This report is the result of the participation of hundreds of students, families, school educators, and researchers who dedicated their time and energy to investigating the critical role that families and communities play in ensuring students and schools can flourish. It is a culmination of over two years of collaborative research and hundreds of…

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) provide the best setting for building collective teacher efficacy (CTE). CTE has been identified as having the highest positive effect on student achievement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore perceptions of teachers and administrators regarding the effectiveness of PLCs for building…

In this activity, students will create a flag that symbolizes their perceived identity. Each student will create and use a legend to define their perceived meaning behind the selected elements and how they came to associate that meaning with their identity. Finally, they will share their flag, its associated legend, and what they learned by…

Our nation has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to providing every child with an equal opportunity to an education. Two Federal laws that address the education for children with disabilities are the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), signed into law in 1965 and 1975,…

Acknowledging that our professional development (or methods course) was not going as well as we had hoped was difficult. However, knowing what to do and correcting the problem was even more challenging. This article explains how we engaged teachers in helping us rethink our video club by listening to and acting on their ideas. Through "coffee…

Background: Student transition to university can be a challenging time. Research suggests that providing space for student reflection and goal setting may facilitate this period of transition. Objective: I describe the "Postcard to my Graduating Self Project," in which psychology students were invited to write postcards to their future…

Private tutoring has become a pervasive phenomenon in Bangladesh, with significant implications for educational equity and quality. This paper examines the policy landscape surrounding private tutoring and proposes comprehensive strategies to mitigate its adverse effects on the education system. Through a systematic review of existing literature…

The sense of belonging is a complicated topic that is closely connected to one's understanding of identity, culture, and unique life experiences. We organized a one-semester-long workshop series titled "Revisiting Identity, Culture, and Belonging Through Art Making." This article discusses the outcomes of this multi-institutional project…

The authors of this article demonstrate best practices for creating belonging in economics, which allows diverse students to feel respected and accepted within the discipline. Opportunities to connect with economics allow students to understand and be empowered by the value they add to the classroom. The suggested practices thus include providing…

This "Equity Tool" is intended to facilitate use of the concepts and processes described in greater depth in the Equity by Design brief, "Promoting Socially Just Evidence-based Practice." We summarize the framework presented in this brief and offer guiding questions to support educators' preparation for and engagement in…

In chemistry, a catalyst accelerates change without being depleted. As we seek school improvement, we need sustainable, scalable changes, and therefore catalytic structures are ideal. From communities of practice to professional learning communities to Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) much has been made in the scholarly and consultancy…

Introduction: Improving students' experiences in courses has always been important; one important method for facilitating discussions is an effective icebreaker activity. Statement of the Problem: The move to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges for fostering connections among students. Given the constraints in…

This volume of the Perspectives on Mentoring Series explores the role of mentoring in promoting wellbeing of both mentees or proteges and mentors in K-12 school settings. At its core, mentoring is about helping, advising, supporting, and guiding mentees and proteges to gain a wide variety of skills, abilities, and/or attributes. Another outcome of…

This research centers on implementing Quantitative Reasoning (QR) within a differential equations course at an urban public community college. As a participant in the Numeracy Infusion for College Educators (NICE) faculty development program, I sought to integrate QR skills into my curriculum. Students in the course were introduced to QR goals…

"Educating for Justice" teams award-winning principal Julia Bott with scholars Scott Seider and Aaliyah El-Amin to describe schoolwide structures and practices that prepare students at every grade level to challenge injustice and build a better world. Sharing research-backed strategies, concrete tools, and examples drawn from real…