{"id":7609,"date":"2024-01-08T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T14:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everylearnereverywhere.org\/?p=7609"},"modified":"2024-01-12T09:40:29","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T15:40:29","slug":"a-student-perspective-on-education-systems-reform-through-research-and-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everylearnereverywhere.org\/es\/blog\/a-student-perspective-on-education-systems-reform-through-research-and-data\/","title":{"rendered":"A Student Perspective on Education Systems Reform Through Research and Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jamie Baldwin had been thinking for a while about ways that education systems need reform but gained new insight when they learned last year they were autistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like professors are much more willing to help me after my diagnosis than they were before,\u201d they said. \u201cFor a few semesters my GPA had dropped below a 2.5 and no one reached out to ask me why I was struggling, but it has gotten a bit easier for me now that I have the proper accommodations for my diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n

This helped Jamie, a senior math major at Sam Houston State University in Texas, realize \u201ceducation isn\u2019t always equitable,\u201d they say. \u201cWhether the inequity is due to a diagnosis like mine or financial hardships that make accessing education difficult for some students, or discrimination based on race or ethnicity, there are a lot of reasons why the educational system needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie (who prefers to go by their first name in this article) is hoping their research project as part of their internship with Every Learner Everywhere\u00ae in fall 2023 will provide institutions of higher learning with the data and knowledge to improve equity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much about the educational system that could be improved, and it isn\u2019t all the fault of the teachers,\u201d they say. \u201cTeachers are overworked and underpaid and not provided with the professional development or support to deal with specific student populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie\u2019s research involves interviewing people who work or study at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), which are defined as those who have a population of 25 percent or more Hispanic students<\/a>. Jamie often isn\u2019t recognized as Hispanic and they want their research to alleviate the burdens of discrimination that they \u2014 as a white-passing person \u2014 haven\u2019t had.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople doubt it all the time when I tell them, so I don\u2019t face the prejudices and hardships that others with more melanin in their skin do,\u201d they say. \u201cMy mom is from Mexico and melanated, and I\u2019ve seen it with her. It\u2019s not fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n