There has been a deliberate attempt to close the achievement gap by altering educational policies, yet the gap still exists. This phenomenology qualitative study sought teachers' opinions on whether STEM was seen as an effective intervention strategy for closing the achievement gap among African American students, and if so, why it wasn't used…

Educational achievement disparities continue to affect subgroups based on socioeconomic status, gender, race, and ethnicity. Despite efforts to close the achievement gap, the Black-White performance gap in reading, mathematics, and science scores remains virtually unchanged. The problem is that science educators in the United States receive…

Harold Washington College (HWC), one of seven institutions in the City Colleges of Chicago system, is a minority-serving community college. During the 2018-2019 academic year, HWC was a recipient of the Pathways to Results (PTR) Implementation Communities grant funded by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), with support from the Office of…

Educational professional development is ubiquitous; yet the gains on student learning are minimal as measured by local, state, and federal assessment measures. Although there is widespread agreement that assessment data alone does not tell the story of what students are learning and teachers are teaching, the data is still alarming. Why is there a…

At Haverford High School, a suburban high school in Haverford, Pennsylvania, a mathematical achievement gap exists for economically disadvantaged, special education, and Black students. Researchers have found that students in lower tracked classes often receive less rigorous tasks, tasks with lower cognitive demand, and fewer tasks that focus on…

This study investigates whether teaching practices of non-minorities who teach Black students has an impact on the achievement gap between Black and White students. There is a lack of awareness of culturally relevant teaching in the U.S public school system (Epstein, 2005). Per NCES (2015), 80% of public schools have a high density of Black…

Racist laws and subsequent educational policies and practices have resulted in schools in the United States failing to teach Black students reading. Historically, a racial achievement gap in elementary reading has existed throughout the history of the United States and has persisted to current times. As the population of students of color…

The achievement gap for students of color has existed in this country for decades. Previous research has shown that even when controlling for factors such as socio-economic status, Black and Hispanic students still underperform White students by a significant margin. This study sought to determine if teacher social justice attitudes are related to…

State and school district leaders in Wisconsin are interested in improving education outcomes among Black students across the state. To achieve this goal, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction encourages schools to implement culturally responsive practices, which prior research suggests are related to improvements in outcomes among…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study aimed at improving education outcomes among Black students across the state. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction encourages schools to implement culturally responsive practices, which prior research suggests are related to improvements in outcomes among racial/ethnic minority…

State and school district leaders in Wisconsin are interested in improving education outcomes among Black students across the state. To achieve this goal, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction encourages schools to implement culturally responsive practices, which prior research suggests are related to improvements in outcomes among…

The "Participation in a Professional Development Program on Culturally Responsive Practices in Wisconsin" study examined the education outcomes among Black students across Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction encourages schools to implement culturally responsive practices, which prior research suggests are related to…

This study explored the relationship between principal knowledge and skills and district-provided professional development in one school district that is working to close achievement gaps between White and Asian students and African American, Latino and students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Research suggests that principals can impact the…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Equity Auditing." Contents include: (1) Using Equity Audits to Assess and…

Elementary African American males achieve proficiency at a lower rate than their peers in both reading and math. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how elementary school teachers described their use of equitable strategies in teaching elementary African American male students, how these teachers described the experience…