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The UCLA Community Archives Internship Project, led by Associate Professor of Information Studies Michelle Caswell, has been awarded a renewal grant of $340,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to continue funding paid internships at community archives for UCLA MLIS students and to conceptualize an expansion of the paid community archives internship program to MLIS programs across the United States.

“I'm really excited to see what the next three years has in store for this project,” says Caswell, who serves as principal investigator for the UCLA Community Archives Lab’s research projects. “The students in our MLIS program do the most amazing community-engaged work. I was completely in awe of the work that they managed to do, even remotely - deeply community engaged work that ran the gamut from the most highly conceptual theoretical [work] to the most nuts-and-bolts necessary work that community archives need. Every single student in the internship program has made themselves useful to a community-based archive in incredible ways: writing grant proposals, creating digital preservation plans, assembling bookshelves, compiling mailing lists, doing video interviews with community elders, and creating interactive finding aids to provide context to collections.  

“This grant from The Mellon Foundation will enable those students to continue to get paid to do this kind of work. Payment is absolutely essential. If we don't enable our students to get paid internships, it perpetuates inequality in the field, because it means only the most wealthy students can afford to do internships, which provide experience that  is necessary for employment after graduation.”

With the support of the Mellon Foundation over the past three years, the Community Archives Internship Project has placed 26 students at 15 community archives sites, where they have accomplished crucial work processing and digitizing collections, enacting participatory description projects, organizing exhibitions and other outreach activities, fundraising, and building digital asset management systems. The project has been instrumental in helping preserve and make accessible the unknown histories of marginalized communities in Los Angeles, while at the same time increasing the capacity of community archives and providing MLIS students with paid opportunities to gain practical skills. 

Professor Caswell notes that the project not only provides professional skills for UCLA MLIS students, but that the networking opportunities within the internships have resulted in valuable connections and even employment for students. 

“After three years of running the program, we have a lineage where students are getting hired by the sites where they have interned,” she says. “We have two former students who are now archivists at the Skid Row History Museum, one former intern who just graduated who was hired at the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, and another student who was hired to work at the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive. That speaks volumes to the work that the students are doing, that the sites themselves are so excited about working with the students that they're finding ways to fund them in ongoing positions.”

Other graduates of the program have reported the importance of the skills they acquired at their community sites to their current work in libraries and archives, including positions at UCLA’s Ethnomusicology Archives, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Santa Barbara Library Foundation.

The next proposed phase of the Community Archives Internship Project will place 21 student interns at seven sites over three years. The sites are: La Historia Society; the Skid Row History Museum and Archive; the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives; the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive; Visual Communications; the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California; and The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC).

Given the success of the Community Archives Internship Project at UCLA, the next phase will also develop plans to convene a group of archival studies faculty from iSchools across the country to design a paid community archives internship program for MLIS students nationwide. 

Professor Caswell says that in the wake of national debates over the teaching of critical race theory, the work of the Community Archives Internship Project and UCLA Community Archives Lab is all the more important. 

“Community archives build archival systems, practices, and theories that are designed to support the needs of minoritized communities rather than oppress them,” she says. “Critical race theory asserts that white supremacy is baked into dominant institutions in the U.S.. Rather than trying to change dominant archival institutions that were designed to oppress, community archives enable minoritized communities to create their own theories and practices that liberate rather than harm. As a field, archival studies needs to take these theories and practices very seriously if we are going to remain relevant and contribute to transformative justice in our society.

Professor Caswell says that while UCLA has led the charge nationwide in preparing a workforce of community archives professionals, she hopes that the establishment of a nationwide program of paid internships for MLIS students will be instrumental in shaping community-engaged archival practices both in the United States and globally.

“The new component is to figure out how we can increase the impact of the program by working with faculty at other iSchools who teach community engaged archives and community engaged practices,” she says. “We’ll be looking at MLIS curricula to see how the curriculum at the iSchools is being transformed to reflect community-based theories and practices as well, so that the students are properly trained before they go into community archives sites.

“The idea is really to transform the MLIS curriculum nationally [and] hopefully eventually internationally … looking at these community centered practices that have developed in minoritized communities and taking those theories and practices really seriously and pushing back against the [current] archival studies core, which is based on dominant Western values, and fully take seriously and incorporate values and practices from minoritized communities, BIPOC communities, and/or LGBTQ + communities.”

Caswell, who has been recently appointed chair of the UCLA Department of Information Studies, observes that the field of archival studies is now in “a transformative period.”

“The field has completely changed, I would say, in the past 10 years,” she says.  “We’re really in an exciting time to be within archival studies. We have a lot of work to do, and a lot of catching up because the field has been really conservative and holding on to those dominant Western practices for so long. But there are so many signs that those practices are dissipating, being chipped away at, and being replaced with values and practices that really respond to the needs of minoritized communities.

“I was just looking at the schedule for AERI, the Archival Education and Research Initiative that, which is an annual conference and workshop, and the schedule for this year, 10 years ago, would not have been possible. The kinds of conversations that are happening in the field have completely shifted in really exciting ways in the past decade. Support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for community archives is certainly a part of that as well.”

UCLA IS will seek to establish a nationwide community archives internship program that provides students with both professional training and financial support.

Michelle Caswell: Renewal of Mellon Foundation Grant to Support Community Archives Internships

At some schools in California, nearly 1 in 5 students say they have either carried a weapon or been injured or threatened with one, according to a new study co-authored by UCLA Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor that examines the presence of weapons in the state’s public middle and high schools and recommends focusing on campus-level conditions that could serve as warning signs for violence.

“Although tragic incidents of shootings in schools are rare and directly affect only a small number of students, tens of thousands of students report bringing weapons to school, and many more see other students in their school carrying weapons,” said Astor, who holds joint appointments at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and UCLA School of Education and Information Studies.

The study, co-authored with Rami Benbenishty of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was published recently in the Journal of School Violence.

Based on surveys of nearly 890,000 California students in grades 7, 9 and 11, the research focuses on all types of weapons — not only guns — and assesses how factors such as the level of crime in a school’s surrounding neighborhood, students’ feelings of belongingness or victimization at school, their relationships with teachers and staff, and their perceptions about whether disciplinary practices are fair can heighten or lower the potential for weapons-carrying and violence.

This holistic or school-wide approach represents a significant departure from previous school-violence studies, which have typically sought to identify risk factors around individual students who might pose a threat, Astor noted.

