Visibilidad
Who is seen, represented, connected, and recognized as a valuable contributor?
Selected work · Research to practice
Dominicana
What schools can learn from the lived experiences of Dominican women working in urban K-12 education.
This research-to-practice brief translates Dr. Alaina D. Bearden's doctoral dissertation into practical questions and actions for school leaders, teacher preparation programs, and educator pathway partners.
The central insight
Representation is not only about who enters education.
It is about whether systems are designed so people can remain, grow, lead, and contribute fully.
The goal is not to ask individuals to become more resilient inside fragmented systems. The goal is to redesign the conditions surrounding the work.
Participant-shaped framework
Visibility. Sustainability. Empowerment.
The study began with a focus on visibility, preparation, and empowerment. Through participant involvement, the framework shifted to visibility, sustainability, and empowerment - emphasizing the conditions required for long-term flourishing.
Sostenabilidad
What conditions allow educators to enter, remain, create, and grow over time?
Empoderamiento
How do mentoring, bridges and mirrors, family connection, and community responsibility support agency?
What the testimonios revealed
Six lessons for sustainable school design
Community responsibility
A deep commitment to community can be a source of purpose and a source of strain when systems rely on invisible labor.
Transparent feedback
Direct, respectful, culturally responsive feedback supports growth more effectively than ambiguity, passive aggression, or opaque evaluation.
Creativity and belonging
Artistic expression, joy, and identity are not peripheral. They can sustain educators and strengthen learning communities.
Pathway barriers
Licensure exams, preparation costs, compensation, and professional status shape who can enter and remain in education.
Cultural wealth
Representation, parent engagement, multilingualism, and culturally sustaining practice are assets schools should recognize and build upon.
Mentoring and networks
Mentors, role models, sponsors, bridges, mirrors, and communities of practice help educators persist, lead, and advocate.
For school and district leaders
From recruitment to sustainable pathways
Make expertise visible
Recognize cultural, linguistic, relational, and community-facing labor as expertise - not an informal favor.
Build pathways
Pair recruitment with licensure support, financial assistance, alternative routes, mentoring, and advancement opportunities.
Redesign feedback
Use transparent, culturally responsive evaluation and supervisory practices that support professional growth.
Invest in community connection
Engage families, community organizations, local leaders, colleges, and educators in recruitment and school-improvement work.
Preserve creativity
Treat the arts, bilingualism, biculturalism, and culturally sustaining practice as assets that strengthen schools.
Create leadership opportunities
Support community-connected educators to mentor, shape policy, lead teams, and influence the systems around them.
Download the brief
Explore the research-to-practice resource.
Use the brief independently or reach out to discuss educator pathways, leadership development, multilingual learner support, or a facilitated learning session.