The NYU Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy hosted an event to provide clarity on the issue of affirmative action and discuss the ongoing Supreme Court cases on the matter. The speakers, which included NYU Steinhardt Assistant Professor of Education Mike Hoa Nguyen, emphasized the importance of affirmative action as a necessary but insufficient foundational tool for ensuring educational equity for all.

The new cases are brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), which seeks to ban the consideration of race in college admissions and argues that current practices discriminate against Asian Americans and violate federal law by using "race-conscious" admissions practices. Nguyen’s co-authored amicus brief on behalf of over 1,240 social scientists was discussed during the Supreme Court's oral arguments on October 31.

Nguyen emphasized the role that expert research plays in these cases: “There is a high amount of intentional misinformation regarding these two cases, particularly concerning Asian Americans. One important role for education researchers is to inform the work of the Court by providing rigorous research and scholarship, so that legal decisions can be made based upon empirical fact, rather than on harmful stereotypes or inaccurate assumptions about college students and admissions practices."

Learn more about this event, watch the conversation, or read coverage in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. 

In a country where only around 20 percent of public school teachers identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), NYU Steinhardt’s innovative Teacher Residency program is dedicated to inclusion and representation in education.

On average, more than 60 percent of Teacher Residency students are BIPOC, with the latest cohort close to 80 percent. Research shows that all K–12 students, but especially those of color, benefit from having even one teacher of color along their educational journey, from better academic achievement to higher college attendance rates.

Hear from alumni of the Teacher Residency program.

The ASD Nest Support Project at NYU Steinhardt's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of School partners with public schools to establish inclusive cultures and advance the development and implementation of educational practices for autistic learners. 

In the 2021-2022 school year, ASD Nest served more than 1,700 children with ASD in over 370 fully inclusive Nest classrooms across 70 schools.

In Nest classrooms, class-wide strategies and individual interventions combine to create therapeutic spaces where inclusion works for all learners. Most recently, ASD Nest partnered with Hear Your Song, a non-profit organization that empowers children and teens with serious illnesses and complex health needs to make their voices heard through collaborative songwriting. 

The Academic Minute featured Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Food Studies Angela C. B. Trude in a segment about why online grocery shopping can change behaviors, and Assistant Professor of Communicative Sciences and Disorders Eric S. Jackson on stuttering and private speech. 

City and State New York named Chair of the NYU Steinhardt Dean's Alumni Advisory Board, Teaching and Learning alum, and CEO of Girls Who Code, Tarika Barrett (PhD ’10), one of New York’s top 100 influential female leaders.

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