“A major limitation of current ‘shooter’ studies is that they tend to maintain a narrow focus on individual perpetrators,” the authors write. “Although it is very difficult to detect students who perpetrate school shootings, it is possible to identify schools that have many students who are involved with weapons.”

“It is imperative to develop a monitoring system to identify such schools and channel resources to this vulnerable group of students, educators and parents,” said Astor, who teaches a UCLA undergraduate course on ways to improve school safety. “We must create opportunities to hear their voices and explore local solutions that make their schools safer.”

Fostering a warm, supportive school environment is key to reducing the presence of weapons and creating a truly safe campus, according to the authors, whose previous research has demonstrated that prioritizing a culture of care, funneling more resources to vulnerable schools and elevating the voices of students, teachers and students leads to a drop in the number of weapons at schools.

In this new study, Astor and Benbenishty also focus on the unintended negative consequences of past efforts to deter individual shooters by “hardening” schools with metal detectors, security cameras and armed staff, as well as “active shooter” drills and harsh mandatory punishments that research shows often demonstrated bias against students of color.

These measures, they noted, frequently created fortress-like campuses that greatly diminished students’ well-being, heightened the fear of violence on school grounds and sent more of the nation’s children into the school-to-prison pipeline.

For the full story and for a link to the report, “School- and Student-Level Prevalence and Predictors of Weapon-Related Behaviors and Experiences among Secondary Schools in California,” visit the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs website.

For media coverage of Professor Astor’s report, visit these links:

Co-authored study published in the Journal of School Violence gauges prevalence of weapons on campuses, looks at factors that put schools at risk.

Ron Astor: New Study Reveals 1 in 5 California Students Have Carried or Been Threatened with a Weapon

As founding director of the Black Male Institute at UCLA, Tyrone Howard has examined the complex issues of education for young males of color and led his undergraduate researchers in projects that seek to improve the trajectories for these youth. However, as a father of four, the professor of education has had to teach his children to face some hard truths about race relations.

A recent Los Angeles Times article focused on the ways that parents explain to their children the racial dynamics behind events such as the violent deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and five police officers in Dallas. In it, Professor Howard shares how he spoke to his children about race when they were very young, and taught them to be proud to be Black. He also let them know that they would be held to a higher standard than their non-Black peers and about societal fear and institutionalized violence against Black people.

“The conversation is continually reinforcing the strengths, gifts, and accomplishments that each one of them possesses,” says Howard. “It is an ongoing conversation, that despite the negative stereotypes that exist about various groups, they are not defined by those depictions. I think that this is an approach many parents of color use to combat the societal stereotypes that are not always positive.”

In the article, Howard says that he contacts his three sons – who are now between the ages of 17 and 24 – whenever there is a police shooting and reminds them to comply if approached by officers, although his oldest son reminds him that even Black men who respond peacefully to police are still treated with brutality or are killed. He describes the challenge that parents of young men of color have in protecting their children with caution.

“Many parents of color, and parents of young Black males in particular, can share stories of their children being profiled, stopped, or questioned by law enforcement and in schools,” notes Howard. “There is always a difference across racial boundaries, in terms or how they are treated in schools and in communities. It is frightening, because you cannot always be present with them, so you just reinforce what you have always told them about such situations.”.

Professor Howard is currently analyzing data from a project funded by The California Endowment on counternarratives of high-achieving young males of color in Los Angeles County schools. Howard, who serves as principal investigator, led a team of BMI researchers in identifying and interviewing young men between the ages of 14-18 who live and attend schools in Los Angeles County, and have demonstrated academic achievement, family and community engagement, or leadership skills. The results will be published this fall.

“For me, the issues happening across the country are real, because me, my sons, and other men of color, can easily find ourselves in an uncomfortable position around these issues,” says Howard. “So my work is intimately connected to how young men make meaning out of situations in their schools and communities.”

Last year, Professor Howard was recognized with two UCLA awards – the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award and the Harvey L. Elby Art of Teaching Award. He has also been honored by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) with the Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Lifetime Scholarship (2015).

To read, “Why are people mad at each other?: Explaining another shocking week of violence to your kids” in The Los Angeles Times, click here.

As founding director of the Black Male Institute at UCLA, Tyrone Howard has examined the complex issues of education for…

Tyrone Howard: Explaining Racial Violence to Children

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM) and the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies (SE&IS) are proud to announce the establishment of a new collaborative entity, the Academy for Excellence in Medical Education. To celebrate this exciting new joint endeavor, DGSOM and SE&IS will host a formal launch, which will take place virtually on Thursday, August 19, 2021 at 4 p.m. PST.  The event will include opening remarks by the inaugural co-directors UCLA Professor of Education Christina (Tina) Christie, Wasserman Dean, SE&IS, and Dr. Clarence Braddock, Executive Vice Dean and Vice Dean for Education, DGSOM. A keynote address will be delivered by one of the most recognized national leaders in medical education, Dr. Kelley Skeff, co-director and co-founder of the Stanford Faculty Development Center for Medical Teachers and the George DeForest Barnett Professor.

The mission of the Academy will be to promote excellence in the field of medical education through research, professional development, school and community programs, and the cultivation of a community of medical education scholars and practitioners. The Academy brings together UCLA’s global expertise in medicine and in education respectively, for the common goal of excellence in all areas of medical education. In view of the two schools’ shared values of social justice and service to community, this collaboration affords unparalleled opportunities to further equity, inclusion and diversity in all areas of medical education. 

Core faculty members for the Academy include Amy Waterman, Ph.D., professor-in-residence, DGSOM; Dr. Gerardo Moreno, associate professor of Family Medicine and Director of UCLA PRIME-LA (Program in Medical Education), DGSOM; Professor Anne Gilliland, associate dean, UCLA Department of Information Studies; Professor Noreen Webb, vice chair, UCLA Department of Education; and Professor Michael Seltzer, UCLA Department of Education.

“Medical education is changing, with a renewed need to infuse the science of teaching and learning into all aspects of training future physicians. We must move away from old-fashioned notions such as ‘see one – do one – teach one’ to concepts such as deliberate practice, embodied in simulation-based education, as vital steps to improving the quality and safety of patient care,” says Dr. Braddock. “Through this partnership between two renowned schools, we will pair leading scholars in teaching and learning with a strong spirit of innovation and creativity that is growing in our medical school faculty.”

