The paper examines the role educators and members of school management teams (SMTs) play in transforming schools towards integrative learning environments. Data was collected through a survey and individual interviews that were administered to educators and members of SMTs (N = 88) in four multiracial schools. The survey included open-ended…

This report describes principals' reports of the frequency with which cyberbullying occurred among U.S. students in 2010 and 2016. Additionally, this report examines schools with more frequent reports of cyberbullying and compares groups of schools with varying racial/ethnic compositions and rules prohibiting cell phone use during school hours.…

The coronavirus pandemic has altered schooling in unprecedented ways. As schools moved rapidly from in-person instruction to remote learning in early 2020, educators and policymakers faced a host of new challenges. They had to deliver online instruction, try to ensure students had access to the internet and devices, and address the…

In December 2018, the Trump administration rescinded the Department of Education's 2014 "Dear Colleague Letter" (DCL), thus returning to local school districts and boards their traditional authority to set discipline policy. Although it was frequently described as "nonbinding guidance," the DCL was anything but. Instead, the…

President Joe Biden has made reopening a majority of K-8 schools for in-person instruction a priority for his administration's first 100 days, with the goal of getting more American students safely back into the classroom. Yet neither information gathered so far by researchers, nor data reported by the federal government and the states, can say…

In response to the nationwide phenomenon of elementary Black, male students suicide rates almost quadrupling in the last decade, this group of authors offer possible causal relationships between alarming suicide rates and school-wide anti-Blackness. Framed through a Critical Race Theoretical lens, this article pulls from anti-Blackness research,…

This study examines the impact of school closures on the sociospatial distribution of equitable access to schooling following the school closure policy pursued by the Chicago Public Schools in 2013. By examining access in terms of proximity between students and schools, the study estimates the changes in accessibility before and after school…

Purpose: Studies suggest that out-of-school suspensions and expulsions rarely improve student outcomes or perceptions of school safety. At the same time, there is consistent evidence of disparities by race, class, and ability in the implementation of "zero tolerance" discipline policies. Stakeholders across the country have leveraged…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced America's public schools to close in the latter half of the 2019-20 school year. Schools' reopening plans vary for 2020-21. We reviewed the reopening plans for all 50 states, as well as the largest 120 school districts in the United States with a particular focus on reopening modalities, mask-wearing guidance, the…

During the 2013-14 school year, more than 600 students were struck in public schools each day in the United States. It's a practice that is still allowed in thousands of public schools even though it's generally prohibited in daycare centers, foster care systems and a host of other settings for children. While corporal punishment is illegal in a…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "School Holding Power." Contents include: (1) Texas Higher Education Law Aims to…

In recent decades, K-12 school discipline policies and practices have garnered increasing attention among researchers, policymakers, and educators. Disproportionalities in school discipline raise serious questions about educational equity. This study provides a comprehensive review of the extant literature on the contributors to racial, gender,…

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 Push Outs -- Children of Color and includes: (1) Partnerships, Not Push Outs--Collaboration is Critical to Dealing with Disparities…

This report compares various measures of school segregation and reviews research findings on the extent of school segregation, trends in school segregation over time, and the relationship between academic achievement and segregation by income and race. The role of school quality in mediating and moderating the associations between school…

As charters and other public and private schools of choice have created a new landscape in many urban areas across the country, some districts have adopted the idea of creating "portfolios" of options. Central to the philosophy of a portfolio district is continuous improvement, as lowest-performing schools are transformed or replaced.…