Researcher: Ceema Samimi (School of Social Work)
Abstract: The Inclusion Project addresses the disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline that exacerbates educational inequities. Current policies often lack non-exclusionary alternatives, and the political climate, including increased immigration enforcement and reductions in disability protections, heightens these risks. In alignment with Saint Paul Public Schools’ mission to inspire students, this project will equip educators with tools to reform discipline policies and practices. Using a Critical Transformative Mixed Methods approach, a cohort of 20 stakeholders will engage in 10 day-long gatherings to analyze policies, develop responsive alternatives, and shape policy efforts.
Expected outcomes include policy briefs, educator toolkits, data reports, and district-level policy recommendations to institutionalize equitable and restorative discipline practices. These deliverables will ensure that discipline reform is not just theoretical but a tangible reality, equipping educators and policymakers with tools to create inclusive, just, and responsive school environments.
Edward Goetz
Edward G. Goetz is director of CURA and a faculty member at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
Ed specializes in housing and local community development planning and policy. His research focuses on issues of race and poverty and how they affect housing policy planning and development. Before coming to the University of Minnesota in 1988, he worked at the mayor's Office of Housing and Economic Development in San Francisco and for several nonprofit community developers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He has served on the board of directors of nonprofit housing agencies in the Twin Cities, and on several regional commissions related to affordable housing and development.
He is the author of The One-Way Street of Integration: Fair Housing and the Pursuit of Racial Justice in American Cities (Cornell University Press, 2018), New Deal Ruins: Race, Economic Justice, and Public Housing Policy (Cornell University Press, 2013), Clearing the Way: Deconcentrating the Poor in Urban America (2003, Urban Institute Press), Shelter Burden: Local Politics and Progressive Housing Policy (1993, Temple University Press), and co-editor of The New Localism: Comparative Urban Politics in a Global Era (1993, Sage Publications).
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