Pushed out at home: Examining the effects of COVID-19 and systemic racism on school discipline
Racial disproportionality in exclusionary school discipline, such as rates of suspension and expulsion, has been documented since long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the social and political realities of COVID-19 and systemic racism are intertwined, both must be addressed in any efforts that seek to remedy the disproportionate impacts of school discipline. Additionally, interventions aiming to address inequity in school discipline outcomes, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Support, Restorative Practices, and Social-Emotional Learning, may not be practical during virtual learning. This study will examine the experiences of students, parents, and teachers through descriptive phenomenology, which seeks to understand what it is like to undergo a particular experience. This data will then be used to conduct further research informing adaptions to whole-school interventions during virtual learning.
Unsettling observation: Reimagining digital school safety
With the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, schools sought a way to maintain student safety through technological means. Districts around the country, including Minneapolis Public Schools, contracted with software companies such as Gaggle, which monitor and report on student activity and claim to keep students safe. However, the role of these technologies is increasingly being questioned by parents, teachers, and lawmakers. Concerns have been raised regarding student privacy, mental health, and disproportionate discipline in relation to surveillance software. The aims of this project are 1) To engage University of Minnesota students in a participatory design process, 2) To generate actionable solutions that address the concerns of student privacy, possible mental health impacts, and disproportionate school discipline related to student surveillance, and 3) To determine what additional data, research, or resources are needed to continue addressing the issues related to student surveillance.
To reach these aims, we conducted an ideathon, which is a type of hackathon. It served as a generative event in which participants radically imagined futures of digital schooling that are inclusive, representative, and truly safe for all students.
Ideathons pose a promising avenue through which to explore and generate solutions to the problem of the digitized surveillance and criminalization of young people in the age of digitized learning, working, and socializing. Using the five principles for a participatory design process outlined by Hope et al., (2019), along with Moses’ process of anti-racist design, participants ideated for two days as part of the larger project seeking to add to the data justice literature.
Public opinion of School Resource Officers in Minnesota
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Mapping for Liberation
Building an anti-racist research prog