Multicultural Perspectives

ISSN: 1521-0960 (Print) 1532-7892 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hmcp20

Construction of Critically Transformative

Education in the Tucson Unified School District

Augustine F. Romero & H. T. Sánchez

To cite this article: Augustine F. Romero & H. T. Sánchez (2014) Construction of Critically
Transformative Education in the Tucson Unified School District, Multicultural Perspectives,
16:4, 240-244, DOI: 10.1080/15210960.2014.956631

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2014.956631

Published online: 17 Oct 2014.

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Multicultural Perspectives, 16(4), 240–244
Copyright Ó 2014 by the National Association for Multicultural Education
ISSN: 1521-0960 print / 1532-7892
DOI: 10.1080/15210960.2014.956631
PART IV
Construction of Critically Transformative Education in the Tucson
Unified School District
Augustine F. Romero and H. T. Sanchez
Tucson Unified School District
A critically transformative education continues to
be at the center of Tucson Unified School Dis-
trict’s (TUSD) equity and academic excellence
mission. Through the use of the Social Transfor-
mation paradigm and the lesson learned from the
implementation of the Critically Compassionate
Intellectualism Model, TUSD once again created a
cutting edge transformative, cultural, ethnic, mul-
ticultural, equity-based curricula that seeks to
stimulate the blossoming intellectual capacities of
our students. It presents the opportunity to build
foundations and structures of collective and indi-
vidual agency. Along the lines of agency, it pro-
motes what is called barriorganic intellectualism
and the nurturing of gardens of intellectualism
(jardines del intelectualismo) that provide oppor-
tunities for both the academic and personal trans-
formation of our students.
In the Beginning
In the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), 2,135
Chicanas/os entered as freshman in the fall of 2002.
They would be the class of 2006. On the last day of
Correspondence should be sent to Augustine F. Romero, Tucson
Unified School District, 1010 E. Tenth St., Tucson, AZ 85719. E-mail:
Augustine.Romero@tusd1.org
Multicultural Perspectives
240
school in 2006, the class of 2006 consisted of only 1,254
Chicanas/os. There had been a 42% loss of Chicana/o
high school students for the class of 2006. This decline
in enrollment was not an aberration.
In TUSD’s previous six graduating classes the decline
of Chicana/o enrollment hit its lowest with the class of
2000, wherein they loss 48.8% of the class. The district’s
best outcome was with the Class of 2004 for which 33%
of the Chicanas/os in the class were lost. And in terms of
academic outcomes, from 2000 to 2005, the percentage
of students who gained mastery in any or all of the three
phases of Arizona’s Instrument for Measuring Standards
(AIMS; Arizona’s high stake graduation exam)
remained 10% to 20% greater for White students than
for Chicana/o students.
Work to address the achievement gap had been
undertaken in the district since spring 2002. At that
time, then-TUSD Deputy Superintendent Becky Mon-
tano had asked Dr. Augustine Romero to lead the
district’s Mexican American Studies Department. She
stated that per No Child Left Behind (Romero, 2014),
the district needed to close the achievement gap
between Latino and Anglo students. Romero would
be responsible for creating a program that would
close this gap. Ultimately, Romero would lead the
work in the creation of the Mexican American/Raza
Studies program, the Critically Compassionate Intel-
lectualism (CCI) Model for Transformative Educa-
tion, and the Social Justice Education Project (with
Dr. Julio Cammarota, Lorenzo Lopez, Jr., and the
students from its first cohort).
A New Era for Critically Transformative
Education in TUSD
Ten years later, ensuring academic excellence and
equity for students was still the intent of TUSD in its
creation and development of its Department of Multicul-
tural Curriculum and its Department of Culturally Rele-
vant Pedagogy. On November 6, 2012, Kristel Foster
and Cam Juarez were elected to the TUSD governing
board. With long-time critical education champion Ade-
lita Grijalva and Juarez and Foster leading at the board-
level, a new trajectory was established for the movement
of the critical multicultural and cultural studies agenda.
They and many others knew that a critically transforma-
tive pedagogy (the nexus of instruction and curriculum),
such as its CCI Model, could enhance a student’s aca-
demic performance by centering the needs of students
within all pedagogical decisions. We recognize that the
just and virtuous imperative for all our children, espe-
cially those who have been historically underserved, is
to implement a pedagogy that is responsive to their
needs (Romero, 2008, 2014).
The need for this type of pedagogy was fundamental
in our response to the district’s desegregation order and
is supported by the lessons we have learned from our
highly effective CCI Model. Unfortunately, following
the development of the model, all of our critical work
was completely negated in 2011 when the State of Ari-
zona enforced House Bill 2281 which banned ethnic
studies.