“We share many values between our schools, beyond a strong commitment to excellence in teaching and innovative change. We also share strong traditions of service and commitment to social justice. By partnering in the community space, we can enhance the health of Los Angeles via health education delivered in our schools.”

Catherine Nameth, Director of Faculty Professional Development, DGSOM, says that,”The Academy is an opportunity for the DGSOM and SE&IS communities to create a shared dialogue in the field of medical education, informed by personal experience, research, and professional practice.

“While there are endless opportunities for faculty professional development in medical education, one example is curriculum development,” she says.  “Faculty who are in the Medical Education Fellowship - Year 1 program will learn foundational concepts in curriculum development and apply these concepts to their teaching context, while faculty in MEF 2 might explore the field of curriculum development from the perspective of educational research and create their own research project in this area. Faculty who are not in MEF but who are interested  in curriculum development could access Academy resources, including an extensive community of colleagues, to analyze and redesign their current curriculum in order to make it more equitable and inclusive for all learners.”

“Through the partnership between the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies and the David Geffen School of Medicine, we seek to inspire innovative pedagogies and educational research that will positively inform teaching and learning in medical contexts,” says Dean Christie. “Uppermost in our minds is that medical education is engaged, it is interactive, and it is dynamic, whether conducted in the classroom or the bedside.”

“We hope to achieve these ideals by thinking afresh a physician’s role as a student, as a learner, and as a community-engaged partner in Los Angeles,” she says. “Central to our work is also the ethic of social justice and how medical education research and pedagogy may alleviate long-standing health disparities in the communities we serve. We believe that our efforts in this partnership will also help us think through promising educational practices in nursing, dentistry and other allied health professions.”

The Academy will formally unite several current programs that are jointly being undertaken by the two schools, such as the Medical Education Fellowship (MEF) and the Optimal Wellness Curriculum for the elementary grades.

MEF prepares faculty members to take on leadership roles for medical, residency, and continuing education. Faculty Fellows become conversant with the current literature on medical education while developing research skills for the purpose of informing and evaluating educational practices. These faculty members are thereby able to lead the development of essential learning goals, design effective educational experiences, improve measures of performance, and assess the quality and impact of existing educational programs. 

The Fellowship consists of two year-long professional development programs, a Certificate Program in Innovations in Curriculum Design and Evaluation, where participants are exposed to the art and science of teaching and curriculum development; and a Fellowship in Medical Education Scholarship program, where participants are exposed to research methodologies in medical education and implementation and evaluation of a curricular innovation.

“The first-year fellowship program allows early career medical school faculty to become skilled and scholarly teachers; teachers who base their approach not on hunches but on the science of teaching and learning,” says Braddock. “The second year fellowship provides a foundation of research skills to enable medical school faculty to become teaching scholars, contributing to the literature of the best evidence of effective and innovative pedagogy.”

“MEF introduces health professionals to fundamental principles of teaching and learning and to educational research—all with the goal of helping them become more intentional, effective and informed educators and researchers,” says Erin Powers, director of the UCLA National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Project. “It is grounded in the firm belief that sound pedagogies that create caring and informed learning spaces will ultimately translate into better health outcomes for patients. Through its programs, MEF also fosters a community of practice where like-minded professionals can share promising techniques and seek support and guidance for their educational goals. We believe MEF fulfills a real need in medical education.”

The Optimal Wellness Curriculum program is a health education curriculum development project for the elementary grades. The project is a collaboration between SE&IS, DGSOM and UCLA Lab School. Its goal is to design and pilot a holistic health education curriculum for younger students (ages 4-5) in all areas of health including physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and mental well-being, with the recognition of children as active agents of positive change in their lives, their classrooms and their communities. 

Learning objectives include intelligent and thoughtful decision making with respect to overall health and wellness. Design principles of the curriculum include engaged inquiry, experiential content and collaborative work. The curriculum provides flexibility for teachers to tailor learning experiences to school and family cultures while at the same time meeting and exceeding relevant elementary school health standards (e.g. Health Education Content Standards for California Public Schools, etc.) 

“The Wellness Curriculum Project was conceived before the pandemic and it’s provided an excellent anchor for all of us who are involved to continue to strive for wellness, even in the midst of such difficult circumstances,” says Renata Gusmão-García Williams, vice-principal of UCLA Lab School.

Over the last year and half, a select group of teachers from the Lab School with representatives from the Department of Education and the David Geffen School of Medicine have met regularly to design the curriculum along these lines. A draft year-along curriculum with three units is now ready and will be piloted in the Lab School in two classrooms starting in fall of 2021. Future plans include developing a curriculum for all elementary grades, disseminating the curriculum to other public schools and providing professional development to teachers to implement the curriculum. 

“By introducing these foundational topics in the early years, children will gain the agency needed for a lifetime of optimal health,” notes Powers. “When students share their learning with their families and communities, the possibilities for positive impact on students’ health are endless.”

The Academy for Excellence in Medical Education and its current programs is a precursor to a future collaboration between DGSOM and SE&IS to create an Institute of Medical Education, with goals that include conducting foundational research at the forefront of medical education; enhancing the teaching and mentoring of medical facultyin the classroom as well as in the clinic; recommending effective evaluation and assessment procedures for DGSOM’s educational goals; expanding and enhancing the effectiveness of health education in schools and communities; and creating and fostering a community of scholars and practitioners in the field of medical education for the creation, dissemination and sharing of research and exemplary practices. 

A proposal for the Institute of Medical Education has been developed and is under review by campus leaders. Even now, efforts are underway to find appropriate sponsors and supporters. 

“The partnership between the David Geffen School of Medicine and the School of Education and Information Studies is premised on the notion of leveraging different but complementary expertise from each of the schools for the purposes of furthering a common goal namely, excellence in medical education,” says Arif Amlani, director of program development at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. “DGSOM brings unparalleled expertise in medicine and SE&IS brings renowned expertise in pedagogy and educational research. This combined expertise is a potent force for innovation and creativity in medical education.” 

Visit this link to attend the formal launch of the Academy for Excellence in Medical Education.

L-R: Christine Thang, MD; Erin Powers, director, UCLA National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Project; Arif Amlani, director of program development at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies; Adrienne Keener, MD; Manuel Celedon, MD; Clarence H. Braddock III, MD, MPH, MACP, executive vice dean and vice dean for education, David Geffen School of Medicine; Claire Burton, MD; Xavier Cagigas, PhD; Jason F. Lee, MD, MPH; Karen Morgenshtern, MD; and Emily Martin, MD.

