The Latinidad Curriculum Initiative for New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) aims to enhance the quality of education by providing a dynamic, interdisciplinary curricular framework and lesson plans that celebrate Latinidad and its connection to the histories, accomplishments, and cultures of our city and nation. The resources provided in this curriculum seek to help teachers recognize who their students are and to enable the study, active reflection upon, and celebration of the histories, cultures, and intellectual contributions of Latinas and Latinos, thus providing a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the city we live in and the places we call home.
Faculty and graduate students in the International and Comparative Education program have been involved in this project. Professor of Education Regina Cortina and Lecturer Amanda Earl are two of the initiative’s co-leaders. Graduate doctoral students Jonathan Beltrán Alvarado and Sara Pan Algarra have contributed to writing the report “The Need to Advance the Study of Latinidad in New York City Public Schools.” Master’s student Kendal Peterman has joined the team to support its outreach.
In partnership with the United Way of New York City, the Hispanic Federation, and the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study at Teachers College, Columbia University, with funding from the New York City Council, the team will develop a K-12 Latinidad curriculum for NYCPS. The project is important because Latinos and Latinas as a group include 65 million people in the United States today. In 2024, the population of students of Latin American and Caribbean descent made up over 40% of the total enrollment in NYCPS.
The Curriculum Initiative will enable the study of Latinidades and their multiple and ever-evolving forms to enhance school experiences by providing children and youth of all backgrounds opportunities to celebrate where they come from, what they have achieved, and what they desire for their families, communities, city, country, and world in the future.
To learn more about the Latinidad Curriculum Initiative, visit the website: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/latinidadnycschools