Despite Arizona’s draconian anti-cultural studies leg-
islation, Romero and TUSD never lost sight of the mis-
sion to look out for the best interest of the students, the
parents, and the community served by the district. There
are about 50,000 students in the Tucson Unified School
District (TUSDStats, 2014). More than 60% are Latino,
primarily Mexican American; 24.1% are non-Hispanic
White; 5.6% are Black; 3.8% are Native American;
2.6% are multiracial; and 2.5% are Asian. We do know
that for the students who experienced the CCI Model,
the vast majority of the Latino students started their high
school academic experience far behind their peers. At
the end of high school the gap was closed (Cabrera,
2014).
In TUSD, students would not be able to experience
the CCI model until their 11th-grade year. Cabrera
(2014) examined the 2010 graduation cohort; his analy-
sis revealed that as non-CCI students and incoming CCI
students entered their 11th-grade year there was a double
digit gap that favored the non-CCI students.
Multicultural Perspectives
241
The achievement gap fluctuated from 10 percentage
points (Writing) to 16 percentage points (Math). Stu-
dents who did not pass the AIMS test as sophomores
would have four more opportunities to pass the test over
the course of their last two years. This created the oppor-
tunity to begin assessing the impact of CCI courses.
If non-CCI courses were as effective as or more
effective than CCI courses, it would be expected that the
gaps that existed at the end of 10th grade would stand
over the next two years; however, Cabrera (2014) found
that the preexisting double digit gaps in the AIMS pass-
ing rates (see Table 1) shrunk to a high of 4% in math. In
addition, Table 2 illuminates Cabrera’s (2014) findings
of virtual parity in the final AIMS passing rates.
These outcomes are extraordinary given the numer-
ous structural inequities and inequalities that are inher-
ent within our educational system and our society
(Cabrera, 2014; Romero, 2008).
Maintaining the clarity of our mission, in February of
2012, Romero started to conceptualize the next iteration
of critically transformative education in TUSD. His
focus would be on how to make this next iteration more
equitable, relevant, and responsive for our students. A
student-centered approach has always been and will con-
tinue to be the focus of this work.
Our Theoretical Framework
A transformative, cultural, ethnic, multicultural,
equity-based education can stimulate the blossoming
intellectual capacities of our students. This type of peda-
gogy recognizes our students as holders and creators of
knowledge (Delgado Bernal, 2002; Romero, 2008). It
presents the opportunity to build foundations and struc-
tures of collective and individual agency. Along the lines
of agency, it promotes what is called a barriorganic
intellectualism, and it provides opportunities for both
academic and personal transformation (Romero, 2014).
Rather than viewing the minds of our students as
empty vessels (Freire, 1994), a critically transformative
pedagogy recognizes the fertile gardens of intellectual-
ism (jardines del intelectualismo) that are within the
Table 1. Initial AIMS Passing Rates, 2010 Graduating Cohort
Difference
CCI students Non-CCI students (non-CCI – CCI)
Math 61% 77% 16%
Reading 66% 80% 14%
Writing 65% 75% 10%
Note. AIMS D Arizona’s Instrument for Measuring Standards, CCI D
Critically Compassionate Intellectualism.
Cabrera (2014): Shows the pre-existing AIMS pass rate gap between
CCI and non-CCI students.
Vol. 16, No. 4
Table 2. Final AIMS Passing Rates, 2010 Graduating Cohort
Difference
CCI students Non-CCI students (non-CCI – CCI)
Math 86% 90% 4%
Reading 92% 94% 2%
Writing 93% 95% 2%
Note. AIMS D Arizona’s Instrument for Measuring Standards, CCI D
Critically Compassionate Intellectualism.
Cabrera (2014): Shows the virtual closing of the AIMS pass gap
between CCI and non-CCI students.
minds of our students. The question then becomes: How
do we collectively (student and teacher) nurture the
growth of these gardens?
With this in mind, in 2012 Romero once again led the
hard, long work of a team of TUSD teachers, site admin-
istrators, central office staff, and central office adminis-
trators. They would help build the critical multicultural
curricula. This team had already started to push the
envelope by advocating for and building curricula that
fell firmly within James Banks’ (1999) Social Transfor-
mation paradigm. The group fully recognized that the
other levels of James Banks’ model would exist within
the context of what schools do on a daily basis; however,
the majority of the pedagogical work would be grounded
in higher levels of understanding per the Common Core
State Standards (corestandards.org) and the Arizona
Standards for College and Career Readiness (azed.gov/
azccrs/). The work would also be connected to Bloom’s
Taxonomy (1956), Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (2005,
1997/2006), and Banks’ belief that education at the
highest level should require a deep understanding and
the deep questioning of social issues, and the require-
ment to engage these social issues in a positive way.
Given this understanding, the team established that
