The problem addressed in this study was that many urban minority students in a Midwestern state begin school without the requisite emergent literacy skills. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the instructional approaches used by early childhood education (ECE) teachers in an urban community in a selected Midwestern…

Racism primarily has been examined in United States (U.S.) educational contexts via survey and qualitative investigations, which reveal Black, Indigenous, and People of Colors' (BIPOCs') self-reported experiences of individual racism. Missing from this research is a focus on the perpetrators of racism and the institutional nature of racism in U.S.…

The current makeup of the PK-12 educational workforce is largely White persons. However, the demographic makeup of the student body is soon to be a majority of students of color. This is problematic due to the disproportionate statistics of students of color being suspended at higher rates than White students, the "achievement gap"…

The original design of zero-tolerance policies was meant to support school safety through an anti-drug and violence campaign but in the years following their implementation, school districts have employed them repeatedly without merit. Exclusionary practices have become controversial, leading to high rates of recidivism, imbalanced implementation…

There are vast disparities in educational outcomes along the lines of race and socioeconomic status in the American PreK-12 education system. One of the contributing factors to this discrepancy is the enrichment gap. Put simply, racially marginalized and low-income students are less likely to participate in enriching, supplemental learning…

This research explores the cognitive dissonance experienced by novice teachers when entering the teaching profession, specifically around cultural competence while teaching in the urban core. The study builds upon previous research by Adam Eckard, who investigated the impact of teacher preparation programs on teacher identity development in urban…

Caregiver engagement plays an important role in preschool special education (SPED). For culturally and linguistically minoritized (CLM) families, barriers such as limited English proficiency and limited knowledge related to diagnoses and services may negatively impact their experience of the SPED process (Lamorey, 2002; Sturm et al., 2021). The…

There is an increased awareness concerning the need for educators to utilize more culturally responsive practices, particularly in early childhood education (Allen & Steed, 2016). As the number of culturally diverse students enrolled in early childhood programs rises, preschool programs must embrace this diversity and provide enriching…

This study examined how current kindergarten teachers promote learning and early success throughout a child's educational trajectory, including middle and high school. Narrative inquiry identified concepts and methods of promoting social emotional development and learning for the duration of a student's schooling. The research gave voice to Latina…

With the rise in globalization, an increasing number of minoritized, multiracial, and cross-cultural students are enrolling in the U.S. PK-12 school systems. As the PK-12 student landscape becomes more diverse, teachers, staff, principals, and school counselors need to be aware of and able to address specific needs and provide support for students…

Within educational systems across the nation, traditionally marginalized and "multiply marginalized and underrepresented (MMU)" groups, composed of students of color, students with dis/abilities, students living in poverty and/or emergent bilinguals, continue to be excluded and segregated, perpetuating discriminatory practices both…

The Building a Brighter Future: Community Symposium Against the Preschool-to-Prison Pipeline addresses systemic inequities in early childhood education and the juvenile justice system. The symposium aims to combat the preschool-to-prison pipeline--a phenomenon disproportionately affecting children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds,…

School readiness is often defined as being at an expected developmental level across domains such as social and emotional, language and literacy, math, and science (Office of Head Start, 2015; Washington State Department of Early Learning, 2012; Teaching Strategies, 2001). Suppose children start without the foundation and identity in early science…

This transformative explanatory sequential mixed methods design study framed by the theories of Critical Race Theory and Community Cultural Wealth used a survey and semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of Black administrators in PK-12 public schools in the United States. Within the first, quantitative, phase of the study…

The purpose of this study was to explore how P-12 school drama teachers infused culturally relevant (CR) social emotional learning (SEL) into their drama instruction. In addition, this study explored the experiences of students of color with disabilities who were involved in P-12 classes that employed CR SEL drama activities. The epistemic…