This was a mixed method, Action Research study addressing the foundational research question: What can Education Forward Academy (EFA) (pseudonym) do to improve equity in the College Credit Plus (CCP) Program (also known as Dual Enrollment or Dual Credit)? To answer this question, both quantitative and qualitative sub-questions were explored. The…

Little is known about how school leaders of color implement social justice leadership praxis within the urban public charter school context, especially amid a global pandemic and heightened racial injustice. This study aimed to better understand the phenomenon of being a social justice leader of color, specifically examining how these leaders…

This report estimates the effect of enrolling in a charter school on student standardized test scores in Newark, New Jersey. The results indicate that attending a Newark charter school that participated in the city's common enrollment system leads to large improvements in math and reading scores, and the effect is especially large for students who…

Throughout the history of the United States there have existed gaps in the educational achievement outcomes of different groups of students. One of the most well-known and persistent achievement gaps is seen in the academic performance of Black versus White students, which is also known as the Black-White student achievement gap (BWSAG). The BWSAG…

Although much research has been conducted on sustainability, technology initiatives and practices, and their connection with leadership, more research needs to be worked on identifying the leadership practices within a technology innovation and their effect on sustainability. Leaders must be facilitators of change and supporters of teaching and…

Although it is well known that certain charter schools dramatically increase students' standardized test scores, there is considerably less evidence that these human capital gains persist into adulthood. To address this matter, we match three years of lottery data from a high-performing charter high school to administrative college enrollment…

In recent years, some U.S. school districts have shifted away from direct management of schools, toward systems in which some or all schools operate under enhanced autonomy, accountability, and parental choice. Yet dynamics driving these changes are understudied, and there are few comparative studies of system-level governance shifts. To address…

Closing the achievement gap has been a continuous topic of conversation in the United States for decades. School leaders have explored many ways to address the academic achievement of their marginalized student population. One approach has been the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy and curriculum. By implementing a curriculum in which…

Background/Context: There has been growing attention to the disproportionate and harmful effects of school exclusion, including suspension and expulsion, on boys of color. Restorative justice may be one possibility for addressing these disparities. Yet the research on restorative justice in schools is nascent, and in particular, little is known…

Examining school-wide factors that can positively influence student and school success is especially crucial after the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a period of online learning that led to a decrease in student achievement scores across the nation. As a result, this study sought to assess how schedule design specifically affected teacher…

Teachers are returning to schools during the COVID-19 pandemic under the weight of unprecedented stressors to engage a student body that has also experienced stress and trauma. In this study, we examined how confident 454 teachers (55% Black) from 41 charter schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, were in their ability to address students'…

This case study follows an early-career teacher from an undergraduate educator preparation program into her first teaching position in an urban high-stakes charter school organization. At the beginning, the cognitive dissonance between her emergent educational philosophy and the extreme features of the charter school environment, such as the…

Over the past two years, there have been calls for racial justice in nearly every sphere of social and political life, including the field of education. As much of the nation reeled at yet another life violently taken at the hands of a police officer, education workers faced the challenge of responding to local and national demands for policy…

This case study of one "no-excuses" charter management organization (CMO) uses teacher surveys and interviews with principals, central office staff, and teachers to examine how a realistic job preview is enacted during the hiring process, and how newly hired teachers perceive their fit with the job and the organization before and after…

This issue brief seeks to add to the discussion of educational pluralism by highlighting the history, features, and successes of the classical education model. The model is unique for its emphasis on building the student to be a scholar and an active citizen. Classical schools come in the form of private and charter schools, homeschooling, and…