An investigation into how schooling can enhance and hinder critical-racial consciousness through the making of the Latinx racialized group
"This book is an important corrective for schools and communities coming in grips with 'diversity' in its many forms."
— Gloria Ladson-Billings, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin, and past president, National Academy of Education
Laura C. Chávez-Moreno is an award-winning researcher, qualitative social scientist, and assistant professor at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Departments of Chicana/o & Central American Studies and Education. She received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education in Curriculum & Instruction.
Dr. Chávez-Moreno’s research has been published in top-tier journals such as Review of Educational Research, Educational Researcher, American Educational Research Journal, Research in the Teaching of English, and Journal of Teacher Education. Her research has been recognized with multiple awards, including from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division G Social Contexts in Education; AERA Latinx Research Issues Special Interest Group (SIG); AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG; American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education; and National Association of Bilingual Education. Notably, she was a fellow of the 2020–2022 cohort of NCTE Research Foundation’s Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color, and she was awarded a 2022 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. The National Council for Teachers of English awarded the 2023 Alan C. Purves Award to her article in Research in the Teaching of English, “The continuum of racial literacies: Teacher practices countering whitestream bilingual education.”
Prof. Chávez-Moreno is sought after as a speaker by school districts, university organizations, and teacher preparation programs. She draws from her research and extensive teaching experience across a variety of educational levels—including elementary, secondary, tertiary, teacher education, and older-adult education. She served as a high school teacher of Spanish in the School District of Philadelphia for five years, wrote district curriculum, and served on boards of community organizations. She grew up in Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta, Sonora, México.
Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Chicana/o & Central American Studies
Joint appointment with the UCLA Department of Education
2018-2021
Postdoctoral Scholar at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
Northern Arizona University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Educational Studies
Boston College
Curriculum & Instruction
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Curriculum & Instruction
How Schools Make Race: Teaching Latinx Racialization in America examines how a bilingual-education school program in the US Midwest works as a racial project (a project that engages in racialization, the process of delineating racialized groups and hierarchies). It focuses on how the racially and linguistically diverse dual-language program constructs ideas about race and Latinidad, and forms the Latinx group.
Prof. Chávez-Moreno posits that the bilingual program advanced an imagined Spanish as the signature boundary delineating the Latinx racialized group in relation to other racialized groups. She also argues that bilingual schooling may become a false champion for a future anti-racist, anti-imperialist, decolonial Latinidad if this schooling does not disrupt racially inequitable outcomes and encourage Latinxs’ critical consciousness. She invites teachers and educators to embrace ambitious teaching about the ambivalence of race, an approach aimed at enhancing critical consciousness about race.
“Latina Futures” – Panel – Meeting the Challenges in K-12 Education for Latinas – UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center | April 23, 2024
U.S. Empire & an Immigrant’s Counternarrative – LA Social Science | March 21, 2021
Prof. Chávez-Moreno is deeply committed to mentorship, emphasizing support for students from underrepresented backgrounds and/or those dedicated to social justice causes. Among her many service activities, she has mentored undergraduate and graduate students through several organizations, including the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
Dr. Chávez-Moreno welcomes applications from prospective graduate students who are interested in developing lines of research with these or similar topics:
Dr. Chávez-Moreno especially welcomes applications from prospective graduate students who have experience as secondary-level classroom teachers or other similar practitioner experience. Please read Dr. Chávez-Moreno’s publications for information on her research expertise.