Background: Inequality along racial and economic dimensions is well-documented and widespread in educational contexts. Achievement gaps are observed among children as early as primary school and are especially notable in standardized testing (Fryer & Levitt, 2004; Fryer & Levitt, 2013; Bond & Lang 2013). In response, some observers and…

The purpose of this replication study was to examine the leadership practices, instructional practices, and high expectation beliefs employed by school district superintendents in Texas with the aim of eliminating the performance gap between Hispanic and White students in the state. The research employed a qualitative approach, consisting of…

This study measured the effectiveness of and differences between Oklahoma's Brain Gain and Texas' Closing the Gaps policies to enhance degree completion of students at community colleges. Descriptive statistics and independent-samples "t" tests were conducted utilizing data from community colleges' 3-year graduation rates from the…

This study included an analysis of principal perceptions of the achievement gap between African American and White students. School administrators from campuses with a substantial number of African American students within the subgroup were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the achievement gap. The study revealed factors within the…

Background: Racialized suspension gaps are logically and empirically associated with racial achievement gaps and both gaps indicate the endurance of racism in American education. In recent U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Office of Civil Rights data, it was revealed that nationally, Black boys are four times more likely to be suspended…

In this study, we examined the college-readiness rates of Black, Hispanic, and White Texas public high school graduates using archival data from the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System. An examination of the state college-readiness rates across a 3-year period was conducted to determine the extent to which academic…

This research targets student expectation levels in school districts across Texas and seeks to identify and measure differences according to demographic data obtained from the Texas Education Agency. Specifically, this study investigates whether school districts in Texas hold varying levels of expectations for different racial and ethnic groups…

The Texas Education Agency's (TEA's) 2018 Annual Report is intended to shine light on the agency's commitment to ensuring that every one of the more than five million public school students in Texas is prepared for success in college, a career or the military. In the report, TEA shares success stories of schools who are meeting the needs of their…

Previous research demonstrates that collective efficacy positively predicts students' academic achievement (e.g., Bandura, 1993; Goddard et al., 2000). However, unaddressed by the current literature is whether collective efficacy also works to reduce inequity by closing achievement gaps. To learn about the operation of collective efficacy, we…

Purpose: The purpose of this causal-comparative quantitative study was to examine the effect of Texas' Closing the Gaps by 2015 college readiness plan on graduation and persistence rates in community colleges. Specifically examined in this study were the graduation and persistence rates and the 4-year and 6-year graduation rates of Texas community…

We analyzed the extent to which differences were present between White students and Hispanic students in their passing rates in reading and in math over a 16-year time period across all Texas elementary schools (ns greater than 1,000 schools). As anticipated, White students had statistically significantly higher passing rates in both reading and…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which differences were present by ethnic membership in graduate degrees attained at Texas public, 4-year institutions of higher education. Specifically, the numbers of master's, doctoral, and professional degrees awarded to White, Hispanic, and Black students in the State of Texas…

The Texas Education Agency's (TEA's) 2017 Annual Report is intended to shine light on the agency's commitment to ensuring that every one of the more than five million public school students in Texas is prepared for success in college, a career or the military. In Texas public schools: (1) Graduation rates are at an all-time high and put Texas in…

This Collection contains three seminal modules by Authors Ana Rojas-LeBouef and John R. Slate, professors and researchers from Sam Houston State University in Texas. They are nationally recognized scholars in the area of the academic inequity between White and Non-White students. This paper is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1--The…

This study examined the impact of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) methodologies on the mathematics achievement of African American, European American, and Hispanic students as measured by the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End of Course (EOC) for Algebra I. This quantitative nonexperimental ex post facto…