Courtesy of the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM) and the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies (SE&IS) are…

UCLA Expertise to Launch the Academy for Excellence in Medical Education

Andrea Gambino decided to pursue her advanced degree in higher education while teaching  Honors Civics and Economics at Wake STEM Early College High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the wake of the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency.

“It was a very somber tone during that class,” recalls Gambino, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. “One of my students said to me, ‘Miss Gambino, we have to take action, we need to do something. I’m really concerned about how this is going to impact my family.’ We immediately started writing local and federal-level legislators, but this moment re-ignited my enduring goal to work with the next generation of teachers. I wanted to find ways to support and expand connections between k-12 schools, universities, and policy stakeholders to advance social justice through education.”

“This was a really defining moment for me, I made a promise to myself and to the students in class on this day that I would pursue my Ph.D. in education to advance social justice,” says Gambino. “I love teaching more than anything in this world, but I wanted to be able to support teachers as they’re also doing this work, creating change with students in their communities, while also having an impact on policy.”

Gambino was drawn to the school’s Social Sciences and Comparative Education program, and the work of Associate Professor of Education Edith Mukudi Omwami, which is centered on advocacy for young girls and women in Kenya and creating progress for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

Gambino’s own work in international education began through a collaboration with her former graduate professor Hiller A. Spires, Ph.D., executive director of The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and associate dean of NC State’s College of Education, and Marie Himes, research associate, The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University. Professor Spires invited Gambino to serve as a collaborative partner teacher with her students from Wake STEM Early College High School and students at Suzhou North America High School in Suzhou, China, with the support of the New Literacies Collaborative. This cross-cultural collaboration was grounded in Spires’ flagship Project-based Inquiry Global (Spires, Himes, & Lyjak, 2016) framework which fuses student-created inquiry-to-action projects to generate awareness and progression to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

“I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would get to continue my higher education studies and be [at UCLA] amongst incredible faculty and students,” says Gambino. “This program has such an emphasis on social justice locally and globally – it’s absolutely changed my life.”

While still teaching, Gambino worked with North Carolina State University’s New Literacies and Global Learning M.Ed. program and first learned of critical media literacy from Professor Spires, who continues to be her mentor and currently serves as an external member on her dissertation committee. Her dissertation is focused on teachers’ journeys and practices of critical media literacy across the content areas in the United States .

Gambino, who has served as a teaching assistant for the last three years at UCLA, views teaching as her center in tandem with her goals as a scholar and researcher.

“Teaching is so much a part of my identity, I can’t imagine my life without it,” she says. “One of the most difficult things about pursuing my Ph.D. was leaving the secondary classroom.  But I feel the deepest gratitude to be able to continue my teaching journey as a teaching assistant at UCLA. I truly feel that relationships between teachers and students that are grounded in love and respect should be the foundation of all teaching and learning.” 

“I think we hear a lot about how teachers impact students, but I want students to know how much they impact teachers and the future of education and the world. None of this is possible without them, and so truly, I attribute [to them] the work that I do and hope to do. They’ll always be my why,they’re absolutely what sustains and grounds me in my work. I hope to be able to make them proud and to do everything that I can to advance equitable education for them in my future.”

Gambino recently wrote this essay as a tribute to her fellow students, her undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral students, and her own professors and men/femtors.

What Students Continue to Teach Me
By Andrea Gambino

I will never forget the last day of teaching in the face-to-face environment on March 10, 2020 at the University of California Los Angeles. It was right before what was intended to be the final class with a glorious and vibrant bunch of undergraduate students in Scandinavian Literature 50W. We were in the midst of having writing conferences right before our evening class. I was sitting with a student named Ivy Liu who I was talking through her brilliant final essay about the interconnectedness between race, class, gender, sexuality and other forms of identity-based oppression during the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Era in the 1880-1890s. 

Ivy turned to me and showed me a glistening cell phone with an email stating that UCLA would be closing in-person operations for the time being. Ivy’s voice wavered, “Andrea, what is going on? Is this real? It’s okay, right? We don’t know what’s going on but we can figure this out together?” I turned to Ivy and said, “I’m not sure what is going on, Ivy, but I know we will figure this out together.”

I quickly pinged my TA supervisor by email and he shared with me and my fellow TAs that we should plan to close-out everything we could with students and to tell them not to worry about their final papers right now. He emphasized that we meet and listen to students and take a moment to celebrate all we had learned together in case this might be our last in-person class for the quarter. I approached the counter of my favorite space of shared dialogue with students for writing conferences (Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Café) and ran my credit card to buy every doughnut and snack that I could temporarily afford. Ivy and I broke out in an all-out sprint, snacks in tow, and raced to our cherished classroom in Rolfe 3121 where we often would pause class to watch the sunset together, open the windows, and feel inspired by campus chatter. 

“Final” classes with students continue to remain bittersweet to me throughout the years. As a secondary public school teacher for 10 years, I often asked myself whether “saying goodbye” would ever get easier. I quickly learned that “goodbye” is not something that I adhere to as an educator. I truly believe that to have the honor of teaching and learning alongside students unearths the opportunity to create a community that is lasting and far exceeds the linear construct of time emplaced on an academic year, semester, or quarter. But, the level of emotions I felt when parting physical ways with these students is an instance I will never forget. 

We talked and engaged in dialogue, exchanged thoughts and concerns about what was going on and why it could be, but ultimately decided as a class that we would remain connected and quickly set-up a system via Google Meets to remain in communication. We celebrated soon-to-be graduates and gap year plans, laughed about memories from class, and talked about the kinds of writers and activists we were becoming. A wonderful student named Olivia Chung handed me a note in an envelope that I tucked in my teal lesson planning notebook and I protected that note with my life. Letters from students will always remain one of my most favorite things in this world. 

As I walked home briskly and crossed my favorite Westwood streets which never cease to fill me with a sense of collective being in this city – I remember being perplexed by questions and with unknowns. I truly had no idea – like so many others – what would ensue in the coming months and now well over a year. 

My identity as a teacher is something that courses through my being. It has never been about the content (although I will always love teaching writing, literature, and history) – but has always been about forging relationships rooted in respect, love, and action with students that remain of the most importance to me. 

