Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., is IDRA’s Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement. She supports the integration and coordination of policy research, development and advocacy efforts across Texas, Georgia and nationally. She also leads IDRA’s Texas policy research and legislative strategy on school finance, quality education for emergent bilingual students, and educational issues for students who are immigrants.
She previously served as IDRA’s deputy director of policy from January 2020 to August 2026. In that role, she focused on IDRA’s Texas state policy priorities and coordinated the Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition.
Dr. Latham Sikes was the lead researcher for IDRA’s 2026 study on the impact of Texas Senate Bill 17’s ban on college offices of diversity, equity and inclusion and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to significantly limit race-conscious admissions in higher education on marginalized college-going students. IDRA published the study’s final report, Staying on Course When Schools Steer Clear: A Community-Based Study on the Impacts of Texas’ Diversity Policy Change on High School Students and Tools to Expand their College Pathways, in July 2026, and its corresponding Community-Based College Access – Online Technical Assistance Toolkit in April 2026.
Dr. Latham Sikes earned her doctorate in the educational policy and planning program at the University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation examined how school district leaders understand and respond to the effects of immigration policies on their school communities. She is originally from Plano, Texas, and earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and global development studies from Grinnell College. She also holds a master of arts degree in cultural studies in education from UT-Austin.
Contact Dr. Latham Sikes at chloe.sikes@idra.org.
Recent Media Publications
Community-Based College Access – Online Technical Assistance Toolkit, April 2026
Effective Investment in Early Education – How Texas School Districts Use the Early Education Allotment and Its Impact on Student Learning – IDRA Research Brief, by Angela Perez, M.A., & Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., March 2026
A Community-Based Study on the Impact of Texas’ SB 17 on Marginalized College-Going Students, by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., April 7, 2025
The Path to a Stronger State Seal of Biliteracy – Advancing Texas Student Success through Bilingualism and Biliteracy, IDRA Policy Brief, By Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., & Lizdelia Piñón, Ed.D. • October 2024 See PDF in English • See PDF in Spanish
How Texas Schools Are Funded – And Why that Matters to Collective Success – Issue Brief, By Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., August 2022
Recent Media Coverage
Anti-DEI Policies Are Ramping Up—With Big Implications for College Access, by Jennifer Vilcarino, EducationWeek, April 14, 2025
Podcast: Knowledge is Power: 50 Years of Advancing Education Equity with IDRA, by Scott Atnip, Weekly Witness by Texas Impact, October 27, 2023
Happy Hour 130: Why School Vouchers Are Bad For Texas, And How To Fight Back, Progress Texas Podcasts, October 6, 2023
Plano ISD runs a deficit. Why? It’s sending millions to the state, Caroline Love, KERA News, March 21, 2023 (also published by the Texas Standard, March 23, 2023)
Texas Democrats Double Down on Defending Public Ed, Simone Carter, Dallas Observer, February 27, 2023
Fact check: Democrat says MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech isn’t required reading in Texas schools. Accusatory tweet aimed at Gov. Abbott by Democratic strategist got 9 million views. by Nusaiba Mizan, Houston Chronicle, February 27, 2023
PolitiFact: Are Texas schools required to teach Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’?, by Nusaiba Mizan, Austin American-Statesman, February 14, 2023
Making Waves: Districts as Policy Mediators in the Flow of School Gentrification, by Terrance L. Green, Chloe Latham-Sikes, Jeremy Horne, Andrene Castro, Emily Germain, Educational Policy, March 31, 2022
The Policy Possibilities to Confront the Racial Impacts of Gentrification, Chloe Latham Sikes & Terrance L. Green, Poverty & Race • Vol. 30, No. 3 • October-December 2021
Republican bill that limits how race, slavery and history are taught in Texas schools becomes law, Brian Lopez, Texas Tribune, December 2, 2021