the fundamental essence of what takes place in school
must be driven by the Social Transformation paradigm.
Using critical multicultural education, critical race the-
ory, critical pedagogy, and notions of equity and justice,
our team would create the 12th grade U.S. Government –
Critical Multicultural Viewpoint course, the 11th grade
U.S. History – Critical Multicultural Viewpoint, and the
9th grade Critical Multicultural Condition course. The
team consisted of Desiree Cueto, Penny Buckley, Sal
Gabaldon, Manny Galvan, Maria Federico-Brummer,
Kevan Kiser-Chuc, Dr. Augustine Romero, and later,
Andrew Walanski, Suzanne Hall, Sylvia Kniest, and a
few others who provided greatly appreciated support.
The Unitary Status Plan, the Work, and Creating
the Inclusion of Voice
By mid-December 2012, we received more good
news. TUSD was informed that the inclusion of
The Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education
242
culturally relevant courses and critical multicultural cur-
ricula would be mandated within the Unitary Status
Plan. At this time, the Department of Multicultural Cur-
riculum reached out to Mexican American Studies
teachers. Some committed to start the work, and one
remained throughout the entire scope of the work.
The goal was to create, vet, and recreate 11 curricula
in five months. In the construction, we wanted to create a
new consciousness for students—complete with new and
more organic and authentic forms knowledge. This new
knowledge, because of its organic and authentic nature,
is counter-hegemonic and emancipatory. With the help
of these new and liberatory forms of knowing and under-
standing, a critically transformative pedagogy can help
students realize and understand the agency they possess
and can create in the pursuit of equity and justice.
Given this understanding, the
team established that the
fundamental essence of what takes
place in school must be driven by
the Social Transformation
paradigm.
The first iteration of the curricula was created in six
weeks. The curricula were then sent to academics from
the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and
Pima Community College. Upon receiving the reviews
the district’s curriculum team assessed the feedback
from the reviewers. The decisions to implement or
rebuff reviewer recommendations were made, and each
recommendation was contemplated deeply. A second
review of the reconstructed curricula went to academic
experts outside of Arizona. National Association for
Multicultural Education scholars Dr. Francisco Rios, Dr.
Sonia Nieto, and Dr. Christine Sleeter were part of this
review process.
After the curriculum team again reconstructed the
curricula, it was given to parents and community mem-
bers for their input. Once again the curricula was modi-
fied and sent to the then-superintendent’s cabinet for
review. The primary concern from this group was the
discourse or word choice within the curricula. The state
superintendent did not want us to cover issues of oppres-
sion. He believed that within our courses we should not
talk about or cover issues of oppression because that
would mean that there is an oppressor.
After a fifth transformation, the curricula were sent to
the Arizona Department of Education for feedback in
June of 2013. While we were waiting for the state’s
feedback, the district added a few new people to its
review and curriculum development team. The new
members included English and social studies high school
department chairs to ensure strict alignment to the Com-
mon Core State Standards. After receiving the feedback
from the state, the team went through the same review
process wherein recommendations were analyzed and
implemented.
A New Time for TUSD
On July 9, 2013, newly appointed Superintendent Dr.
H.T. Sanchez forwarded the culturally relevant English
Language Arts curricula for governing board approval.
With a predictable 3–2 vote, the TUSD Governing
Board approved the implementation of both the cultur-
ally relevant English language arts courses and its cur-
ricula. During this meeting a discussion regarding books
for the courses took place. Dr. Sanchez articulated that
the district would identify, review, and propose books
for the courses, setting the stage for the potential return
of “banned books.”
It is important to note that a culturally responsive cur-
ricular lens was used at every level of curricular con-
struction. Our understanding for this work was driven by
the Banks model and the work of Geneva Gay (2010),
wherein the pillars for this work have been established:
The acknowledgement and validation of the cultural,
historical, and social assets of our student.
The inclusion of our students’ assets and the
community’s assets in the development of curricula
and in the delivery of instruction.
Transformative because it challenges and counters the
master-narrative.
We fully understand this type of curriculum empow-
ers students, parents, the community, and teachers
(Romero, 2008).
During the TUSD Governing Board meeting on July
16, 2013, Dr. Sanchez outlined the timeline for the
implementation of curricula of the eight culturally rele-
vant courses:
11th Grade Literature – Culturally Relevant African
American Viewpoint