As I entered the Spring 2020 quarter, uncertain of what was to come for remote teaching and learning, I remember standing in my partner Justin Brown’s kitchen with tears in my eyes and I said, “I just want to be able to do everything I can to make sure that students have a supportive community – how can I help them make sense of something I can’t make sense of myself?” 

I wept, I planned lessons, and I stayed up for countless nights trying to think about how I could adapt community building exercises for the remote context that were often amongst my favorite components of designing lessons. I relied heavily on every single technological tip, trick, and anything I learned from formerly teaching in blended learning contexts and that I had picked up along the way from phenomenal students and educators. I remained avowed to do anything I could to ensure that my intention to support students and to forge community would be authentic – that I would be transparent with students when I was unsure – and that we would indeed, figure this out together. 

During the pandemic, I have had the honor and privilege of holding space with undergraduate, graduate, and post-doc students as a TA for the past four quarters. The ways in which we have had real, authentic, transformative, and healing dialogues together has been one of the most single-handedly transformative experiences of my life. I am blown away constantly by the level of love, care, action, and critical thought that they continue to inhabit and push forward. We have found ways anew to create and sustain community in the remote learning context that I hope will remain a possible learning interface in the future. Mainly, I hope that we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic that face-to-face instruction does not yield automatic community nor does it equate to the “best” or “only” form of instruction. 

My hope is that we can create modalities of instruction that can uniquely forge opportunities for learning and learners for which the face-to-face environment does not always meet. But wholeheartedly, my hope of what we can learn and takeaway from teaching and learning during the pandemic is the emphasis and active enactment of care for students’ well-being. 

The level of increasing attention in the media, educational literature, think-tanks and more during the pandemic reveal a shift from much of what saturates curriculum and instruction discourse. This presents a unique opportunity to choose and create something vastly different in the landscape of education – an opportunity to prioritize and enact as a way of being towards students’ social, racial, and economic accountability and justice. How different could teaching and learning be when students are supported and cared for in their wholeness? Students are so deserving of better. I believe that together – with students and each other – we can create this kind of education. 

I would like to leave you with a few things that students have taught me that have stuck with me and have been wildly sustaining throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The first is from a now alumnus, Tony Robinson, who is currently preparing to pursue his medical degree at Boston University. In Scand50W during the Spring of 2020, we were having a conversation together about being a kind of tired that we couldn’t quite explain. Tony said to all of us, “we have to embrace the fluctuations.” This led to a larger conversation about “grind culture” in higher education and the need to listen to our minds, bodies, and spirits during moments that required extreme quick thinking, survival, and adaptability. Thank you, Tony for bearing witness and giving voice to what we now know is shared trauma and perhaps something that has often been framed as Zoom fatigue or languishing. Thank you for helping us listen to ourselves. 

The second is from Graham Read, a graduate student in GRADPD496C (Spring 2021), who has been tirelessly advocating for student leave policy change during the pandemic and beyond at the university level through his teacher as researchers project. One day, Graham posed to the class, “what kind of agency do we have as graduate students?” We have often talked together about our shared roles as teaching assistants and our deep affinity with undergraduate students. I continue to sit with Graham’s question. This has led me to believe and know that agency is something that we are united in our efforts within – when agency is not readily viewable or felt, I am certain that we will forge and create systems and policies that can ensure that this question is not one that remains unanswered. Thank you, Graham for raising this question and for contributing to this answer. 

Lastly, the phenomenal 41 students and the transformative Dr. Jeff Share from EDUC137: Critical Digital Media Literacies (Winter 2021). It was in this class that I saw myself and all of you – united by our intense passion for critical media literacy, social and environmental justice. You taught me what disrupting traditional hierarchies of education can look like when teaching and learning is truly communal in higher education. Together, we often asked, “how can we share critical media literacy with our families, friends, and communities?” This question has set me on a path to help respond to this call-to-action for the rest of my life. Because of all of you, I have seen first-hand what can occur when we engage in critical thought processes and productions of media that can challenge problematic social contructs. You also showed me how we can experience joy, humanity, and restoration while we strive to make meaning of the world around us. You all gave me a community to learn, grow, to be brave, and to feel supported. You all have changed my life, how I see, and how I show up in the world. Thank you. 

While I truly believe in my heart that none of us have fully processed all we have been carrying during the enduring pandemics (social, racial, economic, public health, environmental and more), I do believe we have an opportunity to choose how we process that which has occurred and what is next. I have learned from the incredible, resilient, and powerful students who have held space with me and each other during this time that we can and will embark on what is ahead in the same way that we entered the unknown – we can and will figure this out together. 


Grant, A. (2021). There’s a name for the blah you’re feeling: It’s called languishing. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html

Andrea Gambino decided to pursue her advanced degree in higher education while teaching  Honors Civics and Economics at Wake STEM Early…

Andrea Gambino: What Students Continue to Teach Me

The 2021 Commencement of the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies was celebrated by a virtual ceremony on June 12. The pre-recorded event will be available for a year on the Marching Order website.

Wasserman Dean Christina (Tina) Christie led the ceremony with a keynote address for the Class of ’21 and their families and friends. The first cohort of undergraduates in the Education and Social Transformation program were represented with speeches by Vivian Fang, Nathan Kirk, Kathy Sung, and Karlesha Van Holten, who achieved their bachelor of arts degrees in the new major.

SE&IS graduation traditions continued with speeches by Mariana Barragan Torres, who graduated with her Ph.D. in Social Research Methodology from the UCLA Department of Education, and Alisha Cunzio, who graduated with her MLIS from the UCLA Department of Information Studies. In addition, “Hail to the Hills of Westwood” was performed by Jordan Williamson, who graduated with his M.Ed. in Student Affairs. 

Following the ceremony, graduates who submitted photos and/or messages, as well as specific SEIS programs (e.g., Teacher Education Program), can be searched for in the Marching Order recording. 

To view the 2021 Commencement of the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, visit this link.

The 2021 Commencement of the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies was celebrated by a virtual ceremony on June…

Virtual Commencement Celebrates UCLA SEIS Class of ‘21

The Digital Resource Development Initiative was established in March 2020 by the UCLA Department of Information Studies, with the goal of developing digital resources that would be relevant to different communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, in support of the department’s mission and vision.

The initiative showcases the professional expertise of UCLA IS students, while providing a wide range of applied experiences. Undergraduate, MLIS and Ph.D. students submitted project proposals for funding awards to support the development of their individual proposals between March and September 2020. Several students also partnered with local repositories to assist them in developing their digital presence during the pandemic.

