CALL for ABSTRACTS: Rutgers Education Reform, Communities, and Social Justice Research Conference – Feb 14

Posted by Rutgers Camden on January 19, 2021

EDUCATION REFORM, COMMUNITIES, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: EXPLORING THE INTERSECTIONS

Research paper presentation panels to take place via ZOOM on the afternoons of May 19, June 2, June 16 and June 30.

Over the past twenty years, neoliberal education reforms have gained increasing momentum across the United States, emphasizing school choice, market discipline, standardized testing, high-stakes evaluation, privatized management, and the reframing of public education as a site for capital investment. These reforms intersect with cities and communities in complex ways. Critics argue that neoliberal reforms exacerbate educational inequalities and can have dramatically differential consequences for low-income and wealthier communities.

Understanding the intersections between these reform strategies and questions of social justice, community development, and urban policy calls for interdisciplinary engagement that bridges the confines of traditional academic disciplines. Increasingly, scholars of psychology, education, politics, sociology, urban studies, economics, planning and many other fields are asking what broader impacts neoliberal efforts to reform public education are having, particularly on our most vulnerable communities.

To further this important conversation, we are hosting the sixth annual conference, to enable researchers studying the diverse implications of recent school reforms to share their findings and ideas, and to help shape a broader collective research agenda.

We welcome research abstracts on all topics that examine the intersection of neoliberal education reforms and social justice, including the following research areas:

• Impact of national policy and/or politics on K-12 education
• Parent, teacher, and/or community activism for and against neoliberal reforms
• Educational governance, public accountability, and community disenfranchisement
• Schools, gentrification and urban development
• Impact of private funding on education policy and practice
• School closings
• State takeovers of school districts and other mechanisms of state control of public education
• Impact of neoliberal education reform on higher education
• Teachers’ race, class, gender, retention, equity, training and tenure
• Education reforms that empower the voices of teachers, to improve teaching and learning
• Impact of and alternatives to high stakes standardized testing.
• Parental perceptions of and resistance to high stakes standardized testing
• How schools control and discipline students
• Inequality and segregation by race, income, special needs and English Proficiency
• Education reforms that increase equity and produce positive outcomes for vulnerable populations

If you would like to present your research, please send an abstract of no more than 350 words to [email protected] by Sunday, February 14, 2021. 

To be considered, the papers must report on empirical research and/or make a theoretical contribution. Literature reviews or research proposals will not be accepted.

Your abstract must include (1) paper title; (2) research methodology; and (3) names, affiliations, and emails for all authors.

Please direct any questions to Julia Sass Rubin [email protected].

Submission Deadline: February 14, 2021