Background: Substance use in minoritized youth is associated with negative long-term health and life outcomes. The present study explores perspectives of school stakeholders at urban minority-serving schools regarding integration of an evidence-based intervention, screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) into existing…

Efforts to bolster the school readiness of Latinx children from low-income homes in the United States have focused on fostering parent engagement in children's education. Measurement of parent engagement in early childhood however, has been critiqued for having too narrow a focus on school-based involvement and missing other aspects of Latinx…

Racial-ethnic and low-income youth have differential access to key educational resources that promote learning and college readiness. College readiness programs provide activities, resources, and experiences that support learning. Yet little is known about the influence of adults and peers in shaping students' beliefs and expectations as learners.…

This manuscript presents urban African American adolescent males' (UAAM) experiences and perceptions of violence in low-income public schools. Findings derived from a qualitative study that investigated the meanings and experiences of violence among UAAM. Nine and six UAAM participated in in-depth phenomenological interviews and a focus group,…

As in many countries, for decades in Aotearoa (New Zealand), we have heard the story of the Pacific and Maori achievement gap in mathematics. This has become a widely accepted part of beliefs constructed across multiple communities about students and schools and who can do and learn mathematics successfully. A common response by policy makers and…

Background: Parental involvement in early childhood is foundational to a child's later academic achievement (Heckman, 2007). Parent-child book reading is frequently recommended as a way to build a child's early cognitive skills. Evidence suggests that mother-child reading time increases children's vocabulary and reading skills (Price & Kalil,…

Recent research suggests that bilinguals might exhibit advantages in several areas of executive function, including working memory, inhibitory control, and attentional control. However, few studies have examined potential bilingual advantages within lower socioeconomic status (SES) populations. Here we addressed this gap in the literature by…

Racial inequality in school discipline is a salient challenge in the United States. Using New York City as a case, this study examines "inclusive disciplinary schools" (IDS) or schools that have "beat the school discipline odds". IDS, "median disciplinary schools" (MDS), and "high disciplinary schools" (HDS)…

This study investigates school choice in a gentrified urban context and examines the ways in which school choice as rhetoric creates false perceptions, how school-choice policies can betray the very principle they espouse, and how choice (while sought after by many) can undermine community. As school choice continues to expand and gain traction…

At least 25 million K-12 students in the U.S.--disproportionately children of color from low-income families--have been physically out of school for a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These children are at risk of significant academic, social, mental, and physical harm now and in the long-term; it is thus essential that all students gain…

Social-behavioral functioning during early childhood is associated with children's academic and social success concurrently and over time. This study explored how concurrent, year-to-year, and sustained parent--teacher and student--teacher relationships predicted children's social skills and problem behaviors across the preschool to Grade 1…

This study examined an urban school readiness initiative that developed parent leadership as a key strategy for increasing the likelihood that all children enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Parent Leaders were primarily immigrant mothers who conducted outreach activities and child developmental screenings with low income, under-served, urban…

This study was a yearlong investigation over writing instruction with one class of ninth grade students in an urban, "underperforming" high school. Using qualitative methods with embedded quantitative features, findings revealed students benefited little from the writing instruction they received. In fact, most students showed virtually…

Stress and burnout are pervasive among public school teachers and amplified in urban schools, where job demands are often high and resources low. Relatively little is known about factors contributing to stress and burnout among urban school teachers specifically, or how these aspects of teacher occupational wellbeing relate to their use of…

In cities across the country, school communities must contend with new challenges introduced by gentrification and the arrival of middle class and white families. This collaborative research study looks at schools where parent organizers are attempting to intervene in processes of gentrification that may further marginalize lower-income families…