In this pilot study, we examine the realities of differential funding structures across the US, which disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized communities (Black and Brown students) and students living in poverty, contributing to an intractable opportunity gap. Prior research indicates that equitable funding can, in fact, decrease…

Research concerning family preferences for schooling indicates that they value proximity to home as much as academic quality when choosing schools. However, preferences for proximity likely represent inability to access schools farther away from home, especially for disadvantaged students. I test whether distance and district boundaries constrain…

Field of education is associated with herculean task and innate responsibility of escorting societies forward. Across space and time, it has been an unambiguous synthesis that education should precede any progress or change. It helps humans to understand themselves and better their interaction with rest of the society. Hence the field of education…

Over the past three years, the Boston Birth to Eight Collaborative has convened more than 200 individuals and organizations from across the early childhood field--center and family-based providers, pediatricians, public health researchers, hospitals, family engagement organizations, and parents--to ensure all children are ready for sustained…

America's educational system has a problem with boys, and it's nothing new. The question of what to do with boys--the "boy problem"--has vexed educators and social commentators for more than a century. Contemporary debates about poor academic performance of boys, especially those of color, point to a myriad of reasons: inadequate and…

New Jersey Supreme Court, in "Abbott v. Burke (Abbott II)," held that state's Public School Education Act of 1975 was unconstitutional. Notes that initial impact of "Abbott II" is to put pressure on legislators to correct funding system; challenge will require educators to overhaul their patterns of behavior in administration,…

Reviews seven books that concern some of the tough issues in schools such as violence, racial bias, and poverty. Suggests that school board members who read these books can have a firsthand look into the lives of students, teachers, parents, and school executives. Information on ordering the books is provided. (MLF)

Conducted observations in urban and suburban schools, arguing that critical theorists should more closely examine differential structural constraints on pedagogical choice. Urban teachers made pedagogic choices that reinforced social hierarchies (partly to help students manage urban environmental risks). Changing the role of power in urban public…

Urban schools are not, in and of themselves, the source of all the problems with respect to urban education. But 4.6 percent of public school districts enroll 46.3 percent of all the students in this country, and urban schools have a significant role to play in determining how well or how poorly America's youth are prepared to function in society.…

An important civil-rights issue concerns educational enfranchisement. Wealthy parents can consider both public and private schools for their children, but poor parents must send their children to public schools nearest them, regardless of their quality. This paper describes New Jersey's takeover of urban Jersey City's public schools, explaining…

This paper describes the results of research examining the racial and socioeconomic segregation of public schools in two very different cities, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Houston (Texas). Factors that explain the degree of racial and economic segregation and the consequences of this segregation for student academic achievement were examined.…