This narrative inquiry highlights the first year of a 5-year Jacob K. Javits grant. In it, the authors detail their experiences writing and receiving the grant and beginning the equity-focused work of helping develop and expand gifted education in Michigan. Michigan currently has no gifted education legislation or funding, so this Javits team…

Student participation in summer programming can be an effective way to address students' academic and developmental needs. When well implemented and well attended, summer enrichment programs, academic programs, and employment programs have demonstrated positive outcomes for youth in areas related to program content, including academic achievement…

As federal funding for summer learning as a pandemic recovery strategy phases out, state governments face decisions about their future role in supporting students' access to quality summer learning opportunities. This brief is based on the full report, "How States Are Expanding Quality Summer Learning Opportunities," and summarizes…

The "Lau v. Nichols" Supreme Court case specifies two core responsibilities of schools -- and rights for students -- with regard to students classified as English learners (ELs): 1) opportunities to learn English; and 2) equitable access to grade-level content. Yet 50 years since "Lau's" passage, students' right to content may…

Niceness is a socialized disposition, particularly amongst white women, that prioritizes comfort and neutrality while preventing resistance against oppressive systems. Given the demographics of teachers and teacher educators, niceness and whiteness are deeply embedded in programs and institutions. As eight white, female teacher educators, we drew…

The U.S. Supreme Court has heard several cases regarding special education. These cases have resulted in decisions that have addressed issues involving special education programming and procedural issues. On March 21, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in "Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools." This decision, which was the…

Despite profound benefits of high-quality early childhood education (ECE) that could address and avert educational inequities for children of color and those from low-income backgrounds, ECE in Michigan and across the nation lacks sufficient funding. Students of color and students from low-income backgrounds particularly encounter many barriers to…

The Student Success Center Network (SSCN) Coaching Program expands institutional coaching as a capacity-building strategy for driving state- and institution-level college transformation efforts. Institutional coaches are trusted advisors who help facilitate change conversations, share resources and knowledge, and provide guidance to college…

Insufficient referral and participation in Part C Early Intervention (EI) services are common among children aged birth to 3 years, including those automatically eligible due to diagnosed medical conditions. States have established lists of diagnosed medical conditions to streamline eligibility determination for these children. However, there is…

More evaluators have anchored their work in equity-focused, culturally responsive, and social justice ideals. Although we have a sense of approaches that guide evaluators as to how they should attend to culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we have not yet established an empirical understanding of how evaluators measure DEI. In this…

In every classroom across our great state--from Monroe to Manistee and Mt. Pleasant to Marquette--every Michigan student deserves access and opportunity to the educational resources and support to realize a bright future. Yet for too long, Michigan's education system has served as an engine of inequality when it should be providing opportunities…

Long-standing discriminatory practices and systematic barriers have perpetuated inequitable access to early childhood resources and opportunities for families living in the United States due to race and ethnicity, income, geographic location, primary languages, gender, and other characteristics. To adequately understand whether child care is…

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) entitles students with disabilities to a free appropriate public education. Students with disabilities often require additional support to enable them to achieve academic and functional goals relative to their nondisabled peers. These legally protected supports and services all add up…

Purpose: We examine policy influencers' perceptions of the targets of school-choice policy across five states, exploring how constructions varied for White and racially minoritized families, whether policy actors conceived of the "target" of policy as the child or the parent, and how these racialized constructions varied across different…

The Advanced Placement (AP) program is widely offered in American high schools and has been touted as a way to close racial and socioeconomic gaps in educational outcomes. Using administrative data from Michigan, I exploit variation within high schools across time in AP course offerings to identify the relationship between AP course availability,…