Leveraging publicly available data about schools" absenteeism from the New Jersey Department of Education, the present study examined how neighborhood-level resource deprivation and violent crime related to chronic absenteeism in Passaic County's elementary, middle, and high schools. Results highlighted geographic disparities in Passaic…

Prior research on college choice indicates parents are the preferred source of information about college, yet little research exists from the viewpoint of parents, and even less research from the viewpoint of rural and minoritized parents. Using Q methodology, this study explored rural parent viewpoints of what makes college possible. The study…

The purpose of this research was to examine the disconnect between urban school expectations and actual lived realities of marginalized students. Taking into consideration the conversation surrounding the definitions of urban education, and the importance of school connectedness with youth, we chose to focus on the lives of five former high…

Research has demonstrated that decades of equity-oriented reforms have not significantly repudiated problems associated with teachers' negative expectations of students of color in the classroom. This paper draws on the concepts of "Whiteness as property" and the "educational racial contract" to explore the first author's…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide concrete examples of what leadership behaviors and strategies look like in high-poverty urban schools in Chicago that are successful at improving student outcomes. We compared the strategies used by principals who were rated by their teachers on annual surveys as being strong instructional leaders…

This research strives to enrich criminological and educational literature by providing a better understanding of relationships among school performance and achievement, attendance, and demographic information based upon the number of exclusionary disciplinary actions within public high schools. Using data on 409 traditional high schools from the…

The Early College Initiative (ECI) high schools in New York City provide opportunities to take college-credit courses up to the equivalent of an associate's degree while in high school. In this study, we measure the association between attending an ECI high school and college persistence. Our sample is the 3,271 students who graduated from New…

As American public education becomes increasingly technology-based, multiple new data sources become accessible for educators to better understand student learning processes. Novel data analysis applications became necessary during severe disruptions due to the COVID pandemic. This case study highlights a novel method for identifying high school…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between principal attrition and academic factors in Georgia's high-needs rural schools. The research shows that principals have a significant impact on student outcomes, and principal attrition is a disruptive factor in schools. The findings from this study indicate a negative correlation…

Context: Educational reform efforts have taken the form of different school models intended to reduce educational inequality. Personalized, interest-based schools and academically focused, "No Excuses" schools are two leading small-school designs with sharply contrasting approaches to innovation. Given mixed research findings about the…

This dissertation includes three chapters focusing on policies directly related to improving college access and success. The first chapter focuses on lifetime eligibility of federal and state financial aid policies. The Pell Grant plays a critical role in helping students across the US to afford undergraduate education. In spite of its importance…

We estimate the longer-run effects of attending an effective high school (one that improves a combination of test scores, survey measures of socio-emotional development and behaviours in 9th grade) for students who are more versus less "educationally advantaged" (i.e., likely to attain more years of education based on 8th-grade…

Between 1994 and 2014, New York City engaged in a historic overhaul of its publicly funded high schools. This included the opening of charter high schools (made possible by a 1999 state law) and the creation of new, smaller district high schools that would, in time, replace many of the city's large, traditional, comprehensive, and vocational high…

The Early College High School Initiative has been in place for decades. The initiative's primary focus is on students for whom the transition into postsecondary education is problematic (Jobs for the Future, 2014). The main priority for these Early College High Schools was to serve low-income, first-generation college goers, English language…

This article extends existing research on school effectiveness by focusing on identifying the combination of programs, practices, processes, and policies that explain why some high schools in a large urban district are effective at serving low-income students, minority students, and English language learners. Using a mixed methods study of high…