Changing Deficit Narratives about Young Latino Men in Texas through a Research-Based Mentorship Program

by Emmet E. Campos, Rebekah Van Ryn, and Ty J. Davidson

Emmet E. Campos is the director of Project MALES and the Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color at the University of Texas, Austin. Rebekah Van Ryn is the principal of C.D. Fulkes Middle School in the Round Rock [Texas] Independent School District and former administrative supervisor in the Austin Independent School District Of ce of Teaching and Learning. Ty J. Davidson is the principal of Travis High School in the Austin Independent School District.

Strong institutional partnerships led to the development of a research agenda and mentoring program for young Latino men that has yielded local results in Austin (TX) and scaled up to state and national networks.

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Additional Resource

Sáenz, Victor B., and Luis Ponjuán. 2016. The Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color: Cross-Sector Collaboration as a Model for Improving Educational Outcomes. Viewpoints: Voices from the Field. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

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Issue 48

The Boys Aren’t Broken, The Systems Are: Changing the Narrative about Young Men of Color

Scholars and practitioners in school districts around the country are collaborating to build an asset-based counter-narrative about young men of color and develop evidence-based strategies to better serve them. However, these change agents do not always have a chance to work with their peers in other districts to collectively challenge structural racism.

This issue of Voices in Urban Education builds on a 2017 conference, sponsored by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and organized by NYU and AISR, that aimed to address this need. Researchers and practitioners from seven sites gathered in New York City to share system-level strategies that challenged deficit mindsets and implicit bias, nurtured healthy and respectful relationships, and developed culturally sustaining practices. In this VUE issue, you will read some of their stories.

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