11th Grade Literature – Culturally Relevant Mexican
American Viewpoint
12th Grade Literature – Culturally Relevant African
American Viewpoint
12th Grade Literature – Culturally Relevant Mexican
American Viewpoint
11th Grade U.S. History – Culturally Relevant African
American Viewpoint
Multicultural Perspectives
243
11th Grade U.S. History – Culturally Relevant Mexican
American Viewpoint
12th Grade U.S. Government – Culturally Relevant
African American Viewpoint
12th Grade U.S. Government – Culturally Relevant
Mexican American Viewpoint
With regard to these types of curricula, this move by
Dr. Sanchez placed the district and its students in a better
place than it had ever been before. By August 13, 2013,
the course implementation was at full strength, and by
September 26, 2013, all of the texts, including epic texts
and the previously banned texts, would be available in
our classrooms for teacher and student use.
We believe that using these
artifacts as supplements to our
culturally relevant and culturally
responsive projects gives us the
greatest opportunity to ensure
equity and academic excellence for
all of our students, especially our
historically underserved student
populations.
Enhancements
Our curriculum team clearly understands our curric-
ulum is a living document, and therefore we have con-
tinued to strengthen the curricula’s alignment to the
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College
and Careers models (http://www.parcconline.org/),
Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards (http://
www.azed.gov/azccrs/), and Educators Evaluating the
Quality of Instructional Products rubric. Each of these
artifacts has been introduced to help ensure the greatest
level of high quality and rigorous curricula are offered
to our students. We believe that using these artifacts as
supplements to our culturally relevant and culturally
responsive projects gives us the greatest opportunity to
ensure equity and academic excellence for all of our
students, especially our historically underserved stu-
dent populations.
Future
Despite the on-going reality of anti-cultural studies
legislation, the commitment of TUSD going forward is
Vol. 16, No. 4
to continue to build and fortify course content and cur-
riculum that reflects the beautiful histories and stories of
all TUSD students. It is critical that students see them-
selves in the materials they read and the content they
study. Each student must understand how those who
share the same cultural, ethnic, and/or language back-
ground have contributed to the greater character of our
nation. As they see themselves reflected in what they
study, they are more compelled to add their voice to
bold, new prose and future endeavors that define the next
100 years of American history.
Furthermore, TUSD is committed to understanding
that at the core of our teaching practices, we identify,
embrace, and honor student diversity. It is only a timid
first step to know the background of our students. Our
bolder next step will be to use such knowledge to condi-
tion the district’s instructional practices. Understanding
that this is a complicated and complex endeavor, a multi-
year rollout with meaningful professional education will
become part of the district’s character. All current and
new educators in the district must improve their under-
standing of all the district’s students and how to use that
understanding to deliver instruction that engages learn-
ers in the same way a conversation among trusted friends
or loved ones engages young people. This is not a one-
time activity; rather, this is a change in the way the
TUSD does business and how it serves its students. Cou-
pled with new educator training, district professional
education must incorporate ongoing training and spe-
cialized training.
TUSD further commits to ongoing updates, revisions,
and support for its culturally relevant curriculum. This
must be accomplished through the continued support of
strong central and site-based curriculum leadership that
in turn would ensure that strong classroom leadership
exists and is nurtured everywhere culturally relevant
curriculum is taught. This means the entire leadership
from the superintendent to the classroom teacher is
The Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education
244
committed to financial, material, human resource, and
temporal support. As district improvement plans are
written and executed, culturally relevant curriculum and
responsive pedagogy must and will be a key and visible
part of the work.
References
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ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives, Handbook I:
The cognitive domain. New York, NY: David McKay.
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Mexican American studies classes. In J. Cammarota & A. Romero
(Eds.) Raza Studies: The public option for educational revolution
(pp. 40–51). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
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of color as holders and creators of knowledge. Qualitative
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Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: The
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