Over the last two decades, dual credit programs have emerged as viable pathways to postsecondary completion. Despite their potential, these programs remain largely untapped by high school students and their families who experience historical and ongoing educational injustices. This study explores the racialized organizational dynamics at a rural…

The "Lau v. Nichols" Supreme Court case specifies two core responsibilities of schools -- and rights for students -- with regard to students classified as English learners (ELs): 1) opportunities to learn English; and 2) equitable access to grade-level content. Yet 50 years since "Lau's" passage, students' right to content may…

This study investigated educational disparities among Black/African American and White/Caucasian high school students, with a focus on their perceptions of educational opportunities and factors contributing to disparities. Utilizing qualitative research methods, this study explored students' perspectives on academic success, influencing factors,…

Background/Context: Access to rigorous courses in high school is essential for college success (ACT, 2005), but low-income students and students of color take fewer demanding courses than their white and Asian counterparts (Cowan Pitre, 2014; Theokas & Saaris, 2013). The issue of inequitable access to more advanced courses requires a deeper…

Purpose: This study investigates how the practice of dividing students and coursework into leveled categories persists in science education despite decades of efforts aimed at reducing inequities. This study makes underlying logics visible through an empirical analysis of how science educators attempt to reconcile an egalitarian vision of science…

Through a lens of cultural capital, this dissertation explored the complex implementation of Section 504 policy in public high schools, focused on how school-level characteristics and the state-level litigious educational environment impact the qualifying rates of 504 plans. This study of the 2017-18 school year employed data from national…

Purpose: Education policies require inclusive practices across student learning environments internationally. In Canada, provinces and territories oversee their own curriculum development. This study presents a critical discourse analysis of how inclusive education is addressed within Ontario's 2015 Health and Physical Education Curriculum, Grades…

Bolstering low-income students' postsecondary participation is important to remediate these students' disadvantages and to improve society's overall level of education. Recent research has demonstrated that secondary schools vary considerably in their tendencies to send students to postsecondary education, but existing research has not…

Bolstering low-income students' postsecondary participation is important to remediate these students' disadvantages and to improve society's overall level of education. Recent research has demonstrated that secondary schools vary considerably in their tendencies to send students to postsecondary education, but existing research has not…

This fifth of six briefs exploring data from the 2020-2021 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) data, released earlier this year, explores the access of students with disabilities to the educational opportunities that make college possible for most students: SAT and ACT testing, Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB)…

Despite national policies, de facto school segregation for racial/ethnic minority students in the West and East has continued to deepen. In Hong Kong, the segregated school system was abolished in 2013, while from 2004 reformed School Places Allocation Systems encouraged minority students to choose mainstream primary and secondary schools.…

Examining linked academic transcripts from urban community colleges and their feeder high schools, we identify math course-taking patterns that span sectors. We highlight stifled mobility and chronic repetition of math coursework in the transition to college, and we identify "math traps" from which students do not escape. Math mobility…

Background/Context: There is a growing concern about the ways in which geography affects the educational opportunity for America's rural youth. Most research on this population has assumed that rural America is primarily White and that rural college access is stratified by an individual's ability to complete the application process. Such…

This asset-framing semi-ethnographic case study examined how school leaders in a successful, economically disadvantaged New York State high school--Evergreen High School--cultivated student belonging through a culture of dignity for low-income students. The dignity framework for educational equity (Cobb & Krownapple, 2019) was used as an…

This dissertation explores the integration of work-study programs, mentorship, and support systems at Cristo Rey Tampa Salesian High School (CRTSHS) and their role in preparing underrepresented students for post-secondary education and professional careers. Utilizing a case study methodology, this research centers on an in-depth analysis of a…