This narrative study explored the experiences of teachers of color working with at-risk youth in marginalized communities during and after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, teachers faced many challenges, such as low pay, being stressed, overworked with a lack of resources, being overlooked, and not appreciated for their hard work. The Critical…

To increase capacity for public participation and improve problem-solving practices, some public school districts have launched stakeholder-training programs. This mixed methods study examined the impact of five school district parent training programs (four in Colorado and one in Illinois) designed to increase trust and engagement. Data were…

"AASA Learning 2025: Student-Centered, Equity-Focused, Future-Driven Education" is a movement that calls for a holistic redesign of the public school system by 2025. This initiative is grounded in the foundational work of the AASA Learning 2025 National Commission, comprised of thought leaders in education, business, community, and…

This study examined the correlation between student achievement, the financial health of a diverse sample of public Illinois elementary school districts, and their local wealth. Research suggested that the wealth of the district within itself does not affect student performance. Specific possible associated factors included instructional methods,…

By providing early access to education, early childhood and community-based programs are helping to close the achievement gap prevalent among children from impoverished homes.

Purpose/Objectives: School Food Focus (Focus) developed the Focus Midwest project on the premise that school food professionals (SFPs) could work together to minimize effort and maximize potential to find new or improved products to serve. Focus designed this project as an experiment to explore how and to what extent this collaborative approach…

The Illinois State Board of Education crafted their Strategic Plan as a roadmap to equity, defining the steps their agency will take to improve and increase opportunities and supports for Illinois students, especially those in the greatest need. They adopted the plan in November 2020, nine months into a global pandemic that continues to shape the…

This roadmap for Illinois public schools through school year 2022-23 defines the steps the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will take to provide each and every student in the state with safe and engaging schools, excellent teachers, and equitable learning opportunities. This plan reflects both the realities and uncertainties are faced…

Because the dynamics of race are wrongly ignored in a current shroud of post-racialism (i.e. re-election of Barack Obama as president of the USA, shifting racial demographics in the USA, etc.), there are still communities in the USA and throughout the world that experience the damaging effects of racism entangled with the realities of class. Many…

Recruiting and retaining talented individuals into the teaching workforce, especially in schools in underserved urban and rural communities, is challenging when college graduates face more lucrative professional alternatives and often carry significant student debt. Two promising approaches to attracting and keeping teachers in the profession are…

Public education funding relies on revenues from a variety of sources, from local taxpayers to federal programs targeting students with specific needs. The vast sum of funding collected--in excess of $600 billion annually--often masks which entities fund the education of our nation's youth. Questions of funding adequacy and equity across school…

The performance of public schools and the achievement of their students influence many important outcomes beyond the classroom, including one that may seem surprising: health. Studies consistently show a strong correlation between educational level and health over a lifetime, even after controlling for demographic characteristics such as income.…

The academic achievement of children is a national concern. Thus, PTA focuses not only on individual schools, but also on the communities they serve. One of the innovative approaches to community involvement in education is the community PTA. Community PTAs are not tied to a single school, but instead offer membership and involvement to various…

This article explores the work of the Grassroots Curriculum Taskforce (CGCT), a Chicago-based collaborative that engages in collective production of curricula that more adeptly capture the cultural, economic, and political realities of Chicago Public Schools' students. We first examine the collaborative processes CGCT undertook with parents,…

Recent evidence on the large variance in teacher effectiveness has spurred interest in teacher labor markets. Research documents that better qualified teachers typically work in more advantaged schools but cannot determine the relative importance of supply versus demand. To isolate teacher preferences, we document which schools prospective…