Social justice, ensuring that all students receive access to equitable educational resources and opportunities to succeed academically, is a guiding principle for school counselors. With this ideal in mind, specific sociocultural factors that affect the academic achievement of African American students in urban school settings are considered.…

Historically, African American and other underserved students encounter academic challenges in pursuit of a college degree--one of which is their performance on standardized tests. This paper analyzes College Grade Point Averages (CGPAs), ACT Composite (ACTC), and SAT Total (SATT) scores of students who participated in the Health Sciences and…

An analysis of student test-score data shows that employing a chief diversity officer (CDO) in K-12 school districts does not contribute to closing achievement gaps and is even likely to exacerbate those gaps. If CDOs are not accomplishing their stated goals, what is accomplished by creating these positions? CDOs may be best understood as…

The public school system in U.S. has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Institutionally, neo-liberal reform has created a new educational apparatus known as charter schools. As they admit students without school boundaries, these schools promise to offer great opportunities for disadvantaged students. The enrollment in charter schools…

For decades, research summarizing educational outcomes has indicated significant disparities, which continue to impact the academic achievement and wellbeing of Black students in Ontario. These concerns are further amplified due to the lack of disaggregated educational data, making it difficult to outline and address disparities for specific…

For the past five years, American public schools have enrolled more students identified as Black, Latinx, American Indian, and Asian than white. At the same time, more than half of US school children now qualify for federally subsidized meals, a marker of poverty. The makeup of schools is rapidly changing, and many districts and school boards are…

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…

Students in any grade level vary widely in their mathematics achievement, with the typical classroom including four to seven grade levels of mathematics proficiency. Due to this large range of mathematics learning needs, some schools offer certain courses in earlier grades than is typical. In this study, we analyzed multiple, large, national…

This literature review highlights barriers to persistence, retention, and graduation for students of color at institutions of higher learning. Successful strategies, approaches, and initiatives are discussed with consideration to deficit and strengths-based approaches. It is also highlighted that universities may need to address programmatic…

Previous research has found that students who are of the same race as their teacher tend to perform better academically. This paper examines the possibility that both dosage and timing matter for these racial complementarities. Using a model of education production that explicitly accounts for past observable inputs, a conditional…

The achievement gap between African American students and their Caucasian peers is a problem that has persisted within the educational system since the early 1970s. Researchers have been investigating whether differences in oral language, such as, Nonmainstream American English (NMAE) use contribute to this gap. There is also concern from…

African Americans have long struggled in this nation, they continue to endure hardship in the workplace, workforce and in the school systems. This study hopes to contribute to the body of research on closing the achievement gap. If education is the passport, then we have a responsibility to close this gap, especially for our students in New York…

Throughout the past decade, scholars have argued that the persistent achievement gap between Black male students and their White peers is a result of unequal and inadequate educational opportunities instead of inherent differences in their capability or character. School counselors can help support Black males by using equity-focused…

Math is an integral subject in nearly all STEM disciplines, and early exposure to advanced math coursework may encourage high school students to enter and persist in STEM fields in college. This report examines whether taking college algebra through dual enrollment affects high school graduation, college enrollment, and early STEM outcomes. I use…

By aligning factors that most commonly influence the achievement of Black and Hispanic students with the type of resources inside the black box of schooling, this study differentiated the achievement effect of school resources from what was brought by students to schools. The hierarchical regression results showed that minority students'…