In this article, the Education Studies Department (ESD) at Berea College shares lessons learned while becoming an inclusive, justice-focused, and democratic Education Preparation Program (EPP) together with its "Community of Teachers" (CoT). ESD values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI+B) and democratic relationships.…

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education's (CPE's) diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts help ensure that all students, no matter their story, succeed in college. This is achieved through statewide policy that fosters strategic planning and accountability at the campus level and facilitates improvement in three key areas: (1)…

The Working Group on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Learning Differences was launched in 2021 as an initiative of the Global Cities Education Network (GCEN). Fourteen school districts each worked to implement a unique action plan designed to strengthen SEL supports in their district, including for students with learning differences. Districts…

This study examines the work completed by a regional, comprehensive university's principal preparation program in redesigning their curriculum for greater coherence. Their process for identifying equity as a program theme and explicitly addressing learning related to program themes is described. Key steps in the process include: (1) collaborating…

The Equity Playbook Initiative Implementation in Kentucky underwent an efficacy study conducted by LXD Research during the 2022-2023 school year. The study aimed to assess the initiative's impact on student academic achievement and school climate. A total of 55 public schools participating in the Equity Playbook Initiative were compared with 240…

This study examines Black faculty experiences at a regional comprehensive, public university in Kentucky. Using critical race theory (CRT), I examine the factors impacting Black faculty experiences at a historically White institution (HWI). Specifically, in this study, when referring to institutions of higher education, this translates to…

Gateway courses are foundational, college-level courses that apply to a student's program of study or to a college's general education requirements. These courses are typically considered first-year or lower-division courses and serve as a basis for more advanced studies. Research has demonstrated that completing gateway courses in two key…

In 2021, the percentage of Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic adults who completed high school was below the national average. One of the U.S. Department of Education's goals is to ensure that every student has equal access to the high-quality education tools they need to graduate from high school and excel in college and their…

Recent evidence suggests school resources are continually segregated from minoritized communities. This funding disparity impacts students' long-term outcomes in school and in their community. Political discourse has prioritized school defunding, privatization through vouchers and related policies, and tax relief and at the same time greater…

The Inter-University Consortium for Doctoral Courses in Public Budgeting, Finance, and Financial Management is the first collaborative project for online doctoral courses in public affairs. This article provides an account of the consortium's initiation, establishment, and operation for the pilot round. The consortium fills a niche in doctoral…

No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act have made accountability central to conversations about education policy. But neither statute articulates a clear vision of what constitutes "quality" or "equity" in education, nor do they include a mechanism to ensure that schools have sufficient resources to pursue that…

Deaf education in the United States began in 1817 with the bilingual co-leadership of Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. In 2018, Marianne Belsky and Nicole Sutliffe, a bilingual, deaf/hearing team, were officially appointed as co-leaders of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. In this article, Belsky and Sutliffe share the…

Over half of U.S. public school students are children and teens of color, yet only about 8 percent of their teachers and administrators are people of color. Convinced that teacher and leader diversity is an essential component of an equitable education for all students, state boards of education have adopted a variety of strategies to attract,…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reverses a trend toward centralization of education policy and instead provides greater authority to the states. This study explores states' interpretation and early implementation of ESSA's equity-related provisions. Using a qualitative case study approach, we find wide variation in the design and…

Case method as an andragogical approach connects theory and practice in numerous fields: law, medicine, business, and education. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns faced by public schools, higher education institutions faced challenges in how to address learning that had previously occurred within field experiences. The authors,…