In fall 2019, students at the University of Mississippi began the process of starting the university's first creative publication for/by LGBTQ+ students and allies. Over the course of two years, I helped these students plan, create, and produce their zine. These kinds of texts promote identity-formation and help students feel greater connection to…

Conflicts based on race and ethnicity have been documented in CSD programs. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a racially based conflict that occurred in a speech-language pathology graduate program at a Historically Black University and how the program director, the university's chief diversity officer, the program faculty, and students…

Teachers contribute more to reading and math outcomes than any other factor of schooling. However, teacher shortages are pervasive. How can schools and districts recruit high-quality educators, hold onto to the ones they already have, and reflect the diversity of their students? This infographic highlights innovative models beyond the traditional…

By accelerating schools' adoption of technology for virtual learning, the pandemic spotlighted longstanding inequities in digital access, especially for Black, Hispanic, and low-income K-12 students. By spearheading efforts to collect data, collaborate with partners, buy digital devices and infrastructure, and reimagine effective technology use,…

Nutrition insecurity is especially seen among historically underserved populations, such as those with limited financial resources. Funded by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and conducted by Cooperative Extension through land-grant institutions in all U.S. states and territories and the District of Columbia, the…

Hayes, Juarez, and Escoffery-Runnels (2014) analyzed the educational philosophies and pedagogical practices of two educators to understand how personal and professional experiences individually and collectively influenced their approach to teaching. Using oral histories, they presented an argument of why culturally relevant and social…

Government officials are taking swift public health actions to slow the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of March, statewide school closures affected 55.1 million K-12 public school students across the country. While school closures affect all students, students from underserved communities feel this impact even greater. Data on…

Slowly but surely, a growing number of states are eyeing policies to select academically stronger individuals for their teaching programs as one avenue to improve the quality of new teachers. Underneath the attention such plans are attracting, though, run deep-seated fears about their potential consequences--particularly whether they will result…

Since 2012, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has supported educational enrichment in rural areas by awarding over $3.3 million in grants to six outstanding organizations operating in Iowa, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In this report, the authors combine the experiences of these organizations with findings from the…

School districts shape the conditions in which schools operate and as such can support or undermine school success and thus student success. All of which is to say that school districts matter. This article looks at the success of two districts whose low-income and minority students beat the odds in academic achievement. Lessons from these…

The Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) provided states with newfound flexibility on accountability measures and school improvement strategies. Many policy experts have analyzed states' ESSA plans, which explain how states use their federal funds under various provisions of the new law, as well as the approaches states take to identify and rate…

Since 1975, the Jackson State University Meteorology Program (JSUMP) has played a unique role in the preparation of minorities for careers in the atmospheric sciences. Through external partnerships, incorporation of undergraduate research, summer internships, and involvement in activities of the professional societies, the JSUMP has graduated…

Mississippi's three historically Black universities, like other HBCUs around the country, are gradually becoming more diverse, and their administrators say the shift in enrollment is enhancing their mission, not detracting from it. One of them, Alcorn State, is the first and only HBCU in Mississippi to reach a court-mandated goal of having 10…

This report details Mississippi's participation in SREB programs and services from December 2013 through November 2014. Appropriations from member states support SREB's core operations and general services. SREB leverages the long-standing commitment of member states to attract external funding for an array of targeted projects for educational…

One of a series highlighting key practices undertaken by some of the many successful BEAMS (Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students) schools during the project's five years of data collection and action plan implementation, this practice brief demonstrates how emphasis on co-curricular activities can ultimately result in increased…