Connecting schools and students to community members is a mutually beneficial effort that can transform education and society. In this article, Josh Schachter, founder of CommunityShare--an innovative nonprofit initiative that catalyzes real-world learning experiences by connecting teachers and students with the wisdom, skills, and lived…

This article explores peer mentoring in doctoral studies, specifically through the students' lived experiences in an interdisciplinary doctoral program cohort. Through reflexive conceptualization and the definition of mentorship, the lived experiences of the authors are portrayed. The roles and benefits of mentoring activities are identified and…

In this reflection, using the work of Ellen Cushman and Paula Mathieu as a framework from which to extend, I explore how my positionality as a graduate student affected my experience wading into community-engaged literacy work. Specifically, I reflect on my time with a nonprofit organization that provides no-cost legal support and safety planning…

School practices and policies are often influenced by various research, nonprofit, for-profit, and philanthropic organizations. To help understand their influence, this article provides a framework accounting for the variety of school improvement organizations (SIOs) and summarizes debates regarding their benefits and risks. I cluster SIOs as…

Mobile instructional spaces such as retrofit buses, customized trucks or trailers, and repurposed shipping containers are innovative, unique venues for teaching and learning. STEM-focused mobile instructional spaces have emerged as vehicles for providing students and teachers with high-quality integrated STEM learning experiences that emphasize…

Although NGSS are not new, even the most experienced teachers who implement them for the first time can feel like novice educators all over again. As COVID delayed the rollout of NGSS in some states, this study investigated a rural elementary school's first year using the standards. To make the transition more efficient, the school partnered with…

The authors conducted a workshop on video creation using artworks from a museum collection as materials. The aim of the study was to examine how video creation can involve a variety of people, organizations, concepts, themes, and politics and sustain interest in art. The project was developed in collaboration with a university, an art museum, a…

This study investigates the ways students' disposition toward solidarity can be fostered during a community-based service-learning (CBSL) project performed remotely, not requiring direct contact or interactions with community members. Seventeen students were enrolled in an advanced Spanish grammar course section with a service-learning component…

A literacy ecosystem can be described as the overlapping, multilayered sectors that support literacy development in a specific region that individual teachers or parents might not achieve alone. Informal learning organizations (ILOs) such as public libraries, literacy nonprofit organizations, afterschool programs, and educational media…

Science misinformation represents a significant challenge for the scientific community. Hispanic communities are particularly vulnerable due to language barriers and the lack of accessible information in Spanish. We identified that a key step toward enhancing the accessibility of information for non-native English-speaking communities involves…

In the face of growing critiques, charter management organizations (CMOs) increasingly contend with criticism as they maintain their presence in districts, particularly with school board members who often serve as gatekeepers for charter authorization. Yet, little is known about how CMOs navigate these politically muddy waters in local settings.…

The presence of popular music education in schools has expanded significantly in the past two decades within the United States in part due to the expansion of modern band programming. Initially developed and propagated by the non-profit organization Little Kids Rock (LKR), modern band is a term used to describe school-based ensembles that use…

During recent decades, educational reform in the U.S. has favored standards-driven curricula with the purpose of improving education. However, national assessments have not demonstrated significant improvements in educational outcomes, especially among economically disadvantaged and minoritized populations. To mitigate these outcomes,…

In this study, the author explores metaphors related to students' experiences conducting collaborative arts-based ethnographic research in a U.S. nonprofit organization. A metaphor analysis of 25 students' essays revealed they were most likely to frame their experiences with arts-based service learning as a journey or a sports contest. The author…

Home to nine Tribal Nations, the northeastern corner of Oklahoma (US) is a place of immense resilience, cultural beauty and attachment to place. Horrifically, however, this same area is also home to massive environmental assaults that have occurred as a result of decades of lead and zinc mining. The improperly managed mine waste that has…