The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Latina/o teachers in New York City. Using critical race theory and LatCrit theory as the theoretical framework, 15 participants engaged in semi-structured interviews, focusing on how their racial identities shape their educational and professional paths. Thematic…

High-stakes testing is currently the primary measure of student success in the United States. Based on this measure of student performance, closing the "achievement gap" in test scores between Black and Latinx students and their white peers has become the main indicator of success for schools serving Black and Latinx students. When…

This study examined New York City Black and Latinx high school students' perceptions of their college counseling experiences. In particular, I sought to understand how the students perceived the role their high school guidance counselors' expectations of their abilities played in the choice of colleges to which they were counseled to apply. Data…

There are eleven million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Approximately two million are young people under the age of twenty-four. Although they came to the United States as children and were essentially raised and educated here, they remain without a pathway to legal permanent citizenship. Relatively little is known about the…

Latine bachelor's degree completion has grown in the last several decades but has not kept pace with other racial and ethnic groups. Millions of Latines have successfully navigated higher education, yet not enough is known about the conduits and barriers to timely degree completion. This dissertation utilizes LatCrit, Anti-Deficit Achievement, and…

This dissertation thesis examines the lived experiences, life stories, and storytelling of five Afro-Caribbean and Latina people, who are all local from the borough of Queens, alumni of New York City's public schools, and since then, became their local public school teachers, classroom practitioners, and local community teachers. We refer to this…

Substance use disorders are considered externalizing disorders, defined by anti-social and impulsive behavior, as opposed to internalizing disorders, defined by anxious and depressive thinking; however, that strict binary is increasingly untenable. In this dissertation, I evaluate the co-development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms…

Translanguaging pedagogy is an instructional approach that promotes the use of multiple languages to dismantle linguistic hierarchies in classrooms and embrace bilingual children's language practices and identities. This dissertation examines how bilingual education teachers enact translanguaging pedagogy in public elementary and middle schools to…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how first-generation Latino and African American Pell grant recipients, who attended a large urban community college located in New York City, described their understanding of and experiences with satisfactory academic progress (SAP) policy and its influence on academic persistence…

Schools have made efforts to improve outcomes for poor, Black, and Latino students, but disparities persist. Education policies in the United States are not addressing the structural inequities in schools and any external influences that contribute to the low achievement of Black, and Latino students living in poverty. The research in this study…

In this dissertation, I empirically investigate the changes in the market structure after new entrants, and how these changes affect the welfare of market participants. In Chapter 1, using records for public and charter schools in New York City, I empirically show that public schools adjusted after charter schools entered the neighborhood. I…

Validity studies of college admissions tests have found that black and Hispanic students typically perform worse in college, as measured by their freshman grade point average (FGPA), than predicted based on college admissions test scores. These studies, however, conflate student and school characteristics when estimating differential prediction.…

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of twelve New York City Department of Education leaders in Career and Technical Education (CTE) regarding programming, organizational structures and supports that impact college and career readiness of overage Black and Latino students. A grounded theory approach was used to define themes within the…

The study of short-"a" (e.g., the vowel in words such as "bat," "bad," "bang," "ban") in New York City English (NYCE) has a long history, and with many different descriptions of this complex system (e.g., Babbitt 1896; Trager 1930; Labov 1966/2006; Cohen 1970; Labov 2007). It is complex due to the…

Research shows that Black and Latino students continue to perform significantly below their white counterparts in academic achievement. How school leaders support teachers who work with the Black and Latino students comprising this gap was the premise of this study. This study was conducted to understand the role of school leaders in supporting…