Ethnic Studies Evaluation Projects
2022-2023 Evaluation of Saint Paul Public Schools’ Critical Ethnic Studies Course
In 2022-2023, Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) first implemented a Critical Ethnic Studies (CES) course district-wide that was co-designed with students, educators, and community members. Almost 2,460 SPPS students enrolled in this course in 2022-2023, and 70% of these students successfully completed the course, earning full credit. Students serving on the Student Engagement Advisory Board (SEAB) advocated for and designed the course to center the stories and lived experiences of ethnically marginalized students and communities, teach critical thinking, and help address issues including a lack of diversity in advanced courses, negative effects of Student Resource Officers (SROs) within schools, and poor mental health and accessibility.
The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement and the Center for RIDGS Studies, in partnership with SPPS, conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of students’ and teachers’ experiences with this CES course in the 2022-2023 school year. The evaluation provided the first snapshot of the CES course in SPPS and provided various recommendations for future iterations of the course. Recommendations included improving CES’ accessibility for students learning English, expanding the breadth of ethnic groups represented, offering more CES courses and earlier in students’ K12 schooling, and providing more support for teachers to further develop their CES content and pedagogy.
2022-23 Evaluation Pamphlets
We have compiled key details from the evaluation report into an informational pamphlet, which we translated into the most commonly spoken languages in Saint Paul Public Schools. Read the pamphlet in:
Check out the article “An Overview and Evaluation of Critical Ethnic Studies in Saint Paul Public Schools,” written by the evaluation collaborative team and published in the Ethnic Studies Pedagogies journal - Volume 2, Issue 2 (December 2024). The article analyzes the evaluation findings and provides additional historical context and implications for practice.
Having insight from the previous evaluation regarding implementation of and experiences with the CES course, researchers interviewed 16 students who had taken or were taking CES at the time of data collection in May-June 2024. The primary question guiding this second round of evaluation was: How does the CES course influence students’ lives?
Students shared stories of how CES advanced their understanding of oppression and injustice, knowledge of themselves, communication and critical thinking skills, as well as helped them develop a sense of hope and optimism about action. In turn, students gained confidence and a sense of agency that helped them succeed within and beyond school.
Ongoing Ethnic Studies Evaluations
The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) and the Center for RIDGS Studies are currently working on a new evaluation project which seeks to share the stories of ethnic studies from several Minnesota schools and school districts and offer insight into how districts can implement ethnic studies in ways that are genuinely connected to local communities.
This project is funded in part by the Minnesota Humanities Center with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
We will post updates from this project when available.