As COVID-19 Strains School Budgets, Texas’ Historic Education Cuts Give Lessons, by Laura Isensee, Houston Public Media, June 18, 2020
Data Deficit: No A-F Grades for Districts or STAAR Exams for Students, Emily Donaldson, Rivard Report, April 16, 2020
Teenager at Harris County juvenile detention tests positive for coronavirus, Gabrielle Banks, Houston Chronicle, March 26, 2020
Writings
- Texas Can Extend its Bilingual Education Leadership to All Grades – New Bilingual Pathways Report Highlights a Way Forward, September 30, 2026
- Community-based College Access Tools to Bridge Barriers to College, May 29, 2026
- My Child is Starting Kindergarten. Texas’ Voucher Program Worries Me., March 25, 2026
- College Diversity Policy Changes Compound Longstanding Barriers to College and Present New Ones, December 17, 2025
- What 2024 NAEP Scores Tell Us About Student Progress, March 26, 2025
- Students First, Strong Public Schools for All – IDRA Priorities for the 2025 Texas Legislative Session, December 21, 2024
- 70 years of Brown v. Board of Education – Reflecting on a New Generation of Civil Rights in Education, May 16, 2024
- Texas Censorship Law Leads to New Rubric for State-Approved Instructional Materials, February 12, 2024
- State Board of Education Punts Course Adoption Consideration for American Indian/Native Studies, February 12, 2024
- Texas’ Ban on College Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Offices Takes Effect, January 30, 2024
- What Texas’ New Book Banning Law Means for School Libraries and Student Books, September 28, 2023
- Texas’ New High-Quality Instructional Materials Law is Tangled in Classroom Censorship, September 26, 2023
- Texas Legislature Fails to Address the Needs of Texas Students and Teachers – More Censorship and Little Action on Teacher Shortage or Bilingual Education, July 31, 2023
- Texas Lawmakers Propose Laws to Support Black Students, History and Heritage, February 26, 2023
- Policy Roadmap for Texas Education – IDRA Policy Priorities for Texas Legislative Session, January 27, 2023
- NAEP Scores Reveal Ongoing Inequities and New Questions about Approaches to COVID-19 Learning Recovery, December 15, 2022
- Texas State Board of Education Votes to Keep Outdated Social Studies Standards and Delay New Ethnic Studies, September 08, 2022
- Challenges to Implementing Texas HB 4545 Tutoring Requirements for Accelerated Learning, September 02, 2022
- Update on Texas Education Policy Priorities – What to Watch and Where to Engage for Educational Equity, May 30, 2022
- A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing – The Attacks Against Equity through School Censorship and How Educators Can Still Teach the Truth, February 28, 2022
- Students Testify Against Classroom Censorship in Georgia, February 17, 2022
- How Texas’ Newest Censorship Bill Applies to School Activities, February 03, 2022
- Equitable Education Policies in the U.S. South Can Push the Country Toward Education Justice, January 30, 2022
- Get Involved in Changes to the Texas Social Studies Standards, December 02, 2021
- Texas SB 3 Makes New Changes to Social Studies Learning Standards, September 17, 2021
- What the Texas Classroom Censorship Bill Means for Schools, September 02, 2021
- The Case for Alternate Assessments and Community Oversight, April 30, 2021
- Five Things to Know about Texas School Finance, January 30, 2021
- IDRA’s Top Policy Priorities for the Texas Legislative Session, January 30, 2021
- Texas Must Scrutinize Potential Charter Schools Before Issuing Approvals for Growth, December 22, 2020
- Effective School Assessments and Accountability that Does Not Hurt Students, December 10, 2020
- Trump Administration, During a Pandemic, Moves to Privatize Education No Matter the Cost to Most Children, September 30, 2020
- State Reopening Guidance Must Prioritize Equity, June 26, 2020
- How School Districts and Communities Can Plan Safe Learning Environments, June 26, 2020
- State Takeovers of School Districts Don’t Work, May 27, 2020
- Implications of Texas SB 1882 Patchwork of Partnerships, May 27, 2020
- Meet Dr. Chloe Latham Sikes – IDRA Deputy Director of Policy, May 27, 2020
- Policy Recommendations to Equity Concerns for English Learners in Response to COVID-19, April 09, 2020
- Racial and Gender Disparities in Dress Code Discipline Point to Need for New Approaches in Schools, February 26, 2020
- Teacher Preparation for Diverse Classrooms, January 30, 2020
Podcasts
