As U.S. suburbs become more racially and ethnically diverse, they have the opportunity to make their schools similarly diverse. But integration is not assured, even in districts with significant demographic diversity. Iris Rotberg draws on Montgomery County Public Schools, a suburban Maryland district, to illustrate the opportunities and risks…

Since 2014 New Jersey has offered three exams to demonstrate high school equivalency (HSE): the GED, the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET), and the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC). The New Jersey Department of Education wants to know the characteristics of exam takers, whether passing rates vary across HSE exams, and how a recent…

The California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) campus of 1930s Spanish and Mission-style architecture has around 7,100 students and is truly local-serving: 52 percent of all students enrolled in fall 2018 were from Ventura County, 26 percent came from neighboring Los Angeles County, and most other students hailed from other nearby…

The California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS)--adopted in 2013--have the potential to improve scientific literacy and strengthen the global competitiveness of California's workforce. However, longstanding underinvestment in science education and the unprecedented disruptions caused by COVID-19 have heightened challenges faced by…

Located on the U.S.-Mexico border, Webb County is an international trading center, bursting with culture and opportunities. But the county's future success depends on whether every Webb County child has access to opportunities that help them reach their full potential. Ensuring the well-being of all Webb County's children--across neighborhood,…

Located on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Rio Grande Valley is a place of rich culture and possibilities. However, on many indicators of children's health, education and financial security, the Valley is not doing as well as Texas overall, revealing a pattern of disinvestment in children's futures. In order to "raise the bar" in child…

The purpose of this article is to discuss how a community agency based in Washtenaw County, the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigration Rights (WICIR), emerged in response to increasing punitive immigration practices and human rights abuses toward the Latino community. The article discusses how WICIR is engaged in advocacy, community…

Based on the 2018-2019 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) results, nearly half (47%) of all entering kindergarten children in Maryland displayed the foundational skills indicating they are fully ready for kindergarten. A third (33%) are approaching readiness. Twenty percent of children are assessed with emerging readiness skills. The school…

Students in the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) Class of 2012 continued to outperform Maryland and the nation on Advanced Placement (AP) examinations based on the "AP Report to the Nation" released by the College Board on February 20, 2013. In 2012, 67.3 percent of MCPS graduates took one or more AP exams. A striking…

This infographic shows how Texas public schools are losing one out of four students. The statistics show that schools are twice as likely to lose Hispanic students and Black students before they graduate, and universal high school education is at least a quarter of a century away. The flyer also provides information on getting informed, getting…

Based on Maryland's 2017-2018 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) results, nearly half of all entering kindergarten children show foundational skills indicating they are fully ready for kindergarten, more than a third are approaching readiness, and 18% have emerging readiness skills. Results for the 2017-2018 school year show a slight increase…

The overrepresentation of the Black and Hispanic subgroups in suspension data is a national problem and a troubling issue for schools and school systems across the United States. In Maryland, an analysis of student suspensions by school districts for the 2006-2007 school year revealed disproportionality issues. In 23 of the 24 jurisdictions,…

America's schools are more segregated now than they were in the late 1960s. More than 50 years after "Brown v. Board of Education," educators need to radically rethink the meaning of "school choice." For decades at Wake County, buses would pick up public school students in largely minority communities along the Raleigh…

Between 1979 and 2008, the number of school-age children (ages 5-17) in the United States who spoke a language other than English at home increased from 3.8 to 10.9 million, or from 9 to 21 percent of the population in this age range, according to the latest figures from the National Center on Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES also reveals…

This article takes a look at the Mendez v. Westminster School District, a landmark case that faded into historical obscurity. In the 1940s, Gonzalo and Felicita Mendez wanted their three children to attend the school nearest their farm, which was the 17th Street Elementary School in Westminster. But in the Westminster, Orange County, El Medina,…