At the Center for Black Educator Development, the organization Sharif El-Mekki founded and leads, they believe that to teach Black children "superbly" is a revolutionary act. In service of that goal, they prepare educators to instill in Black children a positive sense of their own racial identity and, in so doing, equip them with the…

The Early Literacy Program focuses on the development of early literacy skills, with additional emphasis on intervention for students at risk of not meeting grade-based reading benchmarks. Districts and charter schools (LEAs) assess, and report to the state, students' reading composites and benchmarks three (3) times a year using the Acadience…

The current study examined the relationship between teachers' cultural competence and Multitiered System of Supports (MTSS) referrals for students belonging to racial/ethnic minority groups. Teachers serving grades kindergarten through five in two schools in a large, urban school district in Connecticut participated in the study. MTSS referrals…

The Early Literacy Program focuses on the development of early literacy skills in all students, with additional emphasis placed on intervention for "at-risk" students. Resources available to aid these students include interventions and supports for students in grades kindergarten through third grade, standards and assessments for testing…

This paper examines the outcomes of a 4-year implementation of a mathematics program (Representations, oral language and engagement in Mathematics: RoleM) for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students' learning of mathematics across the first 4 years of primary school (Foundation--Year 3). It specifically aims to determine how…

This study sought to examine sustained, school-based professional development (PD) on explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction (ERCSI) and its influence on teacher knowledge and practice and on student outcomes. Eight teachers participated - four first-grade and two teachers each from second and third grade. At the beginning of the…

Using a DisCrit intersectional lens and statistical and spatial methods, we trace how the creation of K-8 schools functioned to create pockets of privilege in one urban U.S. school district. K-8 schools were both whiter and wealthier than district averages, serving as "enclave" schools. Although far fewer students with disabilities were…

Low-income and racial/ethnic minority children are at increased risk of experiencing summer reading loss or declined reading levels due to time away from school. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 6-week summer reading program would help children maintain or improve reading levels. Four-hundred-fourteen African American and…

This study found that as early as the beginning of kindergarten and before any formal schooling began for most students, the achievement gap already existed. It was mostly related to students' poverty, ELL status, and SWD status, as well as to schools' having larger proportions of economically disadvantaged students. Students from poor families…

The study examined seven early literacy classrooms to determine whether they mirrored the diversity in the classroom and community. Upstate New York has experienced double-digit increases in diversity indices since the 1980s. Instruction must keep apace. Analysis of observation and interview data using Constant Comparative Analysis and Classical…

Principals' beliefs and actions have powerful outcomes in the lives of the students and families they serve. In this article, we offer the portrait of a long-standing principal of a diverse urban school where the student body is 90% Latinx, 65% English learners (ELs), and 87% eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. We explore many key practices…

Children's relationships with their teachers are critical for classroom-based learning, but children growing up in poverty may be at risk for lower-quality relationships with teachers. Little is known about how changing schools, one poverty-related risk, affects teacher-child relationships. Using growth curve models that control for a host of…

This qualitative research study examined 13 preschool to third-grade teachers' experiences reading and discussing culturally relevant texts (CRTs) with their students. Teachers worked at four schools in a large urban school district and with child populations from different sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds. We employed provisional and…

Although Individual Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) has mandated states to collect and analyze data to determine if special education disproportionality is occurring within the local education agencies (LEAs), student of color continue to be disproportionately represented in special education programs. Historical trend data revealed that…

Previous studies about ELs have reported data on active English Learners--defined as those students who have not yet reached proficiency on a state English test--at a specific moment in time. This study, for the first time, analyzed the long-term trajectories of 18,000 CPS students who began kindergarten as ELs and followed their progress all the…