Royel M. Johnson – författare

How do youth placed in foster care aspire to and access college? This book chronicles the lives and experiences of 47 college students navigating the challenging terrain of the United States' foster care system. Through insightful, in-depth interviews, Johnson offers insight into the harsh realities of how our nation's education, welfare, and other social systems often intertwine in ways that diminish the potential and opportunities for these young people. Yet amidst the adversities, these stories resonate with themes of hope, resistance, and possibility. Guided by resilience theory and other asset-based concepts, Johnson sheds light on the protective mechanisms that enable postsecondary access and success, even in the face of towering barriers. Beyond exposition, this book is a clarion call to educators, school and university leaders, and child welfare champions to stand tall and act decisively. The goal? To transform the precarious circumstances of young people in foster care, and dismantle the obstacles that thwart their educational pursuits and dreams.Book Features:Employs critical and asset-based theories and concepts that recognize the agencies, desires, and possibilities of youth in foster care.Brings attention to the intersectionality of identities and social structures that shape students' educational pathways.Identifies system failures across education and child welfare sectors and how they interact with one another.Presents findings from empirical research about risks and protective factors that influence success at critical junctures along the college-going pipeline.Offers recommendations for various stakeholders who seek to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of youth in foster care.

How do youth placed in foster care aspire to and access college? This book chronicles the lives and experiences of 47 college students navigating the challenging terrain of the United States' foster care system. Through insightful, in-depth interviews, Johnson offers insight into the harsh realities of how our nation's education, welfare, and other social systems often intertwine in ways that diminish the potential and opportunities for these young people. Yet amidst the adversities, these stories resonate with themes of hope, resistance, and possibility. Guided by resilience theory and other asset-based concepts, Johnson sheds light on the protective mechanisms that enable postsecondary access and success, even in the face of towering barriers. Beyond exposition, this book is a clarion call to educators, school and university leaders, and child welfare champions to stand tall and act decisively. The goal? To transform the precarious circumstances of young people in foster care, and dismantle the obstacles that thwart their educational pursuits and dreams.Book Features:Employs critical and asset-based theories and concepts that recognize the agencies, desires, and possibilities of youth in foster care.Brings attention to the intersectionality of identities and social structures that shape students' educational pathways.Identifies system failures across education and child welfare sectors and how they interact with one another.Presents findings from empirical research about risks and protective factors that influence success at critical junctures along the college-going pipeline.Offers recommendations for various stakeholders who seek to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of youth in foster care.

Offers insight into race-based disparities in higher education and practical tools for advancing racial equity on college and university campuses.The current socio-political moment-rife with racial tensions and overt bigotry-has exacerbated longstanding racial inequities in higher education. While educational scholars have developed conceptual tools and offered data-informed recommendations for rooting out racism in campus policies and practices, this work is largely inaccessible to the public. At the same time, practitioners and policymakers are increasingly called on to implement quick solutions to what are, in fact, profound, structural problems. Racial Equity on College Campuses bridges this gap, marshaling the expertise of nineteen scholars and practitioners to translate research-based findings into actionable recommendations in three key areas: university leadership, teaching and learning, and student and campus life. The strategies gathered here will prove useful to institutional actors engaged in both real-time and long-term decision-making across contexts-from the classroom to the boardroom.

Offers insight into race-based disparities in higher education and practical tools for advancing racial equity on college and university campuses.The current socio-political moment-rife with racial tensions and overt bigotry-has exacerbated longstanding racial inequities in higher education. While educational scholars have developed conceptual tools and offered data-informed recommendations for rooting out racism in campus policies and practices, this work is largely inaccessible to the public. At the same time, practitioners and policymakers are increasingly called on to implement quick solutions to what are, in fact, profound, structural problems. Racial Equity on College Campuses bridges this gap, marshaling the expertise of nineteen scholars and practitioners to translate research-based findings into actionable recommendations in three key areas: university leadership, teaching and learning, and student and campus life. The strategies gathered here will prove useful to institutional actors engaged in both real-time and long-term decision-making across contexts-from the classroom to the boardroom.

The Big Lie About Race in America’s Schools delivers a collective response to the challenge of racially-charged misinformation, disinformation, and censorship that increasingly permeates and weakens not only US education but also our democracy. In this thought-provoking volume, Royel Johnson and Shaun Harper bring together leading education scholars and educators to confront the weaponized distortions that are currently undermining both public education and racial justice. The experts gathered in this work offer strategies to counter these dangerous trends and uphold truth in education.In focused, practical chapters, the contributors examine efforts both broad and specific, from restrictive education legislation, to book bans, to twisting terminology like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), that are obscuring truth in public education. They demonstrate how this narrowing of allowable ideas does a disservice to all students and especially to those who are underrepresented in curricula, including students of color and LGBTQ+ students.Ultimately, the book offers clear, actionable insights for educators, policymakers, and advocates who seek solutions that will counter recent trends and transform educational contexts within both K–12 and higher education. Among other actions, this volume advocates strengthening educational alliances through shared leadership, organized collaboration, and parental involvement. It also presents innovative countermeasures to help defend public education.

Creating New Possibilities for the Future of HBCUs brings together over 20 higher education scholars with more than 150 years of combined professional experience to critically examine the current contributions of and future directions for our nation’s 101 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The book breaks new ground on Black colleges and offers hope and optimism for charting their future despite shrinking investments in higher education, declining enrollments, and eroding public confidence in the value of a college degree. The book was written to tell the truth, to right (or '[re]write') past wrongs about HBCUs, and to shift our collective gaze from the uncertain, shaky past of a select few to a far more promising future for all based on insights from contemporary empirical research.Each chapter addresses a particular aspect of higher education as it relates to HBCUs, documenting the undeniable legacy of Black colleges, their current challenges and untold successes, blended with findings from recent empirical studies—both quantitative and qualitative—that clearly create new possibilities for the future of HBCUs. This volume was developed to break new ground on often overlooked and understudied terrain in higher education scholarship.Organized into three major sections, the book includes chapters focusing on HBCUs as institutions and a small, but consequential, segment of the higher education enterprise. Section Two consists of 6 chapters addressing the experiences of HBCU students, paying close attention to issues of intersectionality, heterogeneity, and race/ethnicity, to name a few. A third, and final, section turns much-needed attention to HBCU personnel, including campus administrators, college presidents, and faculty. Rich in its coverage of culture, facts, and past history, this new book offers much to those interested in charting new possibilities for the future of HBCUs.