This study employs a multiple case study approach to examine the use of history of Mexican American and Muslim middle school students vis-à-vis Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The findings suggest the participants used historical examples of discrimination to contextualize candidate Trump's rhetoric and to bolster their identities as…

Background/Context: Racial disparities in school discipline represent a longstanding injustice in U.S. schools. Students of color, particularly Black students, are systematically subjected to harsher school disciplinary actions compared with their peers. A growing body of evidence demonstrates the severity of the problem and the negative…

Whether students of color are more or less likely to be identified as having disabilities than similarly situated students who are White in U.S. states with histories of de jure and de facto racial segregation is currently unknown. Unadjusted analyses of large samples of students attending elementary and middle schools in the U.S. South yielded…

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to examine the application of the teaching and learning theory of social constructivism in order to determine if mathematics instruction provided in a departmentalized classroom setting at the fifth grade level resulted in a statistically significant difference in student achievement…

The purpose of this study was to address the extent to which adequacy litigation functions as a means for improving student achievement, particularly among low-income and minority students. The study extended theory established in prior studies, and took into account the idea that change takes several years to realize and that sufficient time to…

The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Young Scholars model offers new language and ideas for thinking about giftedness that embrace expanded beliefs about the nature of intelligence and highlight the importance of nurturing intelligent behavior in children from diverse cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds as early as possible. These…

This quantitative study examined access to school music instruction with regard to race in two urban areas: Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, DC, in 2009-2010. We found significant differences in the provision of music instruction between schools with high and low proportions of nonwhite enrollment, in categories including curricular offerings,…

This document details Virginia's participation in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) programs and services from December 2013 through November 2014. Each member state receives a number of general services, plus access to targeted programs funded by grants, contracts and fees. Appropriations support SREB's core operations and general…

This research examined the impact of teacher licensure routes, particularly those identified as either traditional or alternative on student achievement by comparing Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) end of year scores in math and reading for minority students in grades six through eight during the period from 2005 through 2009. To compare the…

Students transitioning into the middle school often experience difficulty adjusting to their new environment. During this transition, declines in academic motivation, academic achievement, and connectedness have been noted. Most research on this transition has taken place in public school settings. This research investigated the impact of the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Collective Teacher Efficacy and minority student achievement gap over and above that explained by socioeconomics, school size, and prior achievement gaps for Black and Hispanic students with White students. Forty-seven Virginia middle schools were selected to participate in the…

This descriptive report is part of a broader project collecting, organizing, and analyzing multiple sources of data from the four-state REL Appalachia region, comprised of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The purposes of that broader project are: (1) to increase awareness of and understanding about critical education issues in the…

Project BEST (Basic Educational Skills and Training) is a mentoring program involving Virginia Commonwealth University students and area middle school students. In the two-tiered program, VCU faculty mentor the Project BEST college students who, in turn, serve as mentors to the middle school students. Activities include Saturday mathematics and…