Classnotes Podcast (November 25, 2024). María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., and her son Xavier Montecel, Ph.D., have embarked on an oral history project in the form of their own podcast, Cuentos de mi familia. In Episode 108, they focus on Cuca’s professional life with IDRA, which spanned 48 of IDRA’s now 51 years. For 26 of those years, she served as IDRA’s President & CEO. She is now President Emerita.

We are honored to share this specific episode with our Classnotes Podcast listeners. In this conversation, Cuca reflects on her professional life and the course of her career. She remembers what it was like to transition from her childhood in Laredo to young adulthood as a college student in San Antonio. She and Xavier talk about the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) and its vision to, as she says, create a world where all children have opportunities in life that come from a great education. She shares stories of what that work looked like and accomplished for students, families, teachers, and community advocates – all who care deeply about equity and excellence in public education.

Xavier is director of the graduate program and assistant professor of catholic theological and social ethics at St. Mary’s University.

Show length: 1:08:32 min.

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Resources

Cuentos de mi Familia, podcast series

Corazón, A Poem for María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, by Laurie Posner, MPA

Tribute video to Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, 2019

Reflections on IDRA Work Across 50 Years – A Story of Innovation, Connection and Faithfulness, by Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, 2023

Three Decades of Groundbreaking Dropout Research – Reflections by Dr. Robledo Montecel, interview by Bricio Vasquez, Ph.D., IDRA Newsletter, November-December 2018

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The post Introducing Cuentos de mi familia – Podcast Episode 247 appeared first on IDRA.

Award-winning podcast exploring strategies to better serve every student in our diverse classrooms.

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Classnotes is IDRA’s free award-winning podcast series for teachers and administrators that explores issues facing U.S. education today and strategies to better serve every student. Listen from your computer or from an MP3 player, like your phone or iPod. Subscribe for free through iTunes. And if you like our show, please leave a short review for us in iTunes!

Classnotes Podcast Awards and Recognitions

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Classnotes Podcast (October 28, 2024). Several of the IDRA STEM Equity Ambassadors want to give back to their hometown of San Antonio. The STEM Equity Ambassadors program hosted by IDRA gave educators the opportunity to use interactive and experiential teaching methods and showcase their ideas in equity plans to combat inequities in their respective fields.

In this episode, Anavi Prakash talks to two STEM Equity Ambassadors about what it means to be educators and fight for equity in the city where they were once students. Their answers reflect a desire to make education better for the next generation of students by giving them the support they need to thrive and pave their own paths.

James Hernández, Ph.D., is a technology teacher at Harlandale ISD. He is also a member of the Edgewood ISD school board, the district where he went to high school. Dr. Hernández believes a quality education is the key to empowering communities to be content, politically engaged and earn higher paying jobs. Dr. Hernández earned his doctorate. in interdisciplinary learning and teaching from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Amanda Roberts, Ph.D., is the math academic program director at St. Philip’s College Southwest Campus. She also has experience as a U.S. Air Force research scientist, assistant professor of chemistry, and middle school science teacher. She aims to mentor and inspire students at all levels, from kindergarten to graduate school. Dr. Roberts earned her doctorate in biomedical sciences from the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

Dr. Hernández and Dr. Roberts are among the eight teachers in San Antonio IDRA named as STEM Equity Ambassadors for the 2023-24 school year. The Alamo STEM Ecosystem, co-led by IDRA, partnered with the other three Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC) partners across the country to support over 30 STEM Equity Ambassadors using interactive and experiential teaching methods as they developed robust STEM action plans for their own school and school district.

Anavi Prakash is a student at Northwestern University who served as an IDRA communications intern in the summer of 2024.

Show length: 17:21 min.

Send comments to [email protected]

Resources

STEM Equity Ambassadors at IDRA

STEM Equity Ambassadors eBook – Cultivating STEM Equity Ambassadors to Address the Barriers to Equity in STEM Education

STEM Equity – Online Technical Assistance Package

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The post Teachers on STEM Equity for Students – Podcast Episode 246 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (October 4, 2024). Anavi Prakash speaks with students Carlos and Ashly and youth leader Gabriela Benitez about their experience in the IDRA Digital Ambassadors program. This program supports communities in the Texas Rio Grande Valley through youth-led technology training. Participating students first engaged in comprehensive participatory action research to identify the most pressing technology needs within their community. Then, after a rigorous learning journey to master the identified technology skills, they planned and led a community training event to provide vital technological training to community members.

The program is co-led by ARISE Adelante, an organization that aims to empower immigrants in low-income communities in south Texas. ARISE and IDRA piloted the IDRA Digital Ambassador program in early 2024. The program will continue with additional students during the fall of 2024 with the generous support from Methodist Healthcare Ministries and from Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation.

