Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE)

The Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE) is a research center in the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia, Athens. The CLASE was created in 2003 through a generous grant from the Goizueta Foundation, to support the educational success of the growing Latine population in Georgia. The Center contributes to the University’s combined mission with the specific goal of creating a more robust pipeline of educational supports for Latines.

Our Mission

“The mission is to conduct rigorous, meaningful, and evidence-based research and scholarly analysis to inform educators, policymakers, academics, and community organizations in Georgia, the United States, and globally. Our goal is to improve educational policies, practices, outcomes, and opportunities for Latine youth, families, and communities across the P-20 continuum.”

How will we accomplish our mission:

• Conduct multi/interdisciplinary research to address complex issues
• Use a variety of research methods to examine germane scholarly inquiry and empirical research
• Develop a national and international research network to collaborate on grants and projects
• Disseminate research finding in academic journals and other venues to inform academics, educators and the general public
• Build strategic partnerships with school districts, foundations and other centers
• Create outreach initiatives to disseminate research findings and other resources

Current Research Projects

• History of Latines and Education in Georgia Project
  • Latines in the U.S. South: Disrupting Historical Erasure and Master Narratives
  • Oral History Archives
• Status of Latine Education in Georgia Data Project & Summit
  • National Report
  • State Report - Georgia
  • District-level report
• Access to Higher Education for Immigrant Students
• Venezuelan Migrants and Education International Project
• National Academy of Education Post-Covid Inequities in Education
• Funding Bilingual/Dual Language Education and Multilingual Learners in the U.S.
• Plyler v Doe
• International Handbook of Latinos and Education

Courses Taught by CLASE Faculty

LLED 7045: Latines and Education

This course focuses on the historical and contemporary issues affecting Latine education in the United States including structural, legal, cultural, linguistic, political, and pedagogical. We will explore different theories, research, policies and practices related to Latine education success and failure.

CLASE Distinguished Speaker Series 2024–2025

First Session: Early Childhood Education: A Key Ingredient to Latino Student Achievement

• Speaker: Eugene Garcia, Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University
• Date: October 24, 2024

Second Session: Advancing Equity: Devising Strategies for the Classroom and the Board Room

• Speaker: Pedro Noguera, Distinguished Professor of Education and Dean, USC Rossier
• Date: November 14, 2024

Third Session: Banned! The Fight for Mexican American Studies

• Speaker: Nolan Cabrera, Professor, University of Arizona
• Date: January 23, 2025

Fourth Session: Structurally Transforming Colleges to Better Serve Latino Students

• Speaker: Gina Garcia, Professor, UC Berkeley’s School of Education
• Date: April 3, 2025

CLASE Brown Bag Speaker Series 2024–2025

CLASE Brown Bag Speaker Series fosters intimate, informal discussions on Latino culture, heritage, and issues shaping the community’s future.

Previous Topics and Speakers

• “Migration of Latinos to the South and Georgia” - Dr. Yami Rodriguez , Assistant Professor, Department of History, Emory University
• “Transborder Issues and the North Georgia Education project” - Dr. Ted Hamann , Professor, Department of Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• “Elite Immigrants” - Dr. Yader Lanuza , Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara
• “Opportunities Studying Abroad” - Leah Hicks , Assistant Director for Global Risk, Health and Safety, Office of Global - Engagement (OGE)
• “Complexities of the Brazilian Ethno-Racial Identity” - Dr. Mariana Becker , Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Theory and Practice
• “Stressful Life Events and Latinx Adolescents” - Dr. Thania Galvan , Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology; Director, FUERTE Lab
• “Making the Latino South: A History of Racial Formation” - Dr. Cecilia Márquez , Assistant Professor of History, Duke University
• “Migration Narratives: Diverging Stories in Schools, Churches, and Civic Institutions” - Dr. Stanton Wortham , Professor and Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean, Boston College University
• “Teaching Latine/Latinx Studies and FYOS Classes” - Dra. Sharina Maíllo-Pozo , Assistant Professor of Latinx Studies
• “Creando El Éxito Dissertation and findings” - Dr. John Alvarez-Turner , Director of the Pride Center, Multicultural Services and Programs, University of Georgia
• “U-LEAD and Access to Higher Education for Immigrants” - Dr. Betina Kaplan , Associate Professor of Spanish and Associate Head, Department of Romance Languages, University of Georgia
• “Spanish in the South” - Dr. Chad Howe , Professor, Department of Romance Languages and LACSI Director, University of Georgia
• “History of Latinos in the U.S. South” - Dr. Oscar Chamosa , Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Georgia
• “Recording Latino Oral History” - Christian Lopez , Head, Oral History and Media, Russell Library and Sarah Gutierrez, Oral History Coordinator, Russell Library
• “Working with Latinx Communities in Athens”
• Dr. Edward A. Delgado-Romero , Professor and Associate Dean, Mary Frances Early College of Education

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