We use novel information about fixture-specific water lead levels (WLLs) in Portland, Oregon schools to explore inequalities in students' potential for exposure to lead in drinking water at school. We find that Black and Hispanic students were in classrooms with higher WLLs than white students primarily because they attended different schools. The…

Purpose: Nearly all schools in the United States closed in spring 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze traditional public and charter school reopenings for the 2020-21 school year in five urban districts. We provide a rich and theoretically grounded description of how and why educational leaders made reopening decisions in each…

Urban schools in many OECD countries are contending with policy trends that squeeze budgets and incentivize parent fundraising. The trend may be most pronounced and longstanding in the US, where parent groups and local education foundations have turned increasing attention to raising funds to support additional services, staff, or programs for…

There was a time when universities located in cities set themselves apart from urban life, even, in some cases, building walls that isolated their campuses. As the Cold War and Space Race accelerated the demand for academic expertise, government funding for basic and applied research became a mainstay of higher education. With the end of the Cold…

Background: Science in the Learning Gardens (henceforth, SciLG) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems: under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and inadequacies of curriculum and pedagogy to address their cultural and motivational needs. Funded by the…

Using data from seven cohorts of language immersion lottery applicants in a large, urban school district, we estimate the causal effects of immersion programs on students' test scores in reading, mathematics, and science and on English learners' (EL) reclassification. We estimate positive intent-to-treat (ITT) effects on reading performance in…

A Portland (Oregon) middle school teacher teaches an ethnobotany class using plants identified in Lewis and Clark's journals. After months of learning about native plants, Native American culture, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the class culminates in a 3-day canoe trip down the Columbia River. A Lewis and Clark Rediscovery grant provides…

An interview with three top students and an English teacher at a troubled urban high school in Portland (Oregon) yields interesting insights: The best teachers blend strictness with understanding. Learning is more lasting when multiple avenues for absorbing material are provided. A principal's strong leadership is critical to a cohesive school…

A Portland (Oregon) elementary school, formerly designated a local "crisis school," has improved academic achievement through a combination of Total Quality Management, high expectations, and tough love. Quarterly assessments enable staff to keep track of each student and guide instructional decisions. Small classes, on-site professional…