Projects include “Work and Wellness LA,” a resource designed to help workers in Los Angeles County who have lost their job or employment hours as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; “The Resources for Southeast Asian Communities Handbook compiles and highlights resources and services for Southeast Asian community members facing hardships brought on by COVID-19; “Cross-generational Engagement: Sustaining Community Archives’ Futures,” which is designed to foster healthy intergenerational co communication in community-based archival spaces; “Mur Murs: Murals, Chicanas, and the Female Gaze,” a digital exhibit created in collaboration with the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and Google Arts and Culture, uncovering the hidden stories behind the murals created by 20 Century Chicana artists in Los Angeles; and “Rebel Archives in the Golden Gulag,” which details the history of revolutionary Black freedom struggles inside prison walls, and the transformative organizing of incarcerated people. 

Visit this link to view projects from the UCLA IS Digital Resource Development Initiative.

The Digital Resource Development Initiative was established in March 2020 by the UCLA Department of Information Studies, with the goal…

UCLA IS Expertise Serves Communities in the Pandemic with the Digital Resource Development Initiative

UCLA Community School has a strong partnership with the Fulfillment Fund, a Los Angeles-based organization that provides one-on-one college counseling support for students in educationally and economically under-resourced communities.

To honor the Class of 2021, the Fulfillment Fund worked with FOX 11’s morning show, “Good Day LA” to highlight six students from UCLA Community School and their college plans.

To learn more about UCLA Community School, visit this link.

Above: UCLA Community School is on the RFK Community Schools campus in the Koreatown-Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles.

UCLA Community School has a strong partnership with the Fulfillment Fund, a Los Angeles-based organization that provides one-on-one college counseling…

UCLA Community School Highlighted on "Good Day LA"

The UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools today released a new report examining the relationship between educational outcomes and social, health and environmental factors of Black students in 14 school districts, serving 800 Black students or more in Los Angeles County. Together, these school districts serve more than two-thirds of Black students in the region. The findings spanned neighborhoods from the northern reaches of the Antelope Valley to Long Beach.

Detailing a shrinking and shifting Black student population long beset by low levels of academic achievement, the research makes it clear that a disproportionate number of Black children in L.A. County reside in neighborhoods where poverty is concentrated, educational enrichment opportunities are limited,  environmental hazards are severe, and resources are lacking. In many of these communities, the challenges facing Black children in school are exacerbated by adverse environmental and social conditions related to concentrated poverty, impacting student learning. And given the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 virus on low-income communities, the researchers contend that the challenges facing Black students have likely worsened.

“The impact of the global pandemic on the education of Black students may potentially be devastating,” said UCLA Professor of Education Tyrone C. Howard, faculty director of the Center for the Transformation of Schools.“This new research can inform the strategic use of resources to address inequalities, racism, and historical disadvantage, and guide decision making to better serve Black students. 

“The long and persistent presence of systemic racism inside and outside of schools continues to affect the educational experiences and outcomes of Black students. The report also offers examples of successful efforts and specific recommendations to assist educators and policymakers.”

“Our hope is that this research will generate intense attention on the needs of Black students in the County,” adds UCLA researcher Stanley L. Johnson Jr., lead author of the study, “and spur innovative and meaningful actions to address the economic, social, emotional and environmental challenges that shape and hinder their educational opportunities. We can and must act boldly.”

The report includes a detailed table of funding made available to school districts in the report by the recently passed federal American Rescue Plan. The 14 districts examined in the research are in line to receive $6 billion in COVID-19 relief funding to support learning recovery efforts.

“Black student sand families have been impacted by multigenerational roadblocks to learning opportunities prior to the pandemic. As school districts make plans to use these new resources as they reopen in COVID’s wake, it is urgent key decisionmakers at the local, state and federal level      pay close attention to the needs of Black students and act to address their needs,” said Joseph Bishop, co-author of the report and the director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.      

The report, Beyond the Schoolhouse: Digging Deeper analyzes data from the 14 school districts in LA County with a substantial number of Black students.  These districts include: ABC Unified, Antelope Valley Union High School, Bellflower Unified, Centinela Valley Union High School, Compton Unified, Culver City Unified, Inglewood Unified, Long Beach Unified, Los Angeles Unified, Paramount Unified, Pasadena Unified, Pomona Unified, Torrance Unified, and William S. Hart Union High School.  The report includes an interactive map of Black student educational outcomes. http://transformschools.ucla.edu/beyond-the-schoolhouse-digging-deeper/interactive-map/

The research makes clear that Black students in the districts included in the studylive in neighborhoods challenged by concentrated poverty and inequality. In 10 out of 14 school districts where Black students attend school and their surrounding neighborhoods, more than 40 percent of these families live two times below the federal poverty line.

Black student enrollment has also declined across Los Angeles County by 42 percent over the past 20 years.  But some districts, including Antelope Valley and William S. Hart High School District, have seen significant growth in enrollment of Black students, raising concerning academic and discipline challenges. 

In this context, the report digs deeper into the academic achievement and school climate and policing data,  and explores the health and neighborhood conditions of the focus districts.  Key among the findings:

Black students have historically trailed their student peers on California’s measurements of academic achievement. In many of the school districts in the study, the performance of Black students on standardized assessments and graduation rates is significantly lower than is observed for other groups. For example, in 10 of 14 of the districts, more than half of Black students failed to meet state standards in mathematics in 2018-19. In three of those districts, more than eight in ten students failed to meet the state’s standards in mathematics.

Black students also trailed their peers on such measurements as graduation rates and completion of courses for UC/CSU eligibility. Black students continue to graduate at a lower rate compared to their counterparts and there is a great deal of variation in graduation rates.  For example, only 76 percent of Black students in the Antelope Valley Unified School District graduated in four years compared to 97 percent of Black students in the Torrance Unified School District.

The research highlights important findings regarding school policing, student suspensions, and chronic absenteeism.  School policing has a disproportionate impact on Black students. Every district in the report’s sample has some form of police involvement on high school campuses  and arrests, and other involvement with school police in Los Angeles County falls especially hard on Black students. A recent UCLA report analyzing 2014-2017 arrest, citation and diversion data, found that although Black student enrollment during this period was just 8 percent in LAUSD, Black students accounted for 25 percent of serious interactions with school police. 

