To date, relatively little research has examined the perceptions of children and parents involved in university-assisted partnership programs. In this paper, we present findings from a case study of a university-assisted community school (UACS) afterschool program wherein we interviewed participating students and their parents. We also completed…

In an education system marred by inequity, urban schools in the United States are faced with the challenge of helping students from marginalized groups succeed. While many strategies have been tried, most are built on deficit-based models that blame students and teachers for a lack of achievement and ignore the role of power within the school…

The neoliberal turn in public education positions the parent as a consumer within an expanding educational marketplace. This shift is premised on the notion that the free market is best suited to promote equity. Critics of this claim highlight how a larger choice arena creates additional opportunities for privileged parents to mobilize their…

Grounded in social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study was to examine leaders' and students' perspectives of factors that contribute to effective voluntary after-school physical activity clubs. Data were collected over two-years via field observations (n= 115) and interviews with students (n= 278) and adult leaders (n= 126). Results…

This qualitative interpretive study explored how former newcomer English Language Learners (ELLs) in Boston Public Schools (BPS) made sense of their transmigration experiences through a digital storytelling project. The study fills a gap on transmigration experiences in the context of English-only learning environments, with a particular…

Research in social studies education has raised significant practical and epistemological concerns with the history textbooks used in urban schools. While these concerns are well documented, we know less about their implications for Black students' understandings and applications of historical content. This qualitative, ethnographic study explored…

This qualitative case study investigates how service-learning may enable self-direction and the development of a critical consciousness for marginalized high school students by exploring the dynamics of service-learning through a theoretical framework of critical theory. Service-learning is theorized to counter the oppressive nature of schooling…

Using a case study design, this study investigated the literacy identity, both collectively and individually, of the members of "Slammin!", a slam poetry team from an urban high school. Participant observation of practices and performances was used to find how the involvement in this group uniquely impacted students' academic and personal lives.…

This article describes the collective efforts educators and multiple community partners are taking to transform one alternative urban high school into a full-service community school. The article presents preliminary findings on the opportunities for bridging social capital that the full-service initiative has created and the impacts such…

This research draws upon critical race theory (CRT) to explore the experiences of Latina/o students in special education. It seeks to extend the theoretical construct of racial microaggressions and illustrate the additional layer of disability as I present data that are particular to the context of special education and the assigned label of…

Test accommodations are changes to test administration, responses, or the test itself that are offered to emergent bilingual students for standardized tests and also for classroom assessments in some states in the USA. Currently there is a lack of research examining the use of test accommodations as a pedagogical practice. This paper presents a…

The author explores the challenges of teaching and learning African American history, a history fraught with uncomfortable implications about contemporary race relations and race-based inequalities. Drawing on various theories of anti-oppressive education, and using data from an ethnographic study conducted in one history classroom, the author…

Because students spontaneously exhibit aesthetic and rhythmic acts in the classroom and human beings across the world have engaged in the arts for thousands of years, this study argues that artful behavior represents an inherent and significant human proclivity. Exploring the tension between the human predisposition and the physical and mental…

This qualitative case study describes (a) the ways 3D visualization, coupled with other science and literacy experiences, supported young children's first exploration of the Earth-Sun-Moon system and (b) the perspectives of classroom teachers and children on using 3D visualization. We created three interactive 3D software modules that simulate day…

Research suggests that Cambodian students often endure conflicting ethnic stereotypes from larger society and their school and communities. We examine the ways in which Cambodian youth negotiated their ethnic identities in response to these stereotypes and argue that Cambodian students adopted, rejected, and affirmed certain ethnic identities in…