#educational equity

just wanted to remind everyone again not only of the 3,000+ resources offered through our Liberation Library but also of the study guides for beginners offered under each of our social justice topics!

resources can be organized by type (article, novel, podcast, video, etc.) as well as filtered and searched through. we’ve tried to make our system much more accessible than our former platform on google docs so this is such an exciting development to share with everyone.

please share to promote equitable access education!and if you’d like to volunteer with us, check out our open resources committee roles!

REBLOG THIS VERSION! image description by @bonesandblood-sunandmoon below the cut. thank you for writing one!

A new study by the education watchdog Available to All reveals that school attendance zones and selective admission policies in the U.S. often exclude students of color and low-income families from elite public schools, thereby reinstating levels of segregation reminiscent of 1968. The study criticizes the use of residential addresses for school assignments, which supports "educational redlining" that favors affluent families, leading to systemic inequalities in access to advanced educational programs. Available to All calls for legislative reforms to protect enrollment rights and recommends that school districts minimize the importance of geographical boundaries to combat segregation and improve school access for all. The resurgence of school segregation to levels seen in 1968 is a stark reminder of how deeply systemic inequality is entrenched in our education system. Policies that favor affluent families and perpetuate educational redlining deny many Black and low-income students the opportunity to access quality education.

Educational research: Obsessed with ‘equity,’ heedless of classroom teachers’ concerns

By: David Marshall

Published: Oct 28, 2025

Most people assume that educational research is designed to help teachers and schools. After all, billions of taxpayer dollars flow to universities and think tanks with the expectation that the work they do will improve education.

But much of today’s research doesn’t reflect what teachers say they need. If educational research continues down a path disconnected from classroom realities, we risk not only alienating educators but also giving ammunition to policymakers who are already skeptical of the value of federally funded research.

I recently conducted a study with colleagues to better understand the alignment between education research and the needs of practicing teachers. As former classroom teachers ourselves, we were interested to learn the extent to which research featured at prominent academic conferences mirrored the needs of those working in schools.

We analyzed themes of more than 25,000 presentations at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meetings — the premier gathering of educational researchers — between 2021 and 2025. We then surveyed over 260 teachers from across the United States, asking them what issues they most wanted to see researchers address.

The contrast was stark. At the annual meetings, the dominant themes were equity, social justice, and identity. These topics appeared at twice the frequency of any other research area. Other prominent themes included critical race theory, methodological innovations (often involving critical theory), and teacher preparation (often with more of a focus on teacher identity than practice).

In contrast, classroom teachers’ top concerns were far more immediate and practical. They included student behavior and discipline, mental health and well-being, parental involvement, and teacher retention. The only area of overlap between researchers and teachers was artificial intelligence, which ranked as a top priority for both groups.

In other words, the nation’s largest academic research conference has devoted the majority of its attention to questions of identity and justice, whereas teachers in classrooms are struggling with how to get students to sit down, focus, and learn.

This disconnect has consequences. Teachers often tell us that research feels irrelevant to their daily practice. And when policymakers see that the research community is not engaged with the problems educators say matter most, it fuels calls to cut funding for research altogether.

Already, federal investment in educational research has been questioned on Capitol Hill. Some argue that if research isn’t producing clear benefits for schools, perhaps those dollars should be redirected elsewhere.

I am not suggesting that issues such as race and gender are unimportant. Depending on the context, they may matter deeply. Scholars should have the freedom to pursue the questions they find most pressing. Indeed, I have conducted research on racially integrated charter schools in a highly segregated region of the U.S. South.

But if our field’s public face is consumed with topics that teachers themselves rarely cite as top concerns, then we have a problem. Teachers need help with challenges that are eroding morale, driving people from the profession, and directly affecting student learning.

Consider student behavior. Since the pandemic, many schools report sharp increases in classroom disruptions. Teachers describe spending more time managing discipline and less time on instruction. Yet in our analysis of the research conferences, student behavior barely registered as a theme. The few discussions tackling this issue took the form of “restorative justice” approaches, which often place an even greater burden on teachers.

Similarly, although teacher and student mental health was a top priority for educators, it was not a central focus of the conference programs at all. Word searches of the 2025 conference program find more than 300 presentations on “resistance” and almost 100 on “safe spaces.” There were only 41 on student mental health and 24 on teacher mental health.

Educational research is too important to let it drift further out of touch. Rigorous empirical research has shaped policy in important ways before — from evidence on class size and early childhood education to the role of phonics in reading instruction. When grounded in the needs of practitioners, research can improve classrooms, guide decision-making, and ultimately, better educate the next generation of learners.

What we need now is not less research, but a better alignment between researchers and schools. That starts with listening. Too often, research agendas are set in academic silos, guided by theoretical trends or what is most likely to be published in top journals — almost all of which privilege the topics we found to be most prevalent at the conferences. Teachers rarely have a seat at the table.

Building stronger partnerships between universities and schools, creating research-practitioner partnerships that begin with the problems identified by teachers and school leaders, and rewarding scholars who produce work that has real classroom application would go a long way toward closing the gap.

