The COVID-19 pandemic caused in-person school closures around the world that impacted student learning and academic achievement to an unknown degree for all types of students. A majority of research on out-of-school time (summer vacation, absences, weather-related events) and initial research related to the pandemic indicated a negative impact on…

Educational inequality due to family socioeconomic status (SES) has been the focus of both public dialogue and education research in the United States for many years. The current study aims to understand how educational inequality due to family SES has changed in the United States. Specifically, the study focuses on the changes in achievement gaps…

Educational achievement disparities continue to affect subgroups based on socioeconomic status, gender, race, and ethnicity. Despite efforts to close the achievement gap, the Black-White performance gap in reading, mathematics, and science scores remains virtually unchanged. The problem is that science educators in the United States receive…

The post-pandemic return to school posed many challenges for educational leaders. Administrative teams had to come up with plans to close achievement gaps created by an extended period of remote learning. One suburban New Jersey high school identified at-risk students and created an Academic Mentoring Support (AMS) program as an intervention. Once…

This doctoral dissertation investigates the effects of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy on educational equity in New Jersey, focusing on three primary research questions. Firstly, the study examines whether the implementation of NCLB mandates led to the closure of achievement gaps between black and white students, as evidenced by disparities…

Despite the increased percentage of students with disabilities learning in an inclusive setting, the achievement gap remained wide between students with and without disabilities. Largely absent from research was an exploration of effective inclusive practices in secondary schools, a lack of clear guidelines for inclusive practices, implementation,…

Using cross-institutional survey data from 407 first-year college students, differences in information literacy preparation and academic library experiences between community college students and students at four-year institutions are examined. Results show that first-year community college students are more likely to be novice library users,…

Math performance became an increasing concern in the United States after the launch of Sputnik in 1957. This concern began with attempts to prescribe mathematical standards in the United States to improve student mathematics preparation. When the COVID pandemic began in 2020, policies on quarantining and remote learning were implemented, resulting…

There is currently much conversation on the issue of the achievement gap as scholars, politicians, and educational leaders continue to grapple with educational inequity and underperformance of students in urban neighborhoods who are mostly Black and Latinx as compared with higher performing students, mostly white, in suburban neighborhoods. This…

Many scholars have suggested over the past several decades have pointed to a persisting achievement gap between white and black students. A lack of parental support and advocacy, peer influences, student health issues, poor nutrition, and low socioeconomic status are among the factors contributing to this gap (Chubb & Loveless, 2004). This…

Decades after the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" unanimous decision to desegregate schools, the ideology of Black people having equal educational opportunities has not been realized; Black people continue to lag in educational attainment. However, the inequalities in life experiences between Black and White people limit the…

Over the past 30 years, numerous policies have focused on closing the achievement gap in the United States. Despite this emphasis on mastery and proficiency, students continue to perform below expectations. We use standardized math test performance to explore whether schools have been able to eliminate the achievement gap across middle-level…

The academic achievement gap is a persistent and pernicious educational challenge confounded with race and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap persists despite over three decades of interventions and federal, state, and local policies and initiatives meant to close it. We examine the achievement gap in one of the most diverse states in the…

The academic achievement gap, particularly for at-risk students in urban school districts, needs to be addressed and met head on with a plan. That plan is identified as a school-based mentoring program. The purpose of this research study is to examine the impact and effect a school based mentoring curriculum has on at-risk students in an urban…

Michigan has a problem. By several measures, the achievement of students attending its K-12 educational system has not kept pace with other states. Although Michigan's student achievement has improved over the past decade, the improvement has been modest, and achievement in many other states has easily surpassed that in Michigan. Furthermore,…