The report also finds agreat deal of variation in suspension rates for both Black male and female students.  In Antelope Valley, Bellflower and Pasadena Unified, Black male and female students are suspended at higher rates far greater than the County average. Black students also exhibit higher rates of chronic absence (defined as missing more than 10 percent of the school year), with 24 percent of Black students in L.A. County chronically absent, a rate significantly higher than other student groups.  There is also significant variation in absence rates among the 14 districts studied, with Black students in Antelope Valley and Centinela school districts absent for three or more weeks per year, while more affluent districts such as Culver City have much lower absence rates for Black students (7 percent). 

Previous research has shown that Black students in L.A. County are more likely to experience economic and social hardships. The new research finds that in 10 of the 14 focus districts, there are significant poverty disparities between Black and White students. For example, a Black student in Long Beach Unified is three times more likely to receive free or reduced lunch than a white student in that district.  The research also provides analysis of Black youth in foster care, Black students experiencing homelessness, and those challenged by disabilities, raising concerning questions about suspensions, absence and graduation rates in some of the school districts in the study.  For example, 12 of the 14 focus districts have chronic absenteeism rates of 20 percent or higher for Black students in foster care, and in eight of the 14 focus districts, Black students are twice as likely to experience homelessness as other groups

The CDC has said that structural racism poses a serious threat to public health.  The new report examines indicators of the environmental and health contexts of Black students in the fourteen focus districts, connecting data from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Enviroscan) to specific census tracts with residential concentrations of Black people. In Census tracts for these districts, both Black and White residents are exposed to diesel emissions, yet in neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Black residents have significantly higher rates of exposure than White residents. Groundwater pollutants can also have a significant impact on health. In Los Angeles and Torrance Unified school districts, Blacks reside in census tracts with the worst levels of groundwater pollution while Whites in those districts generally reside in areas with among the lowest levels of groundwater threats. Asthma and low birth weight are two health conditions that have been causally linked to air and water pollution, and that have been shown to disproportionately impact Black students and their families.     

“The impact of social, health and environmental conditions on  academic performance has too often been overlooked, said Johnson. “Our schools are not separate from our communities. As we return to campus, we need to look beyond the schoolhouse to develop strategies and innovations to  address the challenges facing our communities and engage them in ways fuel the success of Black students.” 

To further that effort, the report identifies examples of school and community efforts where Black students are well served. The researchers also offer specific recommendations for educators, community members and policy makers at the local, state and federal levels.  Those recommendations are focused in three key areas: COVID-19 and reopening schools, in-school policies, and out-of-school policies. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored the challenges facing Black students in Los Angeles County, our state and our nation,” concludes Professor Howard. “But it has also provided an opportunity for real change. We hope this report will be a catalyst for that effort.”

Beyond the Schoolhouse: Digging Deeper, Overcoming Challenges & Expanding Opportunity for Black Youth in Los Angeles is a project of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.

For a briefing on “Beyond the Schoolhouse” presented by the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools on April 14, visit the CTS YouTube channel.

To learn more about “Beyond the Schoolhouse” and for the full report, visit the Sudikoff Institute Public Forum website.

The UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools today released a new report examining the relationship between educational outcomes and social, health and environmental…

New UCLA Research Digs Deeper into Social Challenges Facing Black Students in LA County to Inform COVID-19 Recovery

A new report by the UCLA Civil Rights Project, Disabling Inequity: The Urgent Need for Race Conscious Remedies, highlights the inequitable conditions of learning faced by students with disabilities and underscores a lack of awareness and action that threatens to deepen the disparate impact the pandemic has had on children of color with disabilities.

The research makes clear that pre-pandemic, there was a rise in students exposed to trauma, and a growing number of students with disabilities who are entitled to mental and behavioral supports. School districts are legally obligated to identify these students and address their needs under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  Today, students eligible to benefit from the Rehabilitation Act now account for less than three percent of all enrolled students (1.4 million students). Yet, the new analysis finds more than 300 large districts that don’t recognize even one such student among their student body. 

In particular, students of color with disabilities are unlikely to have their needs recognized and met, raising concerns that some districts may continue to fail to recognize these students and that such failure will further entrench the racially disparate harm caused by the pandemic. The report raises similar concerns about the larger group of approximately seven million students that have been deemed eligible for special education and related support and services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

“The focus on the experiences of students with disabilities reveals profound racial disparities and stark losses of instructional time and raises the possibility that in many districts, educators are failing to meet their obligations to address the mental and behavioral health needs of children,” said Dan Losen, director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies and the lead researcher on the report.  

The report recommends increases in race-conscious funding to address inequities and major improvements to the monitoring and enforcement of federal civil rights law. Without these, the report concludes that the continued failure to meet the needs of children with disabilities, and those who have experienced trauma, will mean that the deepest and most sustained harms from the pandemic will be experienced by children of color with disabilities.

Disabling Inequity: The Urgent Need for Race Conscious Remedies is a research project of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, an initiative of the UCLA Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles. The research was led by Daniel J. Losen, Paul Martinez and Grace Shin.  The report, including an executive summary and specific recommendations is available online. 

A new report by the UCLA Civil Rights Project, Disabling Inequity: The Urgent Need for Race Conscious Remedies, highlights the inequitable conditions…

New Report by UCLA Civil Rights Project Details Educational Inequity for Students with Disabilities

This week represents our collective hope for a better future. On Monday we honored the life and vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.—our nation’s revered social and racial justice leader. Yesterday, amid the continuation of this historic pandemic, and just two weeks after the horrible violence in our nation’s Capitol, America once again demonstrated its ongoing commitment to democracy with the inauguration of our new President. We witnessed a Black, South Asian woman sworn in as Vice President by a female, Latino, Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Adding a brilliant light to the events was the recitation of a poem “The Hill We Climb” by the 22-year-old African American woman and Southern California native, Amanda Gorman—the first National Youth Poet Laureate, who herself dreams of becoming president. We are witnessing progress towards Dr. King’s vision. 

This new administration will bring changes in policy that will guide our approach to the urgent challenges of education and information. These changes will impact our schools, communities and nation, and require renewed energies and fresh research from our faculty and students. The pandemic has wrought real damage on schools and students and made clear the need to address the racial and economic divisions that undermine opportunities to learn. From efforts to address civil rights to strengthening teaching and learning, our UCLA Education faculty have begun to address these issues. For example, at a time when the need for civic understanding and a renewed commitment to democracy has perhaps never been more urgent, Professor John Rogers’ work examines strengthening civic education across California and the nation. If you have not seen it already, I urge you to read his recent research with colleagues at UC Riverside “Reclaiming the Purpose of Democratic Education in California’s Public Schools.”

