Over 300 educators, policymakers, advocates, and community members gathered on Tuesday, June 17, at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, for the Hispanic Federation’s 2025 Hispanic Education Summit.
The event focused on issues of educational equity for students of the Latino community in New York City and across the country. Team members of the Latinidad Curriculum Initiative from Teachers College, Columbia University led two interactive panels, which engaged participants in crucial discussions about the curriculum development project, which seeks to provide an interdisciplinary curricular framework to enhance education for and with Latino communities in the largest school system in the United States, in which over 40% of students are Hispanic. Melissa Aviles Ramos (photo below), the Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools, was present at the summit. Other notable speakers included New York State Attorney General Letitia James, New York City Council Majority Leader Amanda Farías, and Teachers College’s own Dr. Ezekiel Dixon-Román, Director of the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Advanced Study at Teachers College.
The morning panel, Interactive Workshop on Studying Latinidad in NYC Schools: Sample Lesson Plans, was moderated by Dr. Regina Cortina of Teachers College, Columbia University, and featured researchers and collaborators on the project from both Teachers College and CUNY’s Lehman College. Dr. Amanda Earl, from the International and Comparative Education Program at Teachers College, and PhD student Jonathan Beltrán Alvarado presented at the summit.
The panelists explained the background research and community input that have inspired the vision for the Latinidad Curriculum Initiative, as well as piloted lesson planning tools and a sample lesson plan from the proposed curriculum. Participants were able to explore and share their various experiences of Latinidad and provide valuable feedback and dynamic discussions about the design and content of the lesson plans. One school social worker in the audience commented that the Latinidad Curriculum Initiative will be “healing” for the City’s students, because to know who you are and where you come from will help every child to “fill the cultural hole in their soul.” Another audience member, a local high school student, expressed her hope that such curricular development will enable youth to come together in collaboration to advance the rights and progress not just of Latinos but of other historically marginalized communities as well.
The strategic report is available as a fully accessible PDF here: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/latinidadnycschools/resources/
The afternoon panel, Learning Together: A Community-centered Vision of Latinidad for NYC Schools, was moderated by Dr. Limarys Caraballo of Teachers College, Columbia University. The panel featured Teachers College doctoral candidates and Cyphers for Justice Youth Co-Facilitators, leading a discussion to answer the question: “What does Latinidad mean across NYC communities?” With the goal of collaboration and representation of diverse perspectives, participants discussed how to define Latinidad, the curriculum’s proposed participatory framework, and the data used to develop the framework and curricular mapping.
The Latinidad Curriculum Blueprint infographic is available here: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/latinidadnycschools/our-curriculum-vision/blueprint/
The day concluded with a Latinidad Curriculum Town Hall led by Leurys Acosta, Director, Systems Change, of United Way of New York City. Attendees, which included teachers and administrators, leaders of community-based organizations, family members, and students, contributed valuable insights and questions that will continue to help shape the development of the Latinidad Curriculum Initiative.
To learn more about the Latinidad Curriculum Initiative, check out the website.
Written by Kendal Peterman and Sara Pan Algarra, research assistants of the Latinidad Curriculum Initiative.