Research examining reading abilities among Black children diverges significantly from prior literature, which either lacked focus or lacked substantial representation of Black children. Black students, particularly boys, tend to exhibit lower academic achievement compared to their peers. The problem addressed in this study is that Black boys, in…

Childhood obesity is a pervasive health issue, with multifaceted implications for developmental trajectory. Participants included 5,573 K-5 students enrolled in a high-poverty urban public-school setting. Through an informal yet holistic assessment process, students identified as exhibiting overweight issues were compared to peers not designated…

This action research investigated the impact that culturally responsive read-aloud/text talk (a culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practice) has on student engagement, sense of belonging, and learning outcomes for elementary-age Black students at an inner-city elementary school. In Cycle 1 of this study, information pertaining to the topic of…

The present qualitative study aimed to investigate how school garden-based science pedagogy improves students' attitudes toward science learning, particularly in under-resourced urban school districts. The findings of this study suggest that the implementation of school garden-based science pedagogy can positively impact elementary students'…

Although research related to the Science of Reading has documented the positive effects of explicit, systematic reading instruction for all students, students from historically marginalized groups often experience differential opportunities to learn and are likely to perform lower than their peers on large scale measures of reading achievement.…

The School Improvement Grant (SIG), initially authorized in 1965 under the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, was passed to substantially support disadvantaged students' needs to raise students' achievement in their lowest-performing schools. This research addresses whether SIG funding alone is the catalyst to…

In "Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Promising Practices for African American Male Students," I take us on a journey into teachers' perceptions of the impact of implementing culturally responsive pedagogical (CRP) practices on the student learning outcomes of African American male students. The book also helps to identify teachers'…

Background/Context: African American (AA) learners, like all other learners, bring into the classroom their cultural values, the way they express themselves, and how they problem-solve. Their life experiences, even at a young age, influence their social and emotional behavior. Unfortunately, all too many AA children experience life and family…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to review practices aimed at improving literacy outcomes for multilingual language learners (MLLs). This was done by studying the internal coherence practices of a superintendent in Community School District 100 (a pseudonym), an urban school district in the northeast region of the United States.…

The achievement gap between elementary students of Color, particularly, economically disadvantaged elementary students of Color and White students continues to be a concern. The problem in this study was that some White teachers working in urban elementary school districts have failed to include CRP practices in their instruction of economically…

This research study was conducted to gain a better understanding of teacher perceptions, in both low-performing and high-performing urban charter schools, of the impact of administrative support, professional development, and teacher preparation in closing the achievement gap among fourth grade students. The trend over the last five years among…

Black boys in grades third through fifth are not developing reading comprehension skills compared to their peers in an urban southeastern school district. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore perceptions of third through fifth grade reading teachers on reading comprehension of Black boys in this district. The conceptual…

African-American males continue to slip through the cracks of the Education System in America. McSpadden McNeil et al. (2008) report that district officials continue to focus on school scores as if they are the only way to assess student progress. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a difference between third, fourth and fifth…

This study reports achievement levels and fall-to-spring gains in grades K to 8 for three groups of English Learners (ELs): (a) ever-ELs who were ever eligible for service; (b) current-ELs who continue to require service; and (b) dually-identified students eligible for both EL and Special Education services. I leverage unique data that include…

The purpose of this qualitative, multi-case study was to explore the perceptions of administrators in an urban border district in South Texas. This study gleaned the perceptions of administrators with regard to best practices in early literacy success in underrepresented groups of students, namely English Language Learners (ELLs) in an urban…