compare to other schools such as McPherson and Serrano that are considered non-Title I schools, in terms of the number of chronically absent students the schools have?
- Hannah, Kasey, Katelyn, & Jini

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GATE students by ethnicity at Fairmont Elementary

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GATE students by ethnicity at Fairmont Elementary

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School enrollment compared to the enrollment of the gifted and talented students at Loma Vista.

-Mindy and Cami

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Comparing Gate enrollment between a high and low income school

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Comparing Gate enrollment between a high and low income school

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What is the difference in LEP Enrollment between a Title 1 school and a Magnet School?

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What is the difference in LEP Enrollment between a Title 1 school and a Magnet School?

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Even though the total enrollment of students at McPherson Magnet school ishigher their percentage of students in LEP enrollment is lower than West Orange Elementary. McPherson only has 8.1% of their students who are considered LEP students. West Orange Elementary has 40.8% of their students who are considered LEP students.

Stephanie and Julie

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Are Hispanics less represented in English Language Instruction programs?

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Are Hispanics less represented in English Language Instruction programs?

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Action item: Research and identify students not enrolled in the program. After identification, talk to families and inquire why students are not enrolled in program.

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Nini, Molly, Leanne

Comparison of number of students with disabilities who have chronic absences versus their mainstream peers at both Mabel Paine and Bryant Ranch.

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Neighboring schools and variations in populations

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Neighboring schools and variations in populations

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Why do two schools in the same school dristrict, only 4.4 miles apart, have large variations in their Asian and Hispanic (Latinx) populations?

What is the correlation between the amount of LEP students at Sunset Lane (Asian population dominant) and Orangethorbpe (Hispanic/Latinx population dominant) amongst the Hispanic(Latinx) and Asian populations?

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The difference in gifted population between a title 1 school and a non title 1 school
Seleny, Alondra

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Comparing 2 Title 1 schools with a school located in a higher income area.

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Comparing the percentage of chronically absent students at Madison Elementary vs. Santa Ana School District 

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Comparing the percentage of chronically absent students at Madison Elementary vs. Santa Ana School District 

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Taylor, Michie, & Matthew- Block 9
1. Does the number of students enrolled in a school affect how much funding the school gets?

2. Why is there a difference in the amount of money given for each student at each school?

Portola Hills Elementary
Enrollment: 780
Per pupil :$2,755.25
Total Expenditure: $2,149,094.15

Lake Forest Elementary
Enrollment: 880
Per pupil: $2,869.39
Total Expenditure: $2,525,066.56

Trabuco Mesa
Enrollment: 597
Per pupil: $2,784.00
Total Expenditure: $1,662,049.01

We researched three schools in SVUSD and found these results:

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Esencia K-8 by Sarah W, Danielle G, Jessica W

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Esencia K-8 by Sarah W, Danielle G, Jessica W

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What is the teacher to counselor ratio for Capistrano Unified?

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Canyon Hicks Elementary is located in Irvine, but is within the Tustin Unifed School District. For that reason, we chose to compare the differances between Free and Reduced lunch in the Irvine and Tustin districts. We also chosen compare schools within those two districts.
Evelyn, Alyssa, Viana, Maricarmen

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Based on numbers there seems to be a discrepancy between the amount of children graduating from elementary, moving into jr. high and entering high school. How many students are slipping through the cracks? Where are they going?

Jennifer, Olivia, Ezri, Kristina

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What is the GATE population compared to the total student population at Hicks Canyon Elementary School?

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Our group was curious of the differences between students who receive free and reduced lunch in two different socioeconomic areas that are a few miles away from each other.

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We found that the number of counselors directly correlates with the number of disciplinary actions (suspensions ). The number of counselors in 2009 was 19, with only 5 disciplinary actions. The number of counselors in 2015 was 0, with 20 disciplinary actions.