In recent years mounting evidence reveals that many children, for different reasons, do not receive equal opportunities for learning, and therefore are marginalised. However, despite the fact that many education systems have attempted to solve this problem and respond to the contemporary needs of all children by deploying a variety of policies for…

An array of data suggests that low-income, minority students are excluded from a high-quality physics education. The education literature proposes that cultivating student voice in classrooms helps youth feel a deeper, more meaningful connection with school. However, limited data exist in the physics education literature on how student voice is…

As the minority population and achievement gap in the United States continue to grow, the rapidly increasing epidemic of leaving English-language learners (ELLs) behind is one of grave concern for educators. Due to disparities between academic Discourses and ELLs' primary Discourse, a free and equal education, as claimed by the U.S. government,…

Every European nation has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and therefore has an obligation to protect and promote, with equity and without discrimination, the rights of all children. Yet, across Europe, the majority of poor Roma children face a challenging present and a difficult future. Their possibilities to succeed in life…

Approximately 50 years ago, "Brown v. Board of Education" was viewed by many as a turning point in American history that crystallized a national movement to eliminate state-enforced racially segregated public education. However, in recent years many parents, educators, and policy makers in education have begun to question whether…

The under representation of women and minorities in undergraduate computer science and information systems programs is a pervasive and persistent problem in the United States. Needed is a better understanding of the background and psychosocial factors that attract, or repel, minority students from computing disciplines. An examination of these…

In this article, the authors review the state of civic education in schools. They point out that students typically "take only one semester-long course on American government"--unlike the situation in the 1960s, when it was common "for students to take multiple courses in civics covering not only the structure of American government, but also the…

This article explores the formation of citizenship in Tamil-medium minority schools in Sri Lanka. It is argued that although the new curriculum aims to construct an inclusive notion of national citizenship, the influence of politics on education in reality creates dominant experiences of discrimination and marginalization. I argue, however, that…

Consistently high minority failure rates in high school and college mathematics, the noticeable decrease in access to mathematics education for our underserved students of color, and this mathematics educator's genuine belief in the global necessity, desirability, and applicability of engaging our youth in learning mathematics through Math…

In this essay, Jeff Duncan-Andrade explores the concept of hope, which was central to the Obama campaign, as essential for nurturing urban youth. He first identifies three forms of "false hope"--hokey hope, mythical hope, and hope deferred--pervasive in and peddled by many urban schools. Discussion of these false hopes then gives way to…

Drawing substantially on the arguments put forward by the contributors to this Special Issue, this final article examines the two main purposes of the common school in contemporary western societies: to develop a set of shared values and a unified sense of citizenship, on the one hand, and to iron out disadvantage and equalise opportunities, on…

This study traces education and change over two decades in three areas, Tongzhou on the periphery of Beijing chosen as one of the richest 300 counties in 1990; Ansai in Yan'an which was one of the poorest 300 counties and a famous base for the 8th Route Army at the end of the Long March, and Zhaojue a poor Yi national minority area in the…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Student Engagement and includes: (1) Supporting the Dream of Going to College Through Powerful Student Engagement (Hector Bojorquez);…

This paper unearths the improvisational nature of Irish state exigencies and their central contribution to racialisation in and through schooling. The analysis unravels white-Irishness through gender and Traveller membership, in terms of its links to the state's early efforts at intelligibility and associated politics of desirable and viable…

The purpose of this study was to examine books that support transitional readers to determine the representation of people of color. The findings were analyzed using critical race theory (CRT), a theoretical framework that places race at the center of educational research and discourse. The results indicate that despite the increasing ethnic and…