Study Tackles Inequity in Special Education Placement

Dr. Paul Luelmo

By Michael Klitzing

San Diego State University’s Dr. Paul Luelmo is leading a new statewide effort to address disproportionate rates of placement in special education along racial and ethnic lines. 

More than 130 districts in California — about 10% — were shown to have racial inequalities in special education placements, a phenomenon termed “disproportionality.” The impacts are profound. For instance, in comparison with the overall student population in some of these districts, data show Latinx students are three times more likely to be placed in special education for learning disabilities, and Black students are three times more likely to be identified for emotional disturbance. 

Alumni Spotlight: Rasha Roshdy’s Labor of Love

Dr. Rasha Roshy ('15, CCLEAD) founded Amna Sanctuary, a nonprofit supporting refugees.

By Michael Klitzing

Dr. Rasha Roshdy (’15) was shopping in a Middle Eastern grocery store in El Cajon in the early days of the pandemic when a conversation caught her ear. Two women speaking Arabic — whom she later learned were Syrian refugees — were discussing a notice taped to their apartment door.

“They said they couldn't understand the notice because it was in English and they didn't know what they should do,” said Roshdy, an alumna of San Diego State University’s doctorate in education with a concentration in community college leadership (CCLEAD). “With the pandemic, all the services had gone online and they had no internet access. So they could no longer just walk in and ask somebody for help.”

Roshdy offered to accompany the women home to read and help address the notice. They gratefully accepted — and an idea took root. 

Escobedo Appointed to State Board of Education

Photo courtesy Chula Vista Elementary School District.

San Diego State University’s Dr. Francisco Escobedo has been appointed to the State Board of Education by California Governor Gavin Newsom. Escobedo is the new executive director of SDSU’s National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST) and he has lectured in the Department of Educational Leadership since 2001.

“Being part of the governing and policy-making body of the California Department of Education is an immense responsibility,” Escobedo said. “My experiences in higher education combined with my 30-year tenure in K-12 education grants me a unique and coherent lens as I assist in making prudent decisions that will affect a multitude of our students. I am honored to be able to undertake this noble position.”

CSU Trustees’ Award Winner Lawson Hardrick III Looks to Remove Barriers

Lawson Hardrick III

By Jeff Ristine

“I love to juggle.” 

Keep those words from Lawson Hardrick III in mind while reading about his time at San Diego State University Imperial Valley, how he got involved in his community, and how he earned a 2021 CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement to help continue his studies. 

Student government, LGBTQIA+ mental health, broadband access for underserved communities, disaster relief, volunteer work for the disadvantaged: Hardrick immersed himself in all of the above while pursuing a double major and a minor. 

Now he’s in San Diego going for a master’s degree in post-secondary educational leadership at the College of Education with a goal of “helping people find community” or to build it in places where it does not yet exist.