The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, nonequivalent comparison-group design was to determine if "How to Learn Math: For Students" (Boaler, 2018) had a statistically significant influence on ninth-grade and tenth-grade students' mathematical achievement and the achievement gap across socioeconomic status. Participants…

Closing the achievement gap among culturally and linguistically diverse students has been challenging for educators, school leaders, and policymakers. With the growing diversity of the K-12 public school student body, schools must prepare to confront this divide systematically and vigorously. Policies that promote culturally responsive teaching…

The College Possible program provides intensive coaching by near-peer mentors, peer group support, and opportunities for academic and non-cognitive skill building to low-income students through an intensive two-year curriculum in junior and senior years of high school. The goal of the program is to close the achievement gap between low-income…

At Haverford High School, a suburban high school in Haverford, Pennsylvania, a mathematical achievement gap exists for economically disadvantaged, special education, and Black students. Researchers have found that students in lower tracked classes often receive less rigorous tasks, tasks with lower cognitive demand, and fewer tasks that focus on…

The COVID-19 virus brought on a public health emergency that massively disrupted school systems and learning nationwide. During the 2020-2021 school year, many local education agencies (LEAs) in Pennsylvania and other states adopted remote learning to help slow the virus's spread. However, remote learning came with challenges for students,…

Pennsylvania's students consistently score above the national average on overall student achievement. However, the state's achievement gaps between White students and Black and Hispanic students are consistently among the worst in the country, even when controlling for gaps in family income, poverty, unemployment, and parental educational…

Learners of all types can see achievement gains when schools remake themselves as centers of deeper learning. This article highlights eight schools that may be pointing the way to how the nation can finally close the gaps for Latino and black students in beginning and finishing college degrees: (1) King Middle School (Portland, Maine); (2)…

As the gulfs between low-income and more affluent youth widen, researchers and practitioners continue to search for effective means of closing gaps in academic achievement, digital participation, and civic engagement. This article examines how youth organizing offers a bridge across these divides. We consider how one youth organizing group, The…

This report provides a new resource for understanding the state of urban public schools in the U.S. Geared specifically toward city leaders who want to evaluate how well traditional district and charter schools are serving all their city's children and how their schools compare to those in other cities, the report measures outcomes for all public…

A variety of recent research has shown that the academic achievement gap has been growing between low- and middle-income students. Socioeconomic status has proven to have a large influence on academic attainment as well as the educational opportunities that a child is offered. This paper argues that, because poverty significantly affects children…

This study examines the perspective of public secondary education through the lived experiences and voices of 10 African American male students. The study was qualitative in nature and utilized an action research case study design. The researcher conducted semi structured interviews with a randomly selected group of African American male students…

In the 1960s, as part of the black freedom struggle in the United States, African-American educators increasingly achieved the position of school principal in the nation's big cities, helping to transform that office into a more dynamic force for school reform. This article presents the accomplishments and the struggles of one such principal,…

In today's economy, employers increasingly demand that workers have a high school diploma, yet America's graduation rates are unacceptably low, particularly among poor and minority students. Nationally, only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma; for African American and Hispanic students, this…

This paper profiles Pennsylvania's test score trends through 2008-09. In 2006, the mean scale score on the state 4th grade reading test was 1390 for non-Title I students and 1220 for Title I students. In 2009, the mean scale score in 4th grade reading was 1420 for non-Title I students and 1270 for Title I students. Between 2006 and 2009, the mean…

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…