Often coauthored by university‐ and school‐based educators, preservice teachers, and youths, this department column considers how literacies are best developed through context‐crossing partnerships among university, school, and community constituents.

Many institutions of higher education, and their teacher preparation programs, have mission or core value statements that include terms such as diversity, equity, or social justice. The terms are meant to suggest an inclusive approach but it’s often difficult to see how those terms are operationalized. As two Black pre-tenure faculty members working in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), we have pushed our teacher preparation programs to go beyond putting keywords in mission statements and provide ways to follow through so future teachers can enact the concepts in their classrooms. We use Self-Study in Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to make meaning of our own narratives, the systems that negatively impact people of color, and signaling words within our teacher preparation programs. We use the data from our personal narratives to discuss ways junior faculty can act as disruptors to ensure white preservice teachers are better prepared for the field.

Studies have examined the effects of school disciplinary policies and practices on Black boys. Much of this research highlights the degree to which many of these disciplinary policies and practices have affected Black boys in P-12 contexts in negative ways. A small and emerging body of scholarship has begun to investigate the effects of school discipline policies and practices in P-12 contexts on Black girls. The focus of this study was to investigate the effects of disciplinary policies on Black girls in comparison to girls from other races in the 15 largest school districts in Ohio. Drawing from recent out-of-school suspension data from the Office for Civil Rights Data Collection, we examined the degree to which Black girls were suspended out of school in the 15 largest school districts in Ohio. More specifically, out-of-school suspension rates (1 or more suspensions combined) for Black girls in relation to the suspension rates of girls from other racial backgrounds was analyzed. Findings indicated that Black girls were suspended at disproportionately higher rates in the majority of the districts in this study. Recommendations for practice are discussed.

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