With the recent increase in the number of available options for families to consider when selecting a school, diverse publicly funded public schools are now competing for both students and funding. This study intended to contribute to the available research on the changes at inner-city schools during increased school choice options. The purpose of…

This study addressed teachers' perceptions of barriers faced by inner-city African American high school female students in STEM courses. This qualitative descriptive study examined STEM teachers' perceptions of barriers inner-city African American female students encounter when enrolled in STEM courses. The research questions addressed STEM…

Despite ubiquitous calls in existing literature, there are limited research studies on preparing culturally responsive African American female teachers for urban schools serving predominantly African American students. This article reports findings from a case study of two African American female preservice mathematics teachers who were part of a…

The COVID-19 pandemic created a huge demand in using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching and learning. Teachers are believed to be a main influencer in a student's learning, so it is important to have a deep insight of teachers' perceptions of ICT integration in teaching and the problems they have been facing in ICT…

Ethnic Studies courses are expanding in U.S. schools. While research has demonstrated the benefits of Ethnic Studies for racially minoritized students, less research has interrogated the process of Ethnic Studies curriculum development. Counternarrative--a central component of Ethnic Studies curricula--may present tensions for teachers crafting…

Multiply marginalized learners (MMLs), students with two or more marginalized identity factors (Annamma et al., 2013), are America's most vulnerable K-12 student population. MMLs face significant challenges, including increased opportunity- and academic achievement gaps (Hanushek et al., 2019; McClellan et al., 2018). They are disproportionately…

The purpose of this embedded descriptive case study was to describe job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction factors that influence urban teacher retention, along with looking at the influence and role of principal leadership through looking at the State of Texas Attrition Report, interviewing an elementary principal, and surveying the teachers at…

This study examines how three teachers working at a South Central high school teach critically about race and place. While building on the "spatial turn" in social science, the article draws on Critical Race Spatial Analysis to advance literature at the intersection of race, place, and pedagogy. Additionally, the article utilizes…

This exploratory case study examined two approaches to school improvement with teachers from an urban area of Ecuador. An all-day workshop with elementary-level teachers focused on how to improve teaching utilizing network improvement communities (NICs) and the plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle. Hands-on activities helped participants reflect on…

The merits of diversity to business success are well documented. Nevertheless, classroom diversity remains undermaximized in postmillennial schools. Differences across students' cultures, prior experiences, and even resiliency are often approached as deficits versus assets in learning. In addition, although educator awareness is increasing,…

This qualitative study explores the changing pedagogies of 11 urban ensemble music educators as they experienced virtual and hybrid learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following questions guided the study: (1) What challenges did ensemble music teachers face in meeting the current music education standards for students in urban districts…

This case centers on two early career educators: a principal and teacher struggling to address issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) in their school in the current political context of legislative attacks on critical race theory (CRT) and the simultaneous national Black Lives Matter movement. A talented teacher is reluctantly…

The creation of specialty science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) Schools has been presented as a way to improve both academic and STEM-related outcomes, particularly in urban school districts where "failing" schools are converted the STEM Schools. This study examines this conversion process through the tenets of critical race…

This qualitative case study aimed to evaluate instructional best practices in reading, particularly close reading components and strategies that can predict student success, specifically in middle school students in an inner-city setting. The implementation of close reading instructional strategies is said to impose a higher level of cognitive…

How can restorative justice, an increasingly common alternative to zero tolerance discipline, serve as an opportunity to both close the racial discipline gap and promote more critical awareness of structural inequality? Using Knight and Wadhwa's (2014) concept of critical restorative justice, I analyzed interviews with youth leaders and staff at…