AN OPEN LETTER to STATE GOVERNORS & LEGISLATURES (ALASKA ONLY)

Reconsider HB 183 for Inclusive School Athletics

3 so far! Help us get to 5 signers!

HB 183, which proposes segregating school athletics based on biological sex, raises significant concerns about the potential harm it could inflict on children. This approach lacks scientific backing and may inadvertently subject students to invasive scrutiny, including the risk of inappropriate inspections. It is imperative that we prioritize the safety and well-being of all students above all else.

Moreover, HB 183 echoes past mistakes made by administrations that were overly focused on perceived threats from the LGBTQ community, while neglecting actual dangers within local communities. For instance, scandals involving institutions like the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America highlight the grave consequences of such misguided priorities.

Therefore, I strongly urge reconsideration of HB 183. Instead of implementing policies that could harm vulnerable students, let us work towards fostering inclusive environments where all children can participate in sports with their peers, regardless of their sex. By promoting inclusivity and respect, we can create safer and more equitable opportunities for all students to thrive.

📱 Text SIGN PXZDHI to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW IVYGORGON to 50409

💘 Q'u lach' shughu deshni da. 🏹 "What I say is true" in Dena'ina Qenaga

Trans Reads is an ambitious project created by and for transgender people to openly access writing related to our communities. We believe education should be free and writing shouldn’t be behind a paywall. Transreads.org provides the opportunity to access, discuss, and distribute texts for free.

If you’re looking for books, chapters, texts, essays, or articles by, for, or about people who transverse or transcend western gender norms, you’re in the right place!

Trans Reads was formed through the work, consulting, and creativity of an anonymous group of trans people of various genders and races around the U.S. involved in organizing, academia, and trans liberation efforts. Trans Reads was launched in 2019 following increasing violence against trans people alongside the lack of accessible resources for trans people to learn about our own community.

There is a serious barrier for most trans people accessing content from our community. Trans people on average have less disposable income, time to read and purchase literature, and knowledge of the available texts. We created Trans Reads to address this problem directly. We offer the largest collection of free trans texts on the internet.

Get Involved:

Trans Reads is almost entirely generated through user content. By uploading, you can help a trans teen in a rural area learn about other girls like her. You could help a trans student who can’t afford a textbook easily pass their class. You can even share your own writing with the world on an easy-to-use platform exclusively for trans content. You can help grow our collection on our upload page. If you are interested in helping us upload texts for our collection, you can reach out on our contact page.

Ethics:

We are faced with the common ethical question about hurting the sales of trans authors. However, the largest ever study on piracy actually found that the piracy of copyrighted books, music, video games, and movies has no effect on sales. In the case of video games, piracy actually helped sales. As far back as 2002, we can see piracy boosting sales of media. Trans Reads strongly encourages you to purchase the books that you enjoy here or find other ways to support the author.

Academic authors rarely – if ever – see income from sales of their books, articles, or chapters. Most want to remove the paywalls withholding their content. Trans Reads is open to collaborating with authors, publishers, and journals on making this a possibility through our website.

History:

In 2014, Leslie Feinberg published the 20th-anniversary edition of Stone Butch Blues, one of the most influential works of transgender literature. The novel was a way for trans, gender nonconforming, and queer people to realize ourselves. It told us we aren’t alone. However, when the publisher went bankrupt, Leslie had to struggle to regain ownership over hir own novel.

“I had to work to recover my rights to Stone Butch Blues. When the first publisher went into Chapter 11 court, I had to spend thousands of dollars of my wages on legal fees to recover the right to this novel… While very ill in Spring 2012, I recovered my rights again.”

Ze didn’t want the book to be released as a film adaptation exploiting hir story for straight fantasies. Ze also used the opportunity to make the book more accessible. First editions shot up into hundreds of dollars. The least expensive print versions are still over $30 on Amazon. This simply isn’t affordable to most queer and trans people. The fight ended with Leslie publishing hir novel on hir website as a PDF, a strategy of reclaiming transgender narratives from greedy publishes by collective ownership of the text.

Trans Reads is dedicated to the memory of Leslie and all those who feel alone. Most individuals don’t have institutional access and cannot afford to pay for texts. Transreads.org allows visitors to effortlessly read texts by, for, or related to trans people online for free as PDFs. Trans Reads is the space where anyone can easily discuss, add, or download trans content.

This project is intended to foster discussion around the current state of learning. We refuse paywalls and withholding education. Trans Reads provides the opportunity to access, discuss, and distribute texts related to our community on its website in a matter of seconds.

Knowledge, learning, and community must be de-commodified for our collective liberation. Take it from Leslie:

“And on the day those paper deeds of ownership are torn up, it won’t matter about protecting Stone Butch Blues anymore from commercial exploitation.”

Authors shouldn’t live in fear of their work being exploited or inaccessible. Trans Reads is just one small part of trans autonomy from corporate publishers. However, it is a necessary step toward engaging with our radical history, politics, and futures.