Another urgent issue facing America is the growing danger from social media disinformation. Our UCLA Information Studies faculty are already working at the forefront of these issues. If you have not done so, I strongly suggest exploring Professors Safiya Noble’s and Sarah Roberts’ work and their UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, as well as Professor Ramesh Srinivasan’s research, which critically analyzes the role of social media in politics and policy and in our communities. Be sure to read his interview with UCLA Newsroom: “Are we using technology or are we being used?”

Today is a new beginning. There is so much we are doing but so much more needs to be done. The hill that we climb is steep. My hope is that this week we turn a new page and begin to heal as we move towards real change that is based on dialogue, harmony and unity, and focused on achieving the promise of education, health and economic well-being—not just for some, but for all. As the talented Ms. Gorman recited in her stanzas, “We are striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man. And, so we lift our gaze to not what stands between us but to what stands before us.”

What stands before us is nothing less than Dr. King’s ever-present vision of a Beloved Community, and all that it stands for. In his aspirations for realizing this community he had hoped that the right kind of spirit and the right kind of love would “transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age.” My hope is that together we can move closer to this noble and exuberant vision of peace, unity and harmony amongst all people through real and lasting social change.

This week represents our collective hope for a better future. On Monday we honored the life and vision of Martin Luther…

A Message from Christina Christie, Wasserman Dean on MLK Day

Sarah T. Roberts, UCLA associate professor of information studies, is featured on The Guardian’s list of “10 ideas to fix our broken internet – by experts” In the wake of violent uprisings in the nation’s Capitol due to misuse of social media.

“What, then, is my grand solution going forward?” writes Roberts, who is co-director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry. “That platforms enforce the rules, transparently and with immediacy for all users, and hold them accountable for their behavior online. 

“Do this even more so, and not less, when the person on the other end of the tweet holds the world hostage to his mercurial, dangerous whims. To have offered Trump a lesser standard, to have refused to hold him to account until the 11th hour, has put American democracy and the stability of the globe on the line and made social media firms complicit in the destabilization from which we have yet to emerge.”

Professor Roberts is the author of “Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media,” recently re-released in France by La Découverte.

Visit Tech Policy Press for Professor Roberts’ unabridged response to The Guardian.

To read, “Banning Trump won’t fix social media: 10 ideas to fix our broken internet – by experts,” visit The Guardian.

Sarah T. Roberts, UCLA associate professor of information studies, is featured on The Guardian’s list of “10 ideas to fix…

Sarah T. Roberts: How to Really Fix a Broken Internet

The UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry has received a gift from the Archewell Foundation, supporting the center’s research and programs, which are focused on the harm that vulnerable communities face from internet technologies.

The collaboration will build on the center’s existing network of scholars, practitioners, activists and artists, who are working on reimagining technology, championing racial and economic justice in the tech sector, and strengthening democracy through culture-making and public policy work.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are deeply committed to using their light to illuminate the problems of inequality and structural racism,” said Safiya U. Noble, who co-founded and co-directs the center with Sarah T. Roberts. “We have a shared commitment and sense of urgency in making a more compassionate world, much of which is undermined by internet platforms. I know what they stand for and share in their mission. We look forward to lending our research expertise and networks to our mutual work on the most pressing issues of internet policy and culture that are accelerating racial, gender and economic inequity.”

Noble is an associate professor in the departments of information studies and African American studies. Her research focuses on digital media and its impact on society, as well as how digital technology and artificial intelligence intersect with issues of race, gender, culture and power. She is the author of the bestselling book “Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism,” which examines racist and sexist algorithmic bias in commercial search engines.

Roberts, an associate professor of information studies, is a leading authority on commercial content moderation, a term she coined to describe the work of those who ensure photos, videos and stories on commercial websites fit within legal and ethical guidelines and standards.

The Archewell Foundation, a nonprofit created by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, works to uplift and unite local and global communities. The foundation supports a community of partner organizations that are working toward systemic cultural change, including the World Central Kitchen, The Loveland Foundation, the Center for Humane Technology and Stanford Medicine’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.

The UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry has received a gift from the Archewell Foundation, supporting the center’s research and…

UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry Collaborates with Archewell Foundation

Ron Avi Astor, professor of social welfare at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, has published a research brief on “Opening Schools Safely in the COVID-19 Era: School Social Workers’ Experiences and Recommendations,” in collaboration with partners from Loyola University Chicago, CSU Fullerton and Hebrew University.

The brief includes findings from a survey of 1,275 social workers across the United States, and calls for quick and timely action and investment by elected officials and other leaders to support the nation’s schools. 

Along with concerns about remote learning platforms and physical distancing on campuses, the social workers reported that students and families are struggling to meet their most basic needs during the pandemic, including food, housing, and health care.

“The national dialogue on reopening schools is not focused on this right now, but the social workers are telling us loud and clear that meeting basic human needs for a large number of students is the big issue schools face in the fall,” says Professor Astor in an article on the UCLA Luskin School’s website.

The brief calls for the creation of a national rapid-response team including teachers, administrators, medical professionals, counselors, psychologists and social workers to guide schools as they make decisions regarding in-person, online, or hybrid learning models. The report also recommends that a national technical assistance center be created to help any school adjust its procedures if needed, and that a large workforce of social workers, nurses, psychologists and other professionals is needed in schools that serve low-income and minority students.

The report’s authors noted that their findings come amid calls for systemic change spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement, and that school professionals need to locate and reengage the large number of students nationwide who rarely checked in to virtual classrooms this spring. 

Professor Astor will participate in two webinars by the National Center for School Safety at the University of Michigan. These sessions are part of a series of three webinars to foster a holistically positive school climate for the 2020-2021 school year while addressing concerns related to COVID-19 and racial unrest, and aimed to inform and support parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, law enforcement, and mental health professionals. For more information, visit this link.

To read the full article, visit the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs website.

To read the research brief on, “Opening Schools Safely in the COVID-19 Era: School Social Workers’ Experiences and Recommendations,” visit this link.

Ron Avi Astor, professor of social welfare at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and at the UCLA Luskin School…

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