The Educational Equity Initiative (EEI) is a collaborative research project designed to support urban schools and community based organizations in building their capacity to transform educational and youth development practices.

One of four Initiatives clustered in the César E. Chávez Institute (CCI), a research arm of San Francisco State University focused on socially engaged scholarship and community involvement, EEI supports teachers, schools, and communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and applies practical research to strategies that address race and class inequalities.

Schools in urban and suburban communities have been unable to transform practices in ways that meet the unique needs of students of color. Most scholars and practitioners have little understanding of the complex factors that promote desirable educational outcomes as well as broader community change. EEI is one of the few research initiatives in the country that links theory to effective school and community practices. Our research demonstrates how teachers, youth workers, and community members together can engage youth in community change efforts to promote academic achievement.

The goals of the initiative are:

• To support teachers, schools, and community based organizations to address the impacts of poverty and racial inequality on academic performance and youth development.

• To work directly with teachers, youth service providers, and young people themselves to design, implement, and assess programs and strategies that transform historical race and class based inequalities and promote civic engagement and academic achievement.

• To research ways that teachers, youth workers and community members together can engage youth in community change efforts in ways that also promote academic achievement, healthy development and civic engagement.