Experiential learning in Master of Social Work (MSW) programs can be an instrumental pedagogical method of juxtaposing theoretical knowledge with tangible hands-on approaches, enhancing student experience through incorporating curriculum beyond classroom settings. This paper seeks to employ the use of educational theorist David Kolb's Theory of…

Healthcare Professionals Working in Schools (HPWS) are responsible for providing health services to students and play a role in providing education to prevent illnesses, including tickborne diseases (TBD). Providing TBD education to children has been shown to increase prevention behaviors and knowledge of TBD symptoms, but little is known…

Purpose: Our purpose was to gather and evaluate accurate, up-to-date information on physical education (PE) policy implementation across multiple U.S. states and regions. Methods: A U.S. Physical Education and Physical Activity Policy questionnaire was developed and completed by 4,845 public-school PE teachers from 25 U.S. states. The U.S.…

A growing corpus of interdisciplinary scholarship focuses on migration, particularly the increasing intensity of forced migration, or displacement, and the sociocultural, political, and symbolic dimensions of global resettlement. Yet, there are limited empirical studies on how U.S. educators in urban contexts address these processes, including but…

Private school voucher programs provide government subsidies to eligible students for tuition and other education-related costs. Parents participating in choice programs benefit from a larger and more diverse supply of education providers. Private schools must choose whether or not to participate in a voucher program in their community. In…

This study takes advantage of natural variation in alignment and accountability to analyze educator sensemaking of a complex policy environment. It describes how educators in two large, high-accountability districts in New York and Florida made sense of multiple policy changes, including new standards, curriculum, assessments, and teacher…

A growing body of literature indicates that Latinx immigrant families are adversely affected by restrictive immigration policies and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Little is known about how educators working with Latinx immigrant communities in restrictive immigration climates fare. Using mixed-methods, this study sought to better understand how the…

Federal law defines English learner (EL) eligibility differently for Indigenous, compared to non-Indigenous, students, allowing for broader entry into the EL category, along with its accompanying resources and services. We interviewed EL leaders from 25 state departments of education to learn about their level of understanding of the…

This paper explores ideas about the role of the school principal embedded in New York State education policy. Many public schools across the state fail to deliver equitable opportunities and outcomes for an increasingly diverse student population and improving school leadership offers the potential for substantial returns. Drawing on concepts of…

Across the United States, K-12 schools are recognizing that as the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) enrolled increases, there is an opportunity for greater linguistic and cultural exchange among all learners. ELLs also face the dual challenge of learning English in addition to rigorous academic content. This makes them vulnerable to…

No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act have made accountability central to conversations about education policy. But neither statute articulates a clear vision of what constitutes "quality" or "equity" in education, nor do they include a mechanism to ensure that schools have sufficient resources to pursue that…

Background/Context: Since 2013, opting out of state standardized tests has become a movement--the grassroots, organized efforts to refuse to take high-stakes state standardized tests. In particular, opt-out rates in the state of New York have been consistently fluctuating around 20%. Purpose/Objective: This study aims to examine the actor…

Background and Context: Grassroots activism is on the rise in American education, leading some scholars to announce the arrival of a "New Politics of Education" in which political elites and grassroots actors clash over foundational questions of policy and power. However, little research has examined just how consequential grassroots…

For close to fifty years, rural and non-metro counties in New York State have suffered economic and demographic declines. This paper examines the impact of urban-normative educational reform efforts on one community, and the continued crisis emerging after the consolidated district closed the elementary school. Using Discourse Analysis, two sets…

This qualitative study is focused on the political and social connections among disability, race, language, and migration that affect how emergent bilingual students are labeled as disabled and marginalized in schools despite--or, perhaps, through--educational and migration policies. Specifically, this study is concerned with the connections…