The Social Justice Education Project (SJEP) teaches Latina/o students from local Tucson high schools to conduct action research at their schools and within their communities. Every other Fall semester, some fifty Latina/o juniors enroll in the Social Justice Education program in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The program requirements include two years of US History and Government and the development of a student-led action research project. Throughout the two years, University of Arizona partners (i.e.
researchers, graduate and undergraduate students) help these students learn the critical thinking, research, data analysis, written and oral presentation, as well as organizing skills that will empower them to produce their own solutions to educational and community injustices.

The student action research focuses on how Latina/o high school students experience social inequalities in and beyond education. The Latina/o students learn ethnographic research methods, including participant observation, interview techniques, photo documentation, and videography. The project goal is for the students to use their research results as a vehicle for action to transform education and address the inequalities that Latina/o students experience in public schools and within their communities. With students leading the way and conducting the study, SJEP provides the rare opportunity for student voices and ideas to enter the official dialogue on government policy and reform. The high school students present their findings to their school, community, school board, and city and state officials, and organize a campaign to implement a specific plan to improve educational policies and social conditions for Latina/o youth.