Each year, more than 55,000 students graduate from the public high schools run by the New York City Department of Education (DOE); 58,000 did so in school year 2019-20. In percentage terms, the city's cohort graduation rate--that is, the percentage of entering ninth-graders who graduated within four years--has increased steadily from the early…

Across the country, the tides are beginning to turn on school reopening. Relief funding, policy guidance on safe reopening, declining cases, and increasing vaccination rates have cleared the way for students to safely return to classrooms. School districts are largely responding. The Center on Reinventing Public Education's (CRPE's) latest…

Personalized Learning is a teaching and learning philosophy that aims to meet the individual needs of each student by utilizing personal learning profiles, personal learning paths, competency-based learning, flexible learning environments, mentoring, and a culture of growth mindset. For the purpose of this study, a Personalized Learning school is…

Federal initiatives place school counselors at the forefront of increasing college access for students in underserved communities. Although college enrollment rates have increased, low attainment rates persist in low socioeconomic communities and communities of color. Families in these communities aspire for their children to go to college but…

Responsive circles, a restorative practices (RP) strategy, have the potential to help improve school climate through supporting conflict resolution and community building; yet, little research exists on this practice. This mixed-methods study examined how educators in four urban schools (two elementary, one middle, and one high school) used…

School leaders are to be instructional leaders within a digital environment, just as they are expected to do in the non-digital environment. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors which high school administrators perceive to influence their knowledge and confidence to lead in a digital school environment. Findings suggest that…

One of Ohio's oldest public charter schools, Toledo School for the Arts (TSA) was forged from concerns about the state of arts education, especially performing arts and dance. For young people with a keen interest in the arts, any shortage of offerings limits opportunities and may lead to less engagement in school. The latest entry in the Pathway…

Urban K-12 public schools often face challenges that are not found in schools located in suburban areas. Students in urban schools are often not prepared to attend college and are more likely to drop out of high school. This is often the result of limited resources in urban schools, yet educators are expected to close the achievement gap and…

The paper examines how three teachers in an urban high school managed the tensions of teaching historical literacy and culturally responsive approaches to U. S. and global history. In theory, culturally responsive pedagogy and historical literacy can be considered as complementary: teaching historical literacy skills can be conducted within the…

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is an advanced course of study that spans all four years of high school and research finds that participation can boost high school graduation rates for students from low-income families. This fact sheet examines IB's impact in Chicago Public Schools and guides state and district leaders through various…

This case study of one small urban California high school enrolling predominantly low-socioeconomic status (SES) Latinx youth and many emergent bilinguals found that a college-for-all school culture, guided by leadership and school vision, was enacted in classrooms as caring, safe, productive spaces promoting college-going comportment. However,…

"Schooling for Critical Consciousness" addresses how schools can help Black and Latinx youth resist the negative effects of racial injustice and challenge its root causes. Scott Seider and Daren Graves draw on a four-year longitudinal study examining how five different mission-driven urban high schools foster critical consciousness among…

This Data Point uses school questionnaire data from the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) and from the 2011-12 and 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS). These data include nationally representative information for public K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This Data Point…

Many public high schools in large urban school districts face challenges staffing their sports programs with knowledgeable and well-qualified coaches. Compared to smaller and more suburban districts, these schools have low student participation in sports and high coach attrition rates. These challenges make it difficult for districts to provide…

This case study explores policy implementation of a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-focused charter school over a three-year period. Gateway Science Academy of St. Louis (GSA), a K-12 district, has applied the STEM-focused curriculum model for seven years. This case study uses the Fullan Change Theory's seven core…