The heightened use of "safe space" in educational settings has been the subject of polarizing contemporary controversy and protested by conservative and progressive camps alike, raising concerns about whether "safe space" remains an educationally viable concept. In response to claims that safety is conflated with…

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, many students had to return to communities that they had intentionally left in order to access essential resources on campus. At home, Jadea T. Harris, a senior at Clark University, tried to focus on her academics, but everyone around her was in financial and physical survival mode. Often students of…

Human capital theory suggests that lifetime income and socioeconomic status is a function of investments in human capital (Becker, 1962 & 1994; Becker & Tomes, 1986; Tomes, 1981). More recent developments show that human capital accumulation depends on mental health (Fletcher, 2008), in addition to ability, and access to resources to…

This dissertation consists of three papers on education policy. In each paper, I use applied econometric methods and descriptive quantitative analysis to examine topics related to teacher labor markets and postsecondary attainment. The first paper leverages a rich student-teacher-day data set to study the relationship between daily teacher…

Recent studies of charter school effectiveness have questioned whether charter school networks can produce a lasting impact on students' long-term outcomes. Our study is the first to examine this issue at the network of Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) schools, which primarily serve disadvantaged students of color and constitute the nation's…

Almost two-thirds (64%) of students who are considering dropping out of college cited emotional stress or personal mental health challenges as the reason--more than twice the percentage of those who cite the cost of attendance. The mental health crisis disproportionately impacts students of color, and there is also a critical lack of diversity in…

Higher education today faces a host of challenges, from quality to cost. But too little attention gets paid to a startling fact: four out of ten students -- that's more than ten percent of the entire population -- who start college drop out. The situation is particularly dire for black and Latino students, those from poor families, and those who…

The Polaris Project, a National Science Foundation-funded program at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, aims to comprehensively address minority participation in climate and Arctic science research. The project implemented design principles to recruit, motivate, and retain African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans or Alaskan Natives, and…

In a country with an increasing population of nonwhite students, there are far too few teachers of color. The numbers are particularly distressing when it comes to finding male teachers of color, who are essential role models for black boys. As a result, black and Latino children sitting in classrooms with white teachers, day after day and year…

The "New England Journal of Higher Education" ("NEJHE") Executive Editor John O. Harney had the chance to catch up with Lasell College President Michael Alexander about the small Newton, Massachusetts, college's plans to challenge the higher education business model. The interview is presented in this article.

In 2014, an online student activist movement--"I, Too, Am"--exposed everyday racism Black collegians experience. The movement began at Harvard University and spread to universities throughout the U.S. and abroad. Student activism maintains a strong social media presence, but there is little empirical scholarship on the subject. This…

"Bottom Line" provides intensive advising for low-income high school students, most of whom are the first in their family to go to college. The advising is designed to help students apply for college and financial aid and select a high-quality, affordable institution. For students who attend one of "Bottom Line's" target…

"Bottom Line" provides intensive advising for low-income high school students, most of whom are the first in their family to go to college. The advising is designed to help students apply for college and financial aid and select a high-quality, affordable institution. For students who attend one of "Bottom Line's" target…

"Bottom Line" provides intensive advising for low-income high school students, most of whom are the first in their family to go to college. The advising is designed to help students apply for college and financial aid and select a high-quality, affordable institution. For students who attend one of "Bottom Line's" target…

This article discusses an issue of growing interest to educational technologists--namely, the complex relationships cultural minority learners have with education and technology--by analyzing first-hand ethnographic data with the help of insights from major social reproductionist scholars. These theoreticians inspire distinctive interpretations of…