Legislating a la carte: An Analysis of K-12 Ethnic Studies State Laws from 2020–2025

This qualitative content analysis investigates K-12 ethnic studies state laws passed in the United States over a five-year period, beginning with the call for racial justice in 2020 and ending in 2025. We applied Sleeter and Zavala’s hallmarks of ethnic studies as a theoretical framework to analyze the contents of 33 laws in 18 states and to determine the fidelity of these laws to the transformative mission of ethnic studies. Findings indicate that many states pick and choose curricular requirements—such as promoting the roles, histories, and contributions of a racial or ethnic group—but lack attention to ethnic studies pedagogy. However, ethnic studies state laws are also not monolithic and differ in their very conception of ethnic studies and the degree of criticality with which they approach the subject. In discussion, we argue that comparing the contents of these laws to the foundational principles of the subject that they seek to legislate can illuminate each law’s relative strengths and weaknesses. The differences of these laws likely impact the contents and quality of ethnic studies that students receive, so this analysis can both inform better ethnic studies policy and support transformative teaching in ethnic studies.