Community Responsive Education (CRE) is a for-profit consulting firm that offers “diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused” teacher development programs to schools and other organizations. In addition to curriculum and teacher development, the firm offers critical race theory-inflected “equity audits” and “systems change strategic planning” for schools and school systems. ¹

Founded by California-based professors Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, Jeff Duncan-Andrade, and clinician Glenda Macatangay, CRE taps a nation-wide network to provide its services to schools all over the United States. ^{2 3}

The firm has reportedly received public school funds in the past. ^{4 5}

Activity

Wellness Movement

Community Responsive Education is developing the “Youth Wellness Movement,” a tool which will measure the “impacts” of ethnic studies in educational institutions. It will also attempt to measures the impacts on students of the pedagogical methods that CRE advocates. ⁶ The movement’s website states that it seeks to develop “civically engaged democratic citizens” that “understand their value and purpose on the planet.” ⁷ “Approach.” Youth Wellness Movement. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://youthwellness.com/approach/.[/note]

Praise of Radical Figures

Community Responsive Education is a vocal supporter of radical figures, both historical and contemporary. In an Instagram post from November 2019, the group recommended books by Marxist theorist Paulo Freire as well as several books on socialism and anti-colonialism. ⁸

On March 14, 2020, CRE uploaded a quote by civil rights activist and one-time Nation of Islam spokesman Malcolm X to its Facebook page. ⁹

In January 2021, it advertised an event on its Instagram page entitled “The Fight For Ethnic Studies In CA,” with lifelong Marxist activist and prison abolitionist Angela Davis listed as a special guest. Two of CRE’s co-directors, Duncan-Andrade and Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, also spoke at the event. ¹⁰

Funding

While Community Responsive Education is a private for-profit entity, the firm has received public school funds multiple times in the past. ^{11 12} In February 2020, Jefferson Elementary School District in Daly City, California paid CRE $40,000 for “ethnic studies development.” ¹³

Leadership

Community Responsive Education was founded and is directed by professors Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, Jeff Duncan-Andrade, and clinician Glenda Macatangay.

In addition to serving as co-director of Community Responsive Education, Jeff Duncan-Andrade is the founder of Roses in Concrete Community School, a “community responsive lab school” in East Oakland, California. ¹⁴ He is also the co-founder of the Teaching Excellence Network, an organization, which advocates for left-progressive causes relating to teacher training and development. ^{15 16} He has served as the director of Educational Equity Initiative at the Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design since 2010. ¹⁷ Duncan-Andrade holds a Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies and is an associate professor of Latina/o Studies and Race and Resistance Studies at San Francisco State University. ^{18 19}

In 2016, Duncan-Andrade was one of several “great educators” invited to the White House by then-President Barack Obama (D) for National Teacher Appreciation Day. According to the CRE website, Duncan-Andrade works with teachers and school leaders as well as union leaders and school district officials. ²⁰

Co-director Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales is a professor in the College of Ethnic Studies and Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University. She also co-founded Teaching Excellence Network with Duncan-Andrade. She is the author of five books on ethnic studies and “community responsive pedagogy.” She was given the “Community Advocacy Award” by the Critical Educators for Social Justice, an affinity group within the American Educational Research Association. ²¹

Co-director and chief operations officer Glenda Gloce Macatangay is a “social justice entrepreneur” who provides creative communications to “community-responsive” businesses. She also works as the managing partner of UpperCloud, a media agency in Oakland, California. She was a clinician specializing in mental health and clinical director of “community-based organizations, schools and the juvenile justice systems” for more than 19 years and has been a community organizer for more than 25 years. ²²

1. “Services.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/services/.
2. “We Are Educators.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/about/.
3. “Services.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/services/.
4. “Consultant Report Card.” Parents Defending Education. October 20, 2021. https://defendinged.org/consultantreportcard/.
5. Nomani, Asra. “About the Consultant Report Card.” Parents Defending Education. October 20, 2021. Accessed November 15, 20201. https://defendinged.org/case-study/about-the-consulting-report-card/.
6. “Wellness Movement.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/wellness-movement/.
7. “Approach.” Youth Wellness Movement. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://youthwellness.com/approach/.
8. CRE for the People. Instagram. November 4, 2019. https://www.instagram.com/p/B4c27SxhcJA/.
9. Community Responsive Education. Facebook. March 14, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/105180260890045/photos/a.116910319717039/212276300180440/
10.  CRE for the People. Instagram. November 15, 2021. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKfqO23Aee4/
11. “Consultant Report Card.” Parents Defending Education. October 20, 2021. https://defendinged.org/consultantreportcard/.
12. Nomani, Asra. “About the Consultant Report Card.” Parents Defending Education. October 20, 2021. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://defendinged.org/case-study/about-the-consulting-report-card/.
13. “Community Responsive Education.” Parents Defending Education. November 1, 2021. https://defendinged.org/report/community-responsive-education/.
14. “We Are Educators.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/about/.
15. Jeff Duncan-Andrade. LinkedIn. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffduncanandrade
16. “Programs – ISEEED.” Image. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://iseeed.org/programs.
17. Jeff Duncan-Andrade. LinkedIn. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffduncanandrade
18. Jeff Duncan-Andrade. LinkedIn. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffduncanandrade
19. “We Are Educators.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/about/.
20. “We Are Educators.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/about/.
21. “We Are Educators.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/about/.
22. “We Are Educators.” Community Responsive Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://communityresponsive.org/about/.