Our Mission

Learn more about Grand Challenges Grants at the University of Maryland, College Park.

We're a member of the National Network of Education Research Practice-Partnerships.

Center for Educational innovation and improvement (ceii)

The RSJC leverages the potential power of research-practice partnerships to address one of the grand challenges of our time: deep, persistent educational inequities in learning opportunities and outcomes that disproportionately impact historically marginalized students.

RPPs are centered on equity:

1) equity of the research outcomes, aimed at pushing research towards solving practical problems that our most marginalized communities face; and
2) equity of the research process, aimed at disrupting the traditional power dynamic between researchers (“experts”) and practitioners (passive recipients of the "experts"’ knowledge).

The RSJC is partnering with local educational practitioners around the pressing challenges they face. Through a collaborative effort that spans the UMD College of Education, Office of Community Engagement, School of Public Policy, and local school districts, the RSJC is designing and implementing research-practice partnerships that tackle pressing problems of racial and social justice in our school communities; fostering connections among UMD faculty and local practitioners; and building the capacity of UMD faculty and students to engage in impactful RPPs.

Our Efforts

The Racial & Social Justice Collaborative hosted a book club (Spring 2024) and carefully selected four books to read and discuss with the UMD community, fostering a safe space to discuss anti-racism, social justice, and the state of schooling in the U.S.

Core Tenets of Book Club: We believe that…

Racial and social justice are the preeminent challenges facing education today.
Building a community of trust is essential in working towards racial and social justice.
Hard conversations are inevitable; we will assume good intent and hold each other accountable.

We link our discussion protocol below in case you want to follow along after hours!

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson- Billings

Unearthing Joy by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad

The Equity and Social Justice Education 50 by Baruti Kafele

Ratchetdemic: Reimagining Academic Success by Christopher Emdin

Land Acknowledgement

The Racial & Social Justice Collaborative (RSJC) is a collaboration between the University of Maryland and partnering school districts. The University of Maryland was built on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway People, and we echo the University of Maryland’s sentiments on this matter.

Every community owes its existence and strength to the generations before them, around the world, who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy into making the history that led to this moment.

Truth and acknowledgement are critical in building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference.

So, we acknowledge the truth that is often buried: We are on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway People, who are the ancestral stewards of this sacred land. It is their historical responsibility to advocate for the four-legged, the winged, those that crawl and those that swim. They remind us that clean air and pristine waterways are essential to all life.

This Land Acknowledgement is a vocal reminder for each of us as two-leggeds to ensure our physical environment is in better condition than what we inherited, for the health and prosperity of future generations.

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