Dual enrollment policies and programs, where students earn both high school and college credits, have been scaled up across the United States in the last two decades. In this mixed methods study, we survey high school principals in Ohio and Texas, two states with robust dual enrollment policies. The study addressed one broad research question:…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "College Readiness and Success." Contents include: (1) Texas School Counselors…

The role of the principal includes various obligations and responsibilities, including leading the school's special education (SPED) program. Many aspects inform how SPED students respond to the curriculum, including their learning needs, race, socioeconomic class, and other aspects that intersect and make their needs more complex. The researcher…

This study investigates the impact of various types of absenteeism--excused, unexcused, and suspensions--on 2024 English I and II EOC scores among 9th and 10th graders at a suburban North Texas high school. This quantitative analysis aimed to understand whether different absence types influence academic achievement when controlling for ethnicity…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "School Safety." Contents include: (1) Students Demand Safe, Supportive Schools:…

Public school classrooms in Texas and in the United States of America have for the past several years ushered in changes to the format and methods in which students are being served. Virtual schools and online classrooms are becoming more of the norm for students at all levels of education in our country. And with this shift in instructional…

The expansion and increasing popularity of Advanced Placement (AP) programs have led to a new and significant trend: students are taking AP courses earlier in their high school journey, with a notable increase in enrollment among freshmen and sophomores. This study examines the effects of early engagement in AP courses for students deemed…

Educational inequality due to family socioeconomic status (SES) has been the focus of both public dialogue and education research in the United States for many years. The current study aims to understand how educational inequality due to family SES has changed in the United States. Specifically, the study focuses on the changes in achievement gaps…

The role of the principal in high-needs schools is vital to the success of the organization. Middle school principals play a critical role in fostering a safe learning environment as middle schoolers navigate socioemotional development alongside academic demands. High-need schools are defined as those presenting a context that challenges the…

This project creates the first educational pipeline for the state of Texas. It incorporates middle school as a key transition point, differentiates between advanced degree achievement among Latinas/os and Chicanas/os, and fashions a secondary pipeline with a narrower age range. Findings indicate that the move from eighth grade to ninth is a…

Automatic admissions policies (AAPs, "percent plans") redistribute college-going opportunities across segregated high schools to diversify college enrollments, increasing opportunities at predominantly minority high schools. If students "game" AAPs by attending schools with increased opportunities, AAPs could alter racial…

This quantitative research study analyzed the effectiveness of Section 504 plans on academic achievement as measured by the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), and graduating grade point averages (GPA). There is limited research on the effectiveness of Section 504 plans and academic…

This article is drawn from a 2022 National Art Education Association Convention panel sponsored by the Professional Learning Through Research working group, showcasing various collaborative research projects across multiple divisions in art education (Bain & Vanderlip Taylor, 2022). Collaborative research practices are evolving, moving away…

Background/Context: There is a growing concern about the ways in which geography affects the educational opportunity for America's rural youth. Most research on this population has assumed that rural America is primarily White and that rural college access is stratified by an individual's ability to complete the application process. Such…

This article examines contextual factors that impact inclusive education in the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas, United States. Based on the analysis of teachers' narratives, the study concluded that teachers perceive inclusive special education as a student's right primarily grounded in the social justice context of education. While…