publications
6,000+ Conversations. One Report.
RISE is pleased to officially release our first-ever report titled, Our Stories. Our Time. This comprehensive 20-page report documents the findings from over 6,000 one-on-one calls and conversations with Black, Latino, immigrant, and refugee RISE Family Leaders as they navigated the first six months of the COVID-19 Pandemic, what their lived experiences have been, as well as their recommendations regarding the education system and school re-entry. To hear more about how Family and Student Leaders are rising up and overcoming barriers to lead the movement for educational equity, read Our Stories. Our Time. today!
Additionally, to ensure Family Leaders can access and enjoy the report in their native languages, you can check out the translated version of the report in the top 9 languages of Aurora here.
Cultivating postsecondary aspirations in immigrant and refugee families through community education, engagement, and empowerment
Community-based and participatory action research partnerships between community organizations and postsecondary institutions offer powerful possibilities for expanding educational opportunity, capacity building, and social change. When family members of the local community are included in such partnerships, opportunities for equity-focused transformation becomes even greater. The purpose of this article is to describe a community partnership between the University of Denver and RISE Colorado, including family members from local Burmese, Nepali, and Spanish-speaking immigrant and refugee communities. We offer an overview of the methodology, process, and purpose of the research partnership, highlighting the importance of collaborating with and centering community knowledge and cultural ways of knowing among refugee communities.
To Fight Inequity, Empower the Families It Harms Most
In an effort to close opportunity gaps, let’s position families to lead the movement for change, writes Veronica Palmer of RISE Colorado.
Family-Led Policymaking Checklist
The following checklist is designed to support families to develop policies that will help make their vision of educational equity a reality. Families are critical stakeholders within our education system and must be seen as architects, rather than objects, of policy and be trusted to develop the solutions to our most pressing challenges in education. Families are their child’s number one teacher and advocate and are powerful change agents who can lead the movement for educational equity.
Family Engagement: A Rubric for Education Policymaking
Proactively building relationships and co-creating policy with stakeholders will not only help to ensure that policy effectively addresses their needs and aspirations, but it can also help state leaders be more effective and broaden ownership of policy solutions. This rubric was designed by parent organizers to help state leaders take stock of their current practices around engaging families and can be used to identify strengths and opportunities.
“RISE has taught me a lot! We help each other and we come together as a family. We're all trying to navigate the school systems because all kids need to be in school and the system needs to be talked about more.”
- Mikki Heild