This critical constructivist study was grounded in the belief that there is an urgent need to address attainment gaps between White students and students of color at community colleges, that equity-minded leadership is needed to address these gaps, and that the call for transformative leadership must be answered not solely by leaders with…

Discipline disproportionality in education has been a topic of conversation for years. African American male students are suspended at much higher rates than their White peers. Although Black students represent less than half of the school population in the United States, they account for a majority of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.…

The aspiration of achieving equitable outcomes for all students is a focus of schools, districts, and communities but has largely remained unattainable with the top-down implementation of change ideas and directives that come and go as quickly as they are implemented. Too often the direct users, students and classroom staff, are left out of the…

Inequities have existed in formal public education since its inception in the United States. The educational experiences and outcomes for Black students have historically lagged behind their non-Hispanic, and White peers. This dissertation uses data from The Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey for the Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K: 2011) to…

The purpose of this participatory action research (PAR) study was to use the experiences of African American male students in an alternative learning school setting to strengthen the learning environment and support for these students. The overarching research question was: How do the insights and experiences of students in an alternative learning…

Decades after the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" unanimous decision to desegregate schools, the ideology of Black people having equal educational opportunities has not been realized; Black people continue to lag in educational attainment. However, the inequalities in life experiences between Black and White people limit the…

In Afrocentric circles in the United States, ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) scientist Imhotep is considered the Black father of medicine. In this article, I use his name in the title as an allusion to highlight the lack of Black males matriculating in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs or fields in the United States. The…

This dissertation examines the role that external factors play in students' educational attainment and success. The first two chapters examine the role of school quality. Chapter 1 examines how the timing of school quality impacts human capital formation, and Chapter 2 examines whether schools provide equal quality to all students within the…

The Office of Black Male Student Achievement (OBMSA) of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), established in 2014, is one of the first in the country. The innovative work of the OBMSA is centered on student voice and student thought. After getting input from parents and families, community members, educators, and young Black males themselves, the…

Elementary African American males achieve proficiency at a lower rate than their peers in both reading and math. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how elementary school teachers described their use of equitable strategies in teaching elementary African American male students, how these teachers described the experience…

This compelling new book provides a deep examination of the experience of African American males in schools. Moving beyond basic notions of culturally relevant instruction, "Walk in Their Kicks" offers new understandings that will assist educators in developing instruction that respects these young men and fosters their participation and…

This article focuses on the achievement gap, with attention devoted to underachievement and low achievement among African American males in urban school contexts. More specifically, the article explains problems and issues facing or confronting these Black male students in urban education settings. A central part of this discussion is grounded in…

This article examines gender gaps in academic performance (grades in mathematics and reading) between boys and girls of ninth-grade elementary schools in the Czech Republic. Our analysis is based on 2003 data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, encompassing the academic performance and family background of ninth-grade pupils.…

Equality and equity are often mischaracterized as interchangeable terms in public education. This may explain why efforts towards reform and restructure are often not met with any real measure of success. "Equity, Equality, and Reform in Contemporary Public Education" provides emerging research on the reformation of education curriculum…

This introduction briefly summarizes the featured article and commentaries making up this commissioned set of papers on the topic of the Black-White achievement gap and, more specifically, risk and protective factors for young African American boys' school success. Each paper highlights important considerations for advancing scholarship, practice,…