In this episode, participants discuss the importance of student-driven programs in the community and how the IDRA Digital Ambassadors benefitted communities and the students themselves as leaders. As the students looked to help others, they also gained skills in public speaking and teaching adults with a diverse set of backgrounds and skill levels.

Carlos and Ashly are high school students in South Texas. Gabriela Benitez is a youth leader and community organizer with ARISE Adelante. Anavi Prakash is a student at Northwestern University who served as an IDRA communications intern in the summer of 2024.

Show length: 8:35 min

Send comments to [email protected]

Resources

Students Bridge the Digital Divide in Colonias – Highlights from IDRA’s Pilot Student Digital Ambassadorships, by Michelle Vega & Aurelio Manuel Montemayor, M.Ed., IDRA Newsletter, June-July 2024

IDRA Digital Ambassadors Program

Story by Connect Humanity: South Texas colonia students step up as tech connectors – A showcase of the Rio Grande Valley Digital Ambassadors Program

Story by the Rio Grande Guardian: Digital Ambassadors teach computer literacy skills to colonia residents

ARISE Adelante

IDRA Student Research & Activism

IDRA Student Programs

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The post IDRA Digital Ambassador Students Lead Community Technology Training – Classnotes Podcast 245 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (September 16, 2024) 2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the federal Gun Free Schools Act of 1994 – a landmark bill that promised to bring about an end to gun violence on school campuses. But schools are no safer now than they were when the law went into effect.

Policymakers and school leaders have used the law’s underlying policy rationales to justify harmful discipline and school safety measures. These include hardening school facilities, surveilling students and families, investing in school policing and security, and relying on so-called “zero tolerance” punishments that push students out of school and into the criminal justice system.

Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., talks with colleague, Morgan Craven, J.D., and Andrew Hairston, J.D., from Texas Appleseed about how, three decades after the Gun-Free Schools Act’s passage, these policies and practices continue to harm students – particularly Black students, other students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and students with disabilities.

This podcast episode continues our series of episodes on education and the law, where IDRA works to uplift the stories behind landmark cases and laws impacting education civil rights.

Show length: 47:37 min

Send comments to [email protected]

Resources

Thirty Years Later, the 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act Continues to Harm Students and Communities, by Rebekah Skelton, IDRA Newsletter, March 2024

What Safe Schools Should Look Like for Every Student: A Guide to Building Safe and Welcoming Schools and Rejecting Policies that Hurt Students, by Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA

33 Years Later, Tough on Crime Still Bad for Students, by Makiah Lyons, J.D., Knowledge is Power, February 24, 2023

Commentary: Texas bills offer illusion of school safety, Paige Duggins-Clay, San Antonio Express-News, May 2, 2023

Willful Defiance: The Movement to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline, by Mark R. Warren (Amazon)

Joint Testimony in Opposition to SB 245, submitted by IDRA, Texas Center for Justice and Equity, and Texas Appleseed Against SB 245, to the House Committee on Public Health, April 12, 2023 – See video

Zero Tolerance Policies Push Students Away – High Attrition Rates of Black Students and Hispanic Students Are Linked to Exclusionary Discipline, Supplemental analysis in 2015-16 IDRA attrition study, by Roy Johnson, M.S., IDRA

Listening Session on Federal Relief – The Next Steps for our Children, Teachers and Parents in Uvalde – Testimony by Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA National Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement Presented before the U.S. Congressional Children’s Caucus, September 26, 2022 – See video

Commentary: It’s past time for corporal punishment to end in schools, Morgan Craven, San Antonio Express-News, October 6, 2023

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The post The Law in Education – Gun Free Schools Act – Classnotes Podcast 244 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (July 1, 2024) A recent court ruling stopped a case filed by the Young Conservatives of Texas that was an anti-immigrant attack on the Texas Dream Act. This act recognizes that Texas high school graduates, regardless of immigration status, deserve an equal opportunity to go to college and that they contribute significantly to our state’s economy.

The Young Conservatives of Texas v. [President] Neal Smatresk case sought to bar the University of North Texas (UNT) from collecting nonresident tuition from out-of-state students. This would have cost the university millions and threatened to compromise the integrity of the Texas higher education funding system.

This podcast episode continues our series of episodes on education and the law, where IDRA works to uplift the stories behind landmark cases and laws impacting education civil rights. IDRA Chief Legal Analyst Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., talks Monica Andrade, manager of state policy with the President’s Alliance, and Michael Adams-Hurta, partner at Wright Close & Barger. They discuss the litigation challenge that sought to undermine immigrant students’ rights to access higher education and how the case connects to other anti-immigrant efforts to attack and isolate immigrant students in education.

