The role of the principal includes various obligations and responsibilities, including leading the school's special education (SPED) program. Many aspects inform how SPED students respond to the curriculum, including their learning needs, race, socioeconomic class, and other aspects that intersect and make their needs more complex. The researcher…

The purpose of this action research study was to investigate and improve the school choice experience for students in a large urban school district on the East Coast. Participants in Cycle 1 were comprised of middle and high school staff, and data was collected via surveys, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Action steps included…

Consensus is often a prerequisite for communities to develop initiatives to improve practice and create a future together. We investigated the consensus around the perceived educational inclusion of autistic and other neurodivergent students, their caregivers, and their teachers. Seventeen triads of informants plus two single students from…

This qualitative study examined what middle school and high school suburban and urban principals learned about equity and educating low socioeconomic status students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this study asked: What issues of equity were revealed, exacerbated, diminished, or resolved as a result of the pandemic? What key…

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students who are English learners (ELs) represent over 10% of the overall student population in U.S. public schools. Nevertheless, this population is highly underserved in schools and has some of the lowest graduation rates. This phenomenological research interviewed eight principals to examine how they…

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…

Online platforms are increasingly the main point of contact between schools and students, families, and the community. In this article, we present a framework, called "Flipping the Script," that we developed while researching how students, teachers, and families were portrayed on school websites. Based on a systematic analysis of nearly…

The need for schools to produce graduates ready to meet increasing workforce demands and postsecondary admission requirements has called for more individualized career and academic planning with high school students. School counselors have a unique yet complex role in providing college and career guidance, monitoring, and opportunities. This study…

Although much research has been conducted on sustainability, technology initiatives and practices, and their connection with leadership, more research needs to be worked on identifying the leadership practices within a technology innovation and their effect on sustainability. Leaders must be facilitators of change and supporters of teaching and…

Leadership is a critical component of creating and sustaining a school culture that promotes the inclusion and success of students. The purpose of this study was to examine how school leaders helped to enact and sustain a reformed Advanced Placement (AP) culture designed to increase participation and success of students of color. Building on…

The authors examined how the spaces and structures of literacy classrooms were organized, inhabited, and felt by teachers and students in a new project-based high school. The authors attended specifically to the political valence of these feelings: how educators characterized certain spatial arrangements (modular furniture and flexible seating)…

The widespread expansion of school choice policies has bolstered the consumer-education paradigm where parents compete for what they perceive to be a limited number of high quality schools. In this comparative case study, we examine advantaged White parents' perceptions of meritocracy in the context of a competitive elementary and high school…

Multiple studies have shown the potential for school choice policies to benefit middle-class families, often to the detriment of lower income students in the same district. Yet, there is limited research examining the role of policies in promoting inequality by encouraging exclusionary behaviors. In this article, we utilize the concept of…

This qualitative study of an urban high school draws on critical race theory's tenet of whiteness as property and the notion that educational opportunity is a race-conscious construct to interrogate the impacts of school improvement work intended to increase educational opportunities for students of colour. Educational opportunity is defined as…

Equitable access to a quality music education for all students and healthy music class enrollment continue to be prominent goals for music teachers and advocates. While 92% of Ohio public secondary schools offer at least one music class, fewer than half of all students actually enroll. Past literature on equitable access to and enrollment in music…