In this address, I ask: What do we bring as anthropologists and educators to our work? Two projects frame my arguments: my work with teachers in Aceh, Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami and my term on a school board in an impoverished U.S. city. I conclude that at a time when challenges are simultaneously local and global, immediate and long term,…

Part of the Center for Education Equity, Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium's (CEE's) "Exploring Equity Issues" series, this paper articulates the need for protections for transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) students. Additionally, it reviews the shift in federal guidance (revised in February 2017) and concludes with suggestions for…

This article reviews Canadian administrative law regarding homophobic bullying and school board decision making. Depending on the provincial legislation, school boards either have a mandatory or a discretionary duty to provide queer students with a safe learning environment. However, Canadian case law has arguably limited that discretion. Recent…

In the late 1980s, noted communication scholar Cassandra Book laid out a comprehensive rationale and agenda for communication education research specifically focusing on pedagogical content knowledge for Communication courses in K-12 education. It has been 25 years since Book published her call for those in our discipline to pursue research…

A standards-based model of reform has dominated public education for 30 years. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), it will continue to dominate education policy. Is that model working? State boards of education share an intrinsic interest in this question. While there are many ways to investigate it, one approach that shows promise treats…

For the past 12 years, the Cowen Institute has published the "State of Public Education in New Orleans" ("SPENO") on a near annual basis. During that time, the purpose, content, and audience of the report have evolved. This edition of the report is a snapshot of public education in the current academic year using aggregated…

The Highest Needs Review was undertaken by the Ministry of Education from 2021-2022. Its purpose is to ensure that children and young people with the highest needs for learning support achieve their full potential through positive education outcomes and that they receive the right support, when they need it, and for as long as they need it. NZCER…

California's shift towards continuous improvement in education makes understanding how districts and schools can learn to improve a more pressing question than ever. The CORE Improvement Community (CIC), a network of California school districts engaged in learning about improvement together, is an important testing ground to learn about what this…

English Learners are an important part of California's K12 student population. Over 40 percent of students in California's K-12 education system speak a language other than English at home. Almost half of these students are considered English Learners (ELs), meaning they require additional language and academic support to succeed in school. In…

Giving parents and students the ability to choose their school is promoted by supporters as the key to improving American education overall. On the surface, the idea has great appeal. Who, after all, opposes having choices? Indeed, both Democratic and Republican policymakers, including President Trump, have embraced school choice as a reform…

"It's demoralizing to see your life's work pilloried almost daily in the news." This comment is typical of the anger and disappointment expressed by many of the more than 2,300 Chicago teachers surveyed by Deborah Lynch in 2011-2012. Lynch set out to explore how the accountability policies pursued by Chicago's board of…

Minority students and students with disabilities are disciplined disproportionately from their peers. Discipline has led to many negative consequences in the lives of youth in the United States, including the school-to-prison pipeline. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance encouraging school districts to develop policies that…

This article examines national conservative political advocacy groups' growing interest in local politics, and analyzes how they form alliances and gain political power. Following efforts to restrict collective bargaining for Wisconsin public employees, Kenosha school board members' attempts to legally protect teachers' rights provoked concern…

Scholars typically frame the subgroup problem in education in terms of protecting religious minorities from majoritarian encroachment. This essay explores a different aspect of the subgroup problem: what happens when an antidemocratic religious minority becomes a local majority responsible for the promotion of the public good? This essay uses the…

Eden Prairie, Minnesota exemplifies many of today's suburbs experiencing rapid demographic shifts. Like many locales around the country, the schools in this suburb of Minneapolis have reflected the move from racial homogeneity to increasing racial, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity. Within a twenty-year time period, the county's percentage of…