In Remembrance of Jean Anyon

Scholarship is activism. This is the guiding principle of Theory, Research, and Action in Urban Education (TRAUE). Pupils of Jean Anyon will recognize the sentiment and, indeed, TRAUE is a publication that represents much of who Jean Anyon was as a scholar, educator, and mentor. It was her vision to create a space for emerging scholars to voice their concerns about educational inequities and blend theory and activism in critical research. We on the Editorial Board are deeply saddened by Jean’s passing and hope to keep as part of this publication her sharp insight into educational issues and tireless advocacy for equity in education and beyond.

The content of this, our second issue, is precisely this kind of activist scholarship and clearly inspired by Jean’s work. Sarah Hesson’s piece “Rethinking Assessment Policies for Emergent Bilinguals in New York State” examines how New York State assessment policies for emergent bilinguals fail to account for the knowledge and identities of the students, encourage test-centered curriculum, and thwart student achievement. Kylah Torre’s “Charter Schools and the Process of ‘Counseling Out’” exposes the unfair treatment of students with disabilities by public charter schools. Joanna Yip explores high school graduation requirements in New York State and their effects on newcomer immigrant youth. This issue’s Notes from the Field, by Jonathan Davis, takes us inside a high school classroom to demonstrate the benefits of a devil’s advocate approach of challenging student beliefs to better facilitate student critical thinking and engagement. We hope that readers of this publication will see footprints of Jean in the writing and in the data.

This is a special issue of TRAUE. To commemorate Jean Anyon we have included a number of pieces written by her students and colleagues, expressing her place in their scholarly journey and personal lives. In this digital space, we collectively remember the influence that Jean had in our lives as doctoral students, educators, and activists. We at TRAUE will strive to uphold her goal of activist scholarship.