Ashley Ison smiling

Ashley Ison

( She/Her/Hers )
Assistant Professor
Email: aison@sfsu.edu

As a scholar and educator, Ashley is committed to fostering inclusive and liberatory educational spaces. Her research centers on topics related to ethnic-racial identity, family and school ethnic-racial socialization, and culturally relevant education. Ashley’s recent scholarship focuses on the ways schooling experiences inform students’ and teachers’ ethnic-racial identity and critical consciousness development. She also brings experience working alongside youth, teachers, and district administrators to cultivate culturally relevant educational practices and implement equity projects.

Educational Background

Ph.D., Human Development, Learning, and Teaching, Harvard University

M.A., Education Policy, The George Washington University

B.A., African American Studies, Yale University

Selected Publications

Sladek, M. R., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Neville, H. A., Ison, A., Martinez-Fuentes, S., Mason, P., Park, Y., Safa, M. D., Satterthwaite-Freiman, M., Soto-Shed, E., & Wantchekon, K. A. (2024). Professional development for providing time and opportunities for change in U.S. teachers’ ethnic-racial identity. Identityhttps://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2024.2366892

Larbi-Cherif, A., Glazer, J., Ison, A. (2024) Continuous improvement in urban districts: Bringing environments back in. American Journal of Education, 130(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12494

Ison, A., Satterthwaite-Freiman, M., Sladek, M. R., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2023). The role of family ethnic socialization and generational status in White adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity development. Journal of Adolescent Research, 0(0).https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12494

Givens, J. R., & Ison, A. (2023). Toward new beginnings: A review of Native, White, and Black American education through the 19th century. Review of Educational Research, 93(3), 319–352. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543221105544 

Sladek, M. R., Umaña‐Taylor, A. J., Hardesty, J. L., Aguilar, G., Bates, D., Bayless, S. D., Gomez, E., Hur, C. K. Ison, A....Vasquez, M. (2022). “So, like, it’s all a mix of one”: Intersecting contexts of adolescents’ ethnic‐racial socialization. Child development93(5), 1284-1303. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13756 

McDermott, E. R., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Schaefer, D., Martinez-Fuentes, S., Co, L., Ison, A., Ryan, A., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2020). The structure of educational inequality: Adolescents’ access to parent education through friendship and its impact on academic outcomes. Social Development 31(1), 27-51. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12494