Transforming education
by putting children first

eNews

IDRA Launches Resource Hub to Promote Accurate and Inclusive Education

New Hub Provides Lesson Plans and Tools for Teaching History and Current Events About Race and Gender in Today’s Classroom Censorship Climate

In statehouses across the country, opponents of public education seek to censor teacher speech, limit what students can say and learn about racism and current events, and whitewash history. But as IDRA’s new We All Belong – School Resource Hub shows, these forces will not prevail. Educators are committed to serving their students well by strengthening education, not watering it down or hiding from the truth.

eNews

Six Teens Win VYP National Essay Contest Awards

IDRA Valued Youth Partnership Program Tutors Share Stories of the Program's Impact on Their Lives

Six students received prizes in a national competition among participants in the IDRA Valued Youth Partnership program, a nationally-recognized cross-age tutoring program. The VYP tutors wrote about how the program helped them do better in school and how they had helped their tutees to do better.

eNews

Supreme Court Further Erodes Separation of Church and State in Public Schools

Public School Employees Should Not Elevate Any Faith Over Another

In yet another opinion centering extremist views, the U.S. Supreme Court has further constrained public schools’ ability to protect all students’ religious freedom and free expression. The Court’s 6-3 opinion in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District held that a public high school violated the free speech and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment when it required a football coach to respect the rights of students from all religious and cultural backgrounds by directing the coach to stop publicly praying on the field immediately after games.

eNews

Joanna D. Sánchez, Ph.D., Named IDRA Senior Policy Researcher

IDRA welcomes Joanna D. Sánchez, Ph.D., as IDRA’s senior policy researcher. In this role, she collaborates with the policy and research teams to develop relevant and timely data analyses, visualizations and research studies that support IDRA’s mission. Previously, Joanna served as the chief of staff and vice president for research at Excelencia in Education. In these roles, she contributed to the organization’s mission of accelerating Latino student success in higher education.

eNews

Plyler v. Doe Supports High-Quality Schools

U.S. Supreme Court Ruling 40 Years Ago Today Confirms Immigrant Students' Rights to Attend Public Schools

Then, on June 15, 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools must serve all children, including undocumented students. In honor of the Plyler v Doe's 40th anniversary, IDRA released resources and tools to support schools in welcoming immigrant students. Learn more about the history of the cases that lead to the final decision, including a video interview with Dr. Albert Cortez, who testified in one of the early cases.

eNews

Texas High Schools Reach All-Time Low Attrition Rate but Still Lose 80,000 Students

IDRA Study Gives a First Look at the Pandemic’s Effect on Attrition Rates

The Texas high school attrition rate declined to 19% last year, which is the lowest rate in over three decades. IDRA released detailed findings today from its latest study, which examines time series data covering 2020-21, the first full school year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

eNews

IDRA Federal Education Policy Update

• IDRA Denounces Court Ruling Jeopardizing Texas’ Dream Act
• Resources to Address Digital Equity
• Introducing IDRA’s Youth Advisory Board
• IDRA Joins More than 200 Organizations and Individuals to Push for an End to Corporal Punishment

eNews

Knowledge is Power: U.S. House Hearing Examines Political Attacks on Classroom Censorship; TX Board Considers Social Studies Standards

IDRA new resource - Knowledge is Power

IDRA's Knowledge is Power is a national resource for educators and advocates to help you do your work for equity and excellence in education in the midst of classroom censorship policies.

In this edition…
- Censorship Policies Undermine Excellent and Equitable Public Schools
- Texas State Board of Education Considers Social Studies Standards
- Advocacy Tools

eNews

IDRA Names Inaugural Youth Advisory Board Members

Ten High School Students Will Serve as Advisors for Education Equity Initiatives While Learning New Skills

We are pleased and proud to officially introduce IDRA’s 2022 Youth Advisory Board members!

Ten high school students from across Texas will provide their insights about equity in education and advocacy. Since our founding 49 years ago, IDRA has remained committed to prioritizing students in our decision-making. We selected these 10 student leaders who now form IDRA’s inaugural 2022 Youth Advisory Board.

eNews

IDRA Valued Youth Partnership Re-engages Struggling Students

See How the IDRA Valued Youth Partnership Works

Valued Youth Partnership helps students build their socio-emotional skills

It is more important than ever to strengthen the school-family-community dynamic in order to reconnect with students, especially those that have been harder to reach during this time of distance learning.

eNews

IDRA Launches ‘Southern Education Equity Network’ to Support Family & Community Advocates

SEEN’s New Virtual Tool Helps Students, Families and Educators Stand Up for Accurate and Inclusive Education

As small but loud factions attack public education, students and families across the U.S. South are pushing back. IDRA’s new Southern Education Equity Network (SEEN) trains and assists communities in improving education policy and practice across the South and provides an online and mobile space for community members and coalitions to coordinate their advocacy.

eNews

New Toolkit on Interrupting Bullying & Harassment in Schools

IDRA EAC-South Launches Free Tools for Creating Safe, Friendly & Learning Supportive Spaces 

Bullying and harassment are two forms of relational violence that can hinder the establishment of safe spaces in schools and undermine students’ abilities to learn. The IDRA EAC-South's new Interrupting Bullying & Harassment in Schools online toolkit is designed to give educators and school leaders tools that they need to prevent bullying and harassment by fostering a positive school climate.

eNews

Free e-courses are now available on ensuring equitable learning environments for all students

CPEs available from the IDRA EAC-South

Now you can get effective tools and information on-demand from the IDRA EAC-South’s popular virtual convening held in July with hundreds of participants across the country. The session videos and materials are available free at IDRA’s Equity Connection community of practice. You can pick and choose from the topics that most interest you on your own time. Get effective tools and information to help reconnect with students for their mental well-being and accelerated learning and reclaim your own sense of connectedness, community and power.

This virtual conference featured equity experts from across the country addressing the five strands:
• Authentic Family and Community Engagement and Advocacy
• Leading with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Reopening with Welcoming & Inclusive Schools – Response to COVID-19
• Ethnic and Cultural Studies
• Increasing Student Engagement

eNews

Texas is Not Financing College Readiness

IDRA Releases Study on Inequitable Access to College Prep Math Courses

Texas policies and funding block students from graduating prepared for college, which includes having access to higher math, like Algebra II and calculus. Dr. Cristóbal Rodríguez, IDRA’s José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellow, presented his research findings on the relationship between school finance policy and students’ access college and career readiness in Texas at a virtual symposium last week.

eNews

Knowledge is Power - Announcement

Students Tell Texas Attorney General that Racial Discrimination in School is Real

Concerned about the impact of the new classroom censorship bill in Texas, 88 public school students described their experiences with racial discrimination in school. In response to a state representative’s request for a Texas Attorney General opinion on “‘antiracism’ teachings and Critical Race Theory (CRT) principles in Texas public schools,” the TEACH Coalition submitted a letter urging the Attorney General Ken Paxton to decline to issue such an opinion.

eNews

New Power Advisory Team Guides Program to Support Budding Teen Software Designers

San Antonio Middle School Students to Become Software Designers in IDRA & Texas A&M University–San Antonio “VisionCoders™ Program

Education innovation requires brilliant leadership. To provide such leadership for the VisionCoders program, IDRA established the VisionCoders advisory committee, composed of prominent education and STEM experts. The advisory committee provides students with opportunities that focus on three key areas: empowerment, education and encouragement. These opportunities empower a sense of responsibility in leadership roles, engage students through meaningful experiences, and give recognition for student accomplishments and effort.