Persistent educational inequity for immigrant and refugee students and their families calls for instructional practices centering on access, quality, and social justice. Drawing on two qualitative case studies, this article examines how three U.S. urban school teachers attended to the systemic inequalities and unique challenges confronting…

New York State public school students in grades 3-8 are required to take the Common Core assessments, now based on Next Generation Learning Standards, in English language arts and mathematics. Students are also required to take English and Algebra Regents exams in high school. Elementary students who often perform on-grade level in the classroom…

This article explores issues that had to be confronted over a three-year period in terms of two New York State funded grants for which I was the evaluator. Major, critical challenges are presented, described, and discussed. Specifically, the paper addresses issues related to lack of planning at the grant design stage that resulted in challenges…

Background: This study tested the hypothesis that written district wellness policies are associated with higher rates of implementation of nutrition and physical activity practices. Methods: Written wellness policies and building level practices were assessed for schools (N = 295) within high-need districts (N = 70) in New York State. The…

An increased emphasis on writing standards has recently led many U.S. states to incorporate text-based writing assessments into their test-based accountability system. This creates political and pedagogical tensions that teachers must navigate in their classroom use of writing rubrics. While prior research has focused on rubric design and/or the…

The study reported here used data from the ACCESS 4-H Enrollment System to gain insight into strengthening New York State's 4-H programming. Member enrollment lists from 2009 to 2012 were analyzed using Microsoft Excel to determine trends and dropout rates. The descriptive data indicate declining 4-H enrollment in recent years and peak enrollment…

This report provides a new resource for understanding the state of urban public schools in the U.S. Geared specifically toward city leaders who want to evaluate how well traditional district and charter schools are serving all their city's children and how their schools compare to those in other cities, the report measures outcomes for all public…

This article examines the extent to which impacts of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program on children's academic outcomes vary by key characteristics associated with families' propensity to earn the rewards offered by the program. We utilize an experimental study of Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, a comprehensive CCT program in New York City…

The recent foreclosure crisis has plagued nearly every city in the U.S., including New York City. Despite considerable attention to the causes of these mortgage foreclosures and the consequences they have had for communities, we know little about their impacts on individual families and children. Given that more than 2.8 million U.S. property…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

Policymakers nationwide continue to wrestle with a basic question: At what grade level should students move to a new school? In the most common grade configuration in American school districts, public school students make two school transitions, entering a middle school in grade 6 or 7 and a high school in grade 9. This pattern reflects the…

A non-experimental research study was performed in which the researcher investigated the relationship between principals' use of transformational leadership practices and students' reading and mathematics achievement. A sample of principals from 2,500 randomly selected elementary, middle, and high schools in New York State were recruited by…

Poor academic outcomes and high dropout rates are major concerns of educators, policy makers, and parents alike--and poor health severely limits a child's motivation and ability to learn. Recent research confirms that "health disparities affect educational achievement". Improving students' health is integral to education reform.…

In 2007, New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity launched Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty. Family Rewards provided payments to low-income families in six of the city's poorest communities for achieving specific goals…

Aimed at low-income families in six of New York City's highest-poverty communities, Family Rewards ties cash rewards to a pre-specified set of activities and outcomes thought to be critical to families' short- and long-term success in the areas of children's education, family preventive health care, and parents' employment. The purpose of this…