Background: The Student Assistance Program (SAP) is mandated kindergarten to 12th grade in Pennsylvania schools to address barriers to student academic success. Following student referral, SAP teams use a systematic process to inform recommendations for school or community-based services. To evaluate program outcomes, a review of student SAP…

Although varying among and within the states, the percentage of students with 504 plans is steadily and significantly increasing as a national average. Although the professional literature addresses the legal standards for eligibility for 504 plans, it has not provided up-to-date information to practitioners as to the legal standard for the…

In this article, the author summarizes his efforts to design the Cultural Proficiency Continuum Dialogic Protocol (CPCDP), a tool purposed to assess and codify educators' cultural competence. The design and development of the CPCDP took place within four school-university partnerships (e.g., Professional Development School and Hybrid Partnership).…

There are deep and often institutionalized root causes for persistent equity gaps in postsecondary access and attainment in the United States. Many data sources, as well as the dozens of practitioners interviewed for this paper, affirm this. The majority of K-12 public school students are now students of color, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimates…

An analysis from 2002 to 2014, aligning media reporting of the effectiveness of the fully online K-12 cyber charter school model with data on enrollment flows to cyber charter schools and expenditure and demographic indicators across all 500 residential public school districts in Pennsylvania, finds a three-part geospatial-social process. Initial…

All tax credit scholarship (TCS) programs are state programs. States develop program policies and requirements, including establishing the roles and responsibilities of scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) and participating private schools. The President's fiscal year 2020 budget request included a proposal for federal tax credits for…

The scarcity of teachers of color (TOCs) in Pennsylvania has been well-documented. In 2018, Research for Action (RFA) reviewed the literature on the benefits of teachers of color for all students and highlighted barriers, strategies, and initiatives in "Patching the Leaky Pipeline: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color in…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the US public education system under great stress, resulting in quick, emergency changes. This stress has been particularly apparent in providing accommodations needed to Special Education (SPED) and English Learners (ELs). This paper reports on a qualitative narrative study based on interviews with K-12 educators…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) in reducing specific forms of bullying--verbal bullying, physical bullying, and indirect/relational bullying, as well as cyberbullying and bullying using words or gestures with a sexual meaning. This large-scale longitudinal study, which…

Principal retention is a growing concern for educational leaders in the United States. This comes at a time when millennial educators are also rising into positions of leadership with the reputation of a high turnover generation. Millennials have named mentorship as a preferred method for professional growth. Decades of research speaks to the…

This study examined the motivation, perceptions/future plans, and expectations of postgraduate students (referred to as literacy coaching candidates) enrolled in the first course of a Literacy Coaching Endorsement program at a large comprehensive institution of higher education. Results from data focus to: What motivates a licensed Reading…

This paper draws from data tied to a larger year-long interview study with 22 school leaders focused on how school leaders define and respond to the issue of "achievement gap." For this paper, we examine how school leaders employ the practice of colorblind ideology, standpoint, or perspective. We explore three emergent findings of how a…

Background/Context: Research has also shown that educators who are more socially and emotionally competent are more likely to create nurturing relationships and high-quality classroom environments that result in more academic success for students. Despite the importance of teacher-student relationships on student outcomes, limited research has…

Apprenticeship is a learning model and a proven strategy for (1) developing a talented and trained pipeline of workers for employers; and (2) expanding family supporting careers for individuals not pursuing a traditional four-year college track (without foreclosing their opportunities to pursue college down the road). Yet in Pennsylvania, as in…

Sixty-seven school finance reforms (SFRs) in 26 states have taken place since 1990; however, there is little empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of SFR effects. We provide a comprehensive description of how individual reforms affected resource allocation to low- and high-income districts within states, including both financial and…