Show length: 41:31 min

Resources

Court Sides with UNT by Reversing Anti-Immigrant Tuition Challenge Fifth Circuit Court Order – IDRA & Presidents’ Alliance React to Young Conservatives of Texas v. Neal Smatresk et al., July 11, 2023

IDRA and President’s Alliance Joint Statement on Oral Argument: UNT Court Case Underscores Threat to Texas’ Higher Education and Students – IDRA & Presidents’ Alliance React to Oral Arguments in University of North Texas Case, February 13, 2023

Podcast: A Reckless Anti-Immigration Lawsuit Challenges Texas Tuition Laws, Latino Business Report episode featuring Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., IDRA, August 23, 2022

IDRA Statement on Amicus Brief: IDRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit on Behalf of Student, Business and Higher Education Organizations in a Reckless Case Challenging Texas Tuition Laws – Injunction Could Cost Universities Millions, Reduce Funds for Academics and Supports for Texas Students, August 5, 2022

IDRA Amicus Brief in Young Conservatives of Texas Foundation v. Smatresk on behalf of 12 business, higher education and student organizations, August 1, 2022

President’s Alliance Higher Education Immigration Portal

IDRA Statement on District Court Ruling: IDRA Denounces Court Ruling Jeopardizing Texas’ Dream Act, April 13, 2022

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The post The Law in Education – YCT v Smatresk at UNT – Classnotes Podcast 243 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (April 29, 2024) Anti-immigrant rhetoric has real consequences on students’ lives. Since IDRA’s earliest days, we have been at the forefront of protecting the rights of immigrant students to attend public school. Their access to college was under threat recently in a case brought forth by the Young Conservatives of Texas that was a thinly veiled anti-immigrant attack on the Texas Dream Act.

When the lower court in 2022 barred the University of North Texas (UNT) from collecting nonresident tuition from out-of-state students, IDRA filed an amicus brief on behalf of 12 student, business and higher education organizations urging the Fifth Circuit to reverse the erroneous decision.

Thankfully the next year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Court sided with the university by reversing anti-immigrant tuition challenge.

While the Young Conservatives of Texas v. Neal Smatresk et al., case was pending IDRA Chief Legal Analyst, Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., talked with two UNT students and a faculty member about how such legal challenges affect them and their campus environment. They describe YCT’s “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game” on campus and ways students and faculty came together to support undocumented students in such a climate.

At the time of this recording, Daniel Diaz-Alcaraz was a UNT doctoral student and a founder of MUEVE. Edith Campa graduated from UNT in 2022. Mariela Nuñez-Janes, Ph.D., is a UNT professor of anthropology.

Show length: 52:12

Resources

Court Sides with UNT by Reversing Anti-Immigrant Tuition Challenge Fifth Circuit Court Order – IDRA & Presidents’ Alliance React to Young Conservatives of Texas v. Neal Smatresk et al., July 11, 2023

IDRA and President’s Alliance Joint Statement on Oral Argument: UNT Court Case Underscores Threat to Texas’ Higher Education and Students – IDRA & Presidents’ Alliance React to Oral Arguments in University of North Texas Case, February 13, 2023

Podcast: A Reckless Anti-Immigration Lawsuit Challenges Texas Tuition Laws, Latino Business Report episode featuring Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., IDRA, August 23, 2022

IDRA Statement on Amicus Brief: IDRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit on Behalf of Student, Business and Higher Education Organizations in a Reckless Case Challenging Texas Tuition Laws – Injunction Could Cost Universities Millions, Reduce Funds for Academics and Supports for Texas Students, August 5, 2022

IDRA Amicus Brief in Young Conservatives of Texas Foundation v. Smatresk on behalf of 12 business, higher education and student organizations, August 1, 2022

IDRA Statement on District Court Ruling: IDRA Denounces Court Ruling Jeopardizing Texas’ Dream Act, April 13, 2022

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The post Supportive College Climates for Undocumented Students – Classnotes Podcast #242 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (April 3, 2024). Striking inequities in STEM pathways lead to underrepresentation of women and people of color in STEM careers. Many initiatives across the country are looking for ways to turn the tide.

STEM equity must be infused into classrooms across the K-12 pipeline.

IDRA recently named eight teachers in San Antonio as STEM Equity Ambassadors for the 2023-24 school year to support teacher leaders to do just that.

In this episode, IDRA’s Lizdelia Piñón and Michelle Martínez Vega talk with two educators about their experiences as IDRA’s STEM Equity Ambassadors and what they have learned about promoting equity through culturally relevant STEM pedagogy.

Angela Votion, M.S., is a STEM consultant with the Texas Education Service Center, Region 20. With over 10 years of experience in education, her expertise includes curriculum development, instructional design, and professional development facilitation. She holds a master of science in reading from Texas A&M San Antonio.

Alma Ramos, M.A., M.Ed., is a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade instructional coach and fifth grade science teacher. Originally from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, she first became an educator when graduating from Texas A&M University in 2012. Alma holds a master’s degrees in bilingual education and educational leadership.

