In this theoretical article we present our hypothesis on the incompatibility of the inclusive education policy toward students with special educational needs with the meritocratic principle of education. If considering and recognizing the needs of these students is necessary to achieve a successful inclusive environment, we propose that this goal…

U.S. public schools provide substantially different educational opportunities to students--even within school districts, where attendance zone boundaries (AZBs) shape most children's access to schools. The (re)drawing of AZBs is therefore a highly consequential policy decision. In this paper, I study how AZB changes in the Washington, D.C.…

If the RPP field is to bring our stated commitments to equity to life, it will require engagement with the political dimensions of RPP work, starting at the outset when a partnership is being established. In particular, prospective members must consider how the research process and products might (or might not) lead to more equitable systems.…

State and national school accountability policies situate preventing chronic absenteeism on par with meeting state standardized test benchmarks. We question relying on school attendance as both a component of accountability policies and a means of enhancing equity in schools. Our research suggests out-of-school factors unrelated to missed…

Advocates often predict that school choice policies will expand access to high-quality schools, particularly for marginalized communities. To interrogate this assumption, we employed a sequential mixed-methods analysis examining the state of charter reform in the District of Columbia. We observed that stakeholders consistently defined equity as…

Conflicts over education and education policy continue, and now new, diversified actors push for change while technologies expand the terrain where conflicts unfold. Conflict theories would seem best suited to address these conflicts. However, despite conflict theories' substantive contributions, they are infrequently used in the US context and…

This Policy Discourse Analysis (PDA) explores 19 state legislative documents focused on the teaching of disability history in K-12 schools. Framed through critical perspectives on constructions of disability and race, alongside discourse theory, we iteratively analyzed these legislative documents to understand (1) how disability and disability…

Education policy has long been analyzed as a cycle where various actors influence different stages. However, few such studies have focused on identifying and interrogating the specific moments that shape an education policy's overall equity trajectory. This article uses Bowe, Ball, and Gold's policy cycle as an exploratory theoretical framework,…

The U.S. education system has been a critical site in the nation's ongoing fight for racial equity. Yet, despite many attempts to promote equity within and across schools, efforts fall short in a system designed to uphold norms rooted in whiteness and white supremacy. We need anti-racist educational leaders who can identify and push back at the…

Measuring the appropriate level of teacher compensation for different working conditions requires overcoming a number of empirical challenges, including defining and measuring differences in qualifications, effects of non-wage compensation, financial constraints, and lack of market clearing. We address those challenges in a study of teacher…

College students across the United States are engaging in protests, sit-ins, and walk-outs, but when do these political acts result in tangible institutional policy changes? This paper draws on qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with 502 participants across the United States to examine when and why college student political…

The challenges of transforming our educational systems to fulfill enduring needs for equity, justice, and responsiveness will take a multitude of partners. Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) arrange collaboration and engagement with research to bring about shared commitments and resources to tackle these challenges. Just as sociocultural and…

Equity-oriented school improvement driven by neoliberal policies focuses attention on a narrow range of inequities. Such policies fail to achieve substantive transformations that address educational constraints experienced by multiply-marginalized youth of color. We engage a critical race and intersectional feminist examination of our pedagogy in…

Within the United States, equity for English learners, while essential, has remained elusive. As such, language policy in education is a central issue. When An Act Relative to Language Opportunity for Our Kids (LOOK Act) was passed in 2017 in Massachusetts, it was celebrated as a victory for bilingual education after a 15-year period of mandated…

Charter school authorizers shape which charter schools open, where they open, and who they serve. We draw on principal agent theory to investigate how the priorities and practices of nine authorizers intersected with charter school applications' attention to the needs of historically marginalized students. Using data from interviews and…