Schools and districts have long grappled with race- and disability-based exclusionary discipline inequities. Research on the topic has uncovered a variety of systems that maintain such disparities, including school policies and practices that exacerbate the problem. Researchers and practitioners have increasingly considered school context and…

Imagine a teacher who posted pictures of their favorite presidential candidate during the election season or a teacher who displayed a poster with the tenets of Scientology in the classroom. At issue in those scenarios is the extent to which teachers' expression in the classroom is protected by the First Amendment. This column focuses on a recent…

This case study focuses on a 2008 incident where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vans appeared near a K-5 elementary school. It was the first time school personnel experienced the impact of federal immigration agents policing illegality in their school community, and the event set off a chain of decision-making choices as to how…

This qualitative case study examined the degree to which one faith-based school perceived its capacity to support students with special needs and how those perceptions influenced decisions regarding student enrollment based upon current special needs practice policies for students with disabilities. While faith-based schools can be seen as a…

This appendix accompanies "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. Initial Research Report." This appendix focuses on the findings and domain comparisons of the study. This appendix contains the following: (1) Decision Rules; (2) Full Set of…

This study contributes to the field by identifying a broad range of traditional and newer middle grade policies and practices, and determining in California which of these differentiate higher- from lower-performing schools serving similar student populations, with performance measured by the state's standards-based tests. Based on a sample of 303…

In the 2008-09 school year researchers from EdSource and Stanford University conducted a large-scale study of 303 middle grades schools in California. The team surveyed 303 principals, 3,752 English Language Arts (ELA) and math teachers in grades 6-8, and 157 superintendents of the districts and charter management organizations that oversee the…

By conducting a large scale survey of elementary schools across California serving similarly challenged low-income student populations, a collaborative research team (EdSource, Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, and American Institutes for Research) sought to find which current K-5 practices and policies are most strongly correlated with high…