IDRA Education Associate Lizdelia Piñón, Ed.D., and IDRA Chief Technology Strategist Michelle Martínez Vega help coordinate IDRA’s ambassador program.

The Alamo STEM Ecosystem, co-led by IDRA, is partnering with the other three Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC) partners across the country to support over 30 STEM Equity Ambassadors using interactive and experiential teaching methods to support them as they develop a robust STEM action plan for their own school and school district.

Show length: 16:30

Resources

STEM Equity Ambassadors

Theatre of the Oppressed

IDRA STEM Equity – Online Technical Assistance Toolkit

Defense STEM Education Consortium

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The post Ambassador Educators on Promoting STEM Equity – Classnotes Podcast #241 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (January 19, 2024). Many programs in public schools take a while to bear fruit. This is not surprising since schools are systems, and positive change requires systemic change. But we have also seen change occur quickly when adults shift their perspective about students, particularly students who don’t fit a certain mold.

IDRA is testing such a process through our new Youth Leadership Now project. This field-initiated, research-based program that is federally funded is examining how the program can transform not just participating students but also whole school communities.

We are partnering with the Texas Education Service Center Region 19 to pilot this program in several schools in Texas. Youth Leadership Now combines three key strategies. First, it takes key elements from IDRA’s highly successful Valued Youth Partnership program and adds mentorship of tutors by eighth grade teachers, who help them prepare to transition into high school. And it incorporates IDRA’s family leadership model, Education CAFE, to engage families and tutors in equity action projects.

In this podcast episode, Hector Bojorquez, IDRA’s director of operations and educational practice, who conceptualized this project, had a nice conversation with two guests from Fabens Middle School. Ana Luna is the YLN teacher coordinator who has worked 18 years in the districts as a math and technology teacher. Her assistant, Beatriz Nuñez, joins the discussion as they talk about what they have seen in the students’ first four weeks as tutors. Christie L. Goodman, APR, Fellow PRSA, provides an introduction and overview of Youth Leadership Now.

Show length: 12:07 min

Resources

IDRA Youth Leadership Now

Clint ISD & Youth Leadership Now: 23/24 School Year – IDRA Pilot Program Update

IDRA Valued Youth Partnership

Flier: How VYP transforms student socio-emotional learning and relationships with school

IDRA Education CAFE

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The post Student Leaders Surprise Teachers – Podcast Episode 240 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (December 14, 2023). In 2023, IDRA celebrated its 50th anniversary with a series of events throughout the year, including a gala highlighting IDRA’s Bold Legacy and Bright Future. This special episode features the remarks by IDRA President & CEO, Celina Moreno, J.D.

She pays tribute to the legacy, audacity and strength of the advocates who organized five decades ago to challenge injustice in their schools. And she emphasizes a bright future where, at IDRA, we will never stop dreaming of and fighting for a world where all believe in the truth we have long known: all children are valuable; none is expendable.

Show length: 12:10 min

Resources

Watch this speech on YouTube

IDRA 50th Anniversary Highlights

IDRA 50th Anniversary Video Gallery

Gala program (PDF)

Commentary: Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, 93 and ‘still raising hell,‘ by Nancy M. Preyor-Johnson, San Antonio Express-News

IDRA President and CEO Celina Moreno | ¡Nosotros! with Elaine Ayala, November 17, 2023

Latinas in Education, ¡SALUD!, KLRN-TV, September 28, 2023

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The post Standing on the Shoulders of Giants – Podcast Episode 239 appeared first on IDRA.

Classnotes Podcast (November 9, 2023). At IDRA we often say “everyone is a policy advocate.” This means that everyone has the right and responsibility to be involved in the policymaking processes that influence education. This especially is true for communities of color who are often intentionally left out of this process.

Our IDRA Education Policy Fellows each brought their unique talents and abilities to influence policy and advocate at the Texas and Georgia Legislatures. With this program, IDRA set out to change the landscape of state education advocacy by training advocates with a commitment to and experience with communities of color to influence state laws and lead a powerful network of impacted communities.

Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., IDRA Georgia advocacy director, led a conversation with fellows: Steve Kemgang, Diana Long, Jonathan Peraza Campos, M.S., Alisha “Tuff” Tuff, and Ruth M. Youn. In this last installment of the three-part series, the fellows describe the reason they applied to the fellowship, their new knowledge gained, and post fellowship plans.

The IDRA Education Policy Fellows Program that operated from November 2022 through July 2023 was generously supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Kresge Foundation.

Show length: 32:02 min.

Resources

IDRA 2022-23 Fellows – Bios and writings

IDRA Education Policy Fellows Program

Post-fellowship evaluation report of the program’s first cycle

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The post A Bright Future in Education Advocacy – Podcast Episode 238 appeared first on IDRA.