Arendale, D. R., Abraham, N., Barber, D., Bekis, B., Claybourne, C., Edenfeld, K., Epps, K., Hutchinson, K, Jimenez, J., Killingbeck, K, Pokhrel, R., Schmauch, N., & Woodruff, R. (2022). Antiracist activities and policies for student-led study groups. Journal of College Academic Support Programs, 5(1), 12-29. https://doi.org/10.36896/5.1sc1  https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/16176  Issues of race and marginalization do not often intersect with publications related to developmental education and learning assistance. Too often, these issues have been ignored. This guide to antiracism policies and practices for student-led study groups is based on a careful review of scholarly articles, books, existing guides, practical experiences by the authors, and feedback from the study group administrators in the field. While much has been written about culturally-sensitive pedagogies for K-16 classroom instruction, little has emerged for guiding postsecondary peer study groups regarding antiracism practices. This guide helps address this gap in the literature and recommended practices. In addition to its application for academic study groups, this guide has value for faculty members to incorporate antiracism learning activities and pedagogies into their courses. Effective learning practices are identified in this article that can be adapted and adopted for supporting higher student achievement, closing the achievement gap, increasing persistence to graduation, and meeting the needs of culturally-diverse and historically-underrepresented students. This is an excerpt from a much-longer and detailed guide that will be published in the near future.

History of the Integrated Learning Course: Creation, conflict, and survival

Schelske, B., Schelske, S., & Arendale, D. R. (2022).  History of the Integrated Learning Course: Creation, conflict, and survival. Colleagues of Color for Social Justice. www.socialjustice.work <Click to download document>  In 1972, the Integrated Learning (IL) course was developed at the University of Minnesota to meet the academic and cultural transition needs of their TRIO Upward Bound summer bridge program students as they prepared to enter college.  The IL course was an early example of a linked course learning community.  A historically-challenging college content course such as Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology or Law in Society was linked with an IL course.  The IL course is essentially an academic support class customized to use the content of its companion class as a context for mastering learning strategies and orienting students to the rigor of the college learning environment.  The history of the IL course provides lessons for creating, sustaining, and surviving daunting campus political and financial challenges that could face any new academic or student affairs program.  The TRIO program leveraged its modest budget and personnel for the IL course approach which flourished and withstood changing economic and political forces that could have terminated the innovative approach to academic support.  Lessons from this history of creation, conflict, and survival could be applied to other programs in a postsecondary setting.  

Moving forward with diversity, equity, and inclusion

Arendale, D. R. (2022). Moving forward with diversity, equity, and inclusion. (PowerPoint Presentation Slides). Webinar for the New York College Learning Skills Association. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14Vkw9Gmm7WVTLVJTiod9ddYxIXRaI26i/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101359838284394814673&rtpof=true&sd=true  In this presentation, Arendale integrates a number of the terms defined through the Antiracism glossary for education and life. 

Professor co-authors antiracism glossary: The tool helps recognize and explain terms related to behaviors, attitudes, and policies

Albanese, E. (2021, November 24). Professor co-authors antiracism glossary: The tool helps recognize and explain terms related to behaviors, attitudes, and policies. School News Network, https://www.schoolnewsnetwork.org/2021/11/24/professor-co-authors-antiracism-glossary/ This is an interview with Mursalata Muhammad and David Arendale about the antiracism glossary that was published in the School News Network online publication.

Antiracism glossary for education and life

 Pokhrel, R., Muhammad, M., Jimenez, J., Green, C., Felber, S., Claybourne, C., Atkins, W., & Arendale, D. R. (2021). Antiracism glossary for education and life. Journal of College Academic Support Programs. 4(1), 75-92. doi: https://doi.org/10.36896/4.1sc1 <Click link to download PDF> To create an antiracism glossary, a team of scholars from Colleagues of Color for Social Justice (CCSJ) identified and defined 48 terms relating to racism and antiracism based on a careful review of existing race-related glossaries, scholarly articles, and widely-read books on the topic. This glossary of terms illustrates the daily and pervasive nature of racism that people of color experience and fills a demonstrable gap in resources of this type for college learning assistance centers and programs. The purpose is to recognize and explain terms related to attitudes, behaviors, and policies that impact people’s lives, particularly within academia. The glossary lists the terms in alphabetical order with multiple definitions from various resources and easy-to-understand examples drawn from personal lives, communities, and professional experiences in educational settings.

Close the metacognitive equity gap: Teach all students how to learn

 McGuire, S. Y. (2021). Close the metacognitive equity gap: Teach all students how to learn. Journal of College Academic Support Programs. 4(1), 69-72  https://doi.org/10.36896/4.1ep1 <Click link to download PDF> In his seminal book, Toward Excellence with Equity: An Emerging Vision for Closing the Achievement Gap, Ferguson (2008) persuasively argued that the achievement gap between students from different racial groups is not the result of a difference in ability, attitudes or work ethic between groups, but rather a difference in the academic skills acquired. Often, we in the academic community use the term educational equity when referring to closing the achievement gap between different groups of students, such as majority versus minoritized, lower socioeconomic versus higher socioeconomic, or students from well-resourced versus under-resourced schools (Harris & Herrington, 2006). I have recently begun using a parallel term, metacognitive equity, to describe closing the gap between students who use metacognition (effective thinking and learning strategies) and those who do not. I posit that it is the gap in metacognitive strategies that contributes most to the persistent achievement gap and that all students must be taught how to learn.

CCSJ Group Organizing Principles

Arendale, D. R. & Muhammad, M. (2021). CCSJ group organizing principles. (2021). <Click link to download PDF> The two co-conveners of CCSJ identify principles that have guided the development of the writing group. These principles change over time in response to the needs of the CCSJ writing group.

 Greetings People!

It was an ordinary workday in October 2020. I was opening my email when I came across one that had been forwarded 2-3 times before finding its way into my inbox. 

I opened and read the contents that described a collaborative scholarship project. This project was inclusive and accessible. The call for research and publication was expressly directed to assist professionals of color - faculty, staff, and administrators from all disciplines - to publish.

Knowing I had little time to take on additional professional work, the collaborative and inclusive foundation of the work described in the email had my attention. The ability to serve as a platform for collaborative scholarship produced by a diverse collection of Black and Brown professionals - well - that, too, had my attention. 

I replied to the email. I offered to help with one task. After talking with David Arendale, the person who sent the initial email, I found myself with the opportunity to support this public scholarship as a co-convener. 

In December 2020, my first CCSJ co-convener task was to introduce myself to the newly formed network of nearly 50 colleagues from across the US. To escape the constraints of the page, I hastily made a video. 

• What it lacks in polish, I hope it delivers in enthusiasm for the promise of collective, collaborative, inclusive educational public scholarship published with rigor and dignity that honors the fact that every person deserves educational policies and practices that gives them access to literacy and advanced educational skills. 

-- Summum bonum & Ubuntu
Mursalata Muhammad,
Co-Convener
Colleagues of Color for Social Justice

Welcome to Colleagues of Color for Social Justice (CCSJ). We are dedicated to sharing best practices to improve the academic achievement of college students. We believe these practices are found at the intersection of race, equity, and social justice. Members of our working group will use this blog to report preliminary findings, request feedback, and share draft documents that we are collaborating upon.