Scholarship
When minoritized youth, families and communities lead change with educators, we arrive at better understandings and solutions to long-standing racial injustice in schools and systems. Through deep partnerships, Dr. Ishimaru’s work supports both community and educational leaders in realizing humanizing educational systems and community-determined futures.
Research Reports & Briefs
- Ishimaru, A.M. & Rodriguez, S. (2025). Supporting families and communities in children’s academic thriving and well-being in the wake of the pandemic. National Academy of Education.
- Irby, D., Green, T., & Ishimaru, A.M. (2021). Designing and Supporting PK-12 Equity Director Roles. Leadership for Equity Collaborative.
- Bang, M., Bricker, L., Darling-Hammond, L. Edgerton, A., Grossman, P., Gutierrez, K., Ishimaru, A., Klevan, S., Lee, C., Miyashiro, D., Nasir, N.S., Noguera, P., Payne, C., Penuel, B., Plasencia S. & Vossoughi, S. (2021). Summer learning and beyond: Opportunities for creating equity. Learning Policy Institute & Spencer Foundation.
- Ishimaru, A.M., Barajas-Lopez, F., Sun, M., Shah, N., Li, A., Scarlett, K., Anderson, E., & Al-ansi, M. (2020). Centering Black families & justice-focused teaching in pandemic remote learning. UW-SPS-SEA Partnering for Racial Equity Project Report. University of Washington: Seattle, WA.
- Ishimaru, A.M., Bang, M., Nolan, C., Rajendran, A. & Family Leadership Design Collaborative. (2017). Solidarity-driven decision making: Enacting equity in partnering & decision making. Family Leadership Design Collaborative white paper. College of Education, University of Washington: Seattle, WA.
- Recasting Families and Communities in Educational Leadership in Tumultuous Times. National Education Policy Center.
Featured Essays & Op-Eds
- Female equity leaders of color are undervalued and undercut: 3 ways to set Black women and other women of color up for success in district equity leadership. Education Week.
- Reimagining youth, families, and communities as educational leaders. Phi Delta Kappan.
- The prospects for just schools in the wake of COVID-19 responses. Teachers College Press Blog.
- Seattle-area families of color are talking about improving remote education. Here are some of their ideas. Seattle Times.
- 5 new ways for schools to work with families. The Conversation.
- In pursuit of a stronger model for parent engagement. [Education Lab guest blog]. Seattle Times.
Resources & Tools
- ELC Toolkit — Habtom, S., Ishimaru, A., Nickson, D., Williams, M., Butler, B., LeClair, Z., Alemayehu, D., Rasmussen, E., & Page, N. (2025). “He is especially smart and has wisdom”: A guide to co-designing critical literacies with Black families. Toolkit. University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
- Tips for collaborating with other families for educational justice. Embrace Race [Family Action Guide]
- Leadership for Equity Assessment & Development (LEAD) Tool
- Family Engagement Survey User’s Guide
- Parent Curriculum: Families in the Driver’s Seat
- Data Inquiry For Equitable Collaboration