Online Resources
An Overview of Educational Equity Indicators for Communities & Their Partners
The Social Policy Hub for Equity Research in Education (SPHERE) released the first publication connected to our SCORE project in Providence. Brenda Santos, PhD graduate assistant for SPHERE, authored An Overview of Educational Equity Indicators for Communities and Their Partners. Before we—CYCLE and SPHERE—endeavored to guide Providence parents and youth in developing a set of community-driven educational equity indicators, we wanted to know what already existed! This review of local, national, and international educational equity indicators provides a research base and recommendations for communities and partners embarking on their own projects of developing equity indicator systems.
10/31/2022
Refugee Resettlement, Resilience, & Resistance: Southeast Asians Against State Violence
Over 50 years ago, millions of Southeast Asian refugees were brought to the United States and resettled in under-resourced neighborhoods throughout New England. Despite socio-economic challenges, they've built vibrant communities and powerful organizations. The "Hidden Truths" series at RWU concluded the 2021-22 school year with "Refugee Resettlement, Resilience, & Resistance: Southeast Asians Against State Violence," a presentation by Keith Catone of CYCLE, with Chanda Womack of the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education, and Sarath Suong of the Southeast Asian Freedom Network.
5/2/2022
Click on the picture above to read the Research Report!
Student Safety & Support in Providence Public Schools Webinar
Following our joint release of research reports underscoring the need for “counselors not cops” in the Providence Public School Department (PPSD), the Center for Youth & Community Leadership in Education (CYCLE) at Roger Williams University and the Social Policy Hub for Equity Research in Education (SPHERE) at Rhode Island College hosted a webinar on “Student Safety and Support in PPSD.”
1/13/2021
Organizing Dispositions for Educational Leadership Virtual Conference
On October 22-24, 2020, our conference took up the question of whether and how organizing dispositions might be employed by educational leaders serving in both traditional and non-traditional leadership positions. During the conference, researchers, education leaders, community organizers, and education reform support organization staff engaged to theorize and deepen understanding about how we might integrate what we know about educational/school leadership with what we know from organizing theory and practice. Conference goals included fostering dialogue within and across participant role groups to encourage inquiry and critique of existing leadership frameworks; articulating how organizing dispositions are an important leadership competency for school district administrators, principals, and teachers; lifting up examples of the ways in which educational leadership can come from outside those with positional authority; and generating ideas and vision for the integration of organizing dispositions into district/school leadership practices, educator preparation and professional development, and educational research agendas. We offer our conference session recordings and resources with hopes that we will continue to deepen the ways in which the field of education will learn from and follow the wisdom of community organizing.
10/24/2020
Community Discussions & Statement on Equitably Reopening RI Schools
During the summer of 2020, when public debates were raging about how and whether to reopen schools in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, CYCLE partnered with local community organizations in Rhode Island to host a series of three online panel discussions sharing community perspectives on the issue. Recordings of these discussions can be viewed here. The candid conversations uncovered many questions, ideas, and concerns that youth, parents, and educators had when it came to the upcoming school year. While the prevailing public conversations about reopening schools seemed to drift into polarized viewpoints, we wanted to lift up what we heard and felt from the youth, parents, educators, and other community members in our work. There were no easy answers to the questions we all had about how and whether we could reopen schools safely and equitably. However, we worked to pull together a shared statement representing a thoughtful balance of considerations aimed at safe school reopenings.
8/11/2020
Parent, Youth, & Community Statement on the Future of Providence Public Schools
After the announcement of the state takeover of the Providence Public Schools District (PPSD), over 20 organizations who have worked for decades to support youth, families, and school improvement in Providence came together to assert their vision for the future of PPSD. While no decision-makers seemed to be asking, we believed it was important to remind them that there are many in the community who have dedicated their heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears to providing Providence youth with the schools and education they deserve. The principles and points raised here in the summer of 2019 remain woefully unrealized in the present.
7/23/2019