Emily Penner

Emily Penner will spend her year at CASBS analyzing mixed methods data from her study examining the expansion of high school Ethnic Studies courses in the San Francisco Unified School District. This work will inform school district and state efforts to create and expand Ethnic Studies programs, providing guidance about pedagogy, curriculum, professional supports for teachers, and program impacts.

Penner is assistant professor of education at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on K-12 education policy. She works with school district and state partners to examine how their policies and programs contribute to and ameliorate educational inequality. She is currently working in a network of Research Practice Partnerships to study the expansion of Ethnic Studies programs across California and other states. Ethnic Studies courses have emerged as a promising avenue for reducing racial and ethnic inequalities in education. Legislation signed in 2021 requires all California high schools to offer Ethnic Studies courses by the 2025-26 school year and they will be required for graduation beginning with the class of 2030. Penner is a WT Grant Scholar for 2023-24.