Racial inequality in school discipline is a salient challenge in the United States. Using New York City as a case, this study examines "inclusive disciplinary schools" (IDS) or schools that have "beat the school discipline odds". IDS, "median disciplinary schools" (MDS), and "high disciplinary schools" (HDS)…

At least 25 million K-12 students in the U.S.--disproportionately children of color from low-income families--have been physically out of school for a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These children are at risk of significant academic, social, mental, and physical harm now and in the long-term; it is thus essential that all students gain…

Improving ninth grade course passing rates has been shown to be crucial in improving high school outcomes. Yet at this critical transition to high school, family engagement has tended to decrease. This study explores how increasing use of the parent portal could potentially help to reduce ninth grade failure. Using automatically generated…

Improving ninth grade course passing rates has been shown to be crucial in improving high school outcomes. Yet at this critical transition to high school, family engagement has tended to decrease. This study explores how increasing use of the parent portal could potentially help to reduce ninth grade failure. Using automatically-generated…

School and neighborhood segregation are recognized as pernicious and persistent problems across the United States, originally developed through intentional government policies, and perpetuated today by both public policy and private markets that have adapted to segregated systems of housing, education, and transportation. Housing and school…

This article analyzes the role of STEM initiatives designed by city and corporate elites in a large urban district and outlines an alternative, grassroots vision for (STEM) education and city schools. Within a neoliberal context of gentrification, displacement, disinvestment, and privatization, STEM schools have become strategic components of…

Purpose: School climate, or the physical and social conditions of the learning environment, has implications for academic achievement. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors examine how school climate varies by school-level characteristics in California using administrative data and the California School…

This article focuses on the increased power of venture philanthropy to shape education in urban communities of color in the USA. The author situates venture philanthropy's expanded influence in urban school districts in the nexus of urban disinvestment, neoliberal governance, wealth concentration, and economic crisis. The author argues that…

Noting the nation's renewed attention to remedying school segregation, "Segregation, Race, and Charter Schools" presents evidence about the extent of school segregation and its relationship with improving student achievement for students of color. The report argues that school segregation has remained flat for decades and also argues…

This article explores whether two popular policy initiatives are compatible or conflicting strategies for enhancing educational equality in diverse large urban centers. These two initiatives are (1) charter school expansion and (2) improvement of resource equity across urban public school systems through policies often referred to as weighted…

Given educators' call to equalize educational opportunities, research is needed to illuminate promises and tensions in schools that resist negative labeling and sorting of nondominant youth. This article examines an urban high school that challenges traditional expectations for low-income, Latina/o students by engaging in "relabeling," a…

Low-income and minority students are substantially underrepresented in gifted education programs. The disparities persist despite efforts by many states and school districts to broaden participation through changes in their eligibility criteria. One explanation for the persistent gap is that standard processes for identifying gifted students,…

In this amended excerpt from "Hope Against Hope", educational reform in post-Katrina New Orleans is considered from a journalistic perspective in presenting the story of Geraldlynn Stewart as she and her family navigate the new school system. In providing voices of lived experiences of Stewart as well as other individuals within this new…

Maryland, as one of 17 states that had de jure segregation, has an intense history of school segregation. Following the 1954 Brown decision, school districts across the state employed various methods to desegregate their schools, including mandatory busing in Prince George's County, magnet schools in Montgomery County, and a freedom of choice plan…

There has been no shortage of calls to improve teaching. Even the federal law, the No Child Left Behind Act, has mandated high quality teaching in the nation's public schools. But the question still remains "What makes an effective teacher, particularly of African-American males in an urban environment?" African-American males in…