This article illustrates the links between different ways of assessing disadvantage at school and subsequent qualification outcomes at age 16 in England. Our previous work has compared variables that represent current or recent snapshots of disadvantage (such as eligibility for free school meals [FSM]) with long-term summary variables and found…

The following essay details a debate between UC Berkeley and a Regent who made charges of discrimination against Asian American students that are similar to the current legal challenges facing Harvard University. The crux of such charges: on average, that one racial or ethnic group is more "qualified" than other groups, often…

This study analyses student and parental perspectives on the decision to drop out from a rural junior high school in northeast China. Data were collected in 2017 via participant observation, focus groups with students who were considered at "high risk of dropping out", and semi-structured interviews with parents. The official Chinese…

American schools have been dealt a blow that included a pandemic, economic crisis, as well as racial unrest, initiating an energized charge for social justice advocacy. Our superintendents are currently facing an unprecedented challenge in ensuring that the campus community lives in a fair, inclusive, and opportunity-rich society. However, school…

This study examined how school-based (teacher & peer) racial discrimination and efficacy to combat racial discrimination was associated with racialized beliefs and educational aspirations of African American adolescents. A socioeconomically diverse sample of African American adolescents (N = 505, M[subscript age] = 16) were included. After…

Very little is known about the complaint investigation process in the Office for Civil Rights, despite its scope and reach. We examine key parameters (number and types of complaints received, types of resolutions, average time of resolution) of civil rights complaints nationwide over a 20-year period (1999-2019). We find that 10%-40% of all…

Using strategic litigation to effect social change can be stunningly effective, capable of breaking down longstanding injustices and opening new paths of human rights protection and enforcement. But strategic litigation can be complex, time-consuming, expensive, and risky. It may fail outright. Or it may succeed, but engender a powerful backlash…

One in five Americans, or about 60 million people, lives in a rural area. Because 97% of the nation's landmass is considered rural, by definition these areas are sparsely populated and far from urban centers (United States Census Bureau, 2017). Although rural school districts are small--median enrollment is fewer than 500 students--the overall…

This article examines ethical and philosophical considerations in "theory translation," i.e. translating a theoretical framework from its original place to another national context. Critical race theory (CRT) was developed in the United States through significant struggle in order to analyze everyday racism. Marginalized groups have…

This case illustrates the importance for school leaders and teachers to be knowledgeable about current legal precedent when creating district and school policies. We describe a legal battle that occurred in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in which a school district instituted a policy affecting English learners that was in violation of two federal laws.…

Even though Ghana has embraced international calls for mainstream education, many children with intellectual disabilities still receive education in segregated special schools. This article discusses the views of seven informants on the importance of special schools in Ghana. After securing the consent of our informants, we conducted in-depth…

Throughout the past decade, scholars have argued that the persistent achievement gap between Black male students and their White peers is a result of unequal and inadequate educational opportunities instead of inherent differences in their capability or character. School counselors can help support Black males by using equity-focused…

Education systems reproduce social inequality based on social class, gender, and minority ethnicity ascriptions, and are organized along national structures. This paper explores, how migration and international mobility shape an individuals scope of possibilities in the context of education. We analyze how societal and institutional possibilities…

There is a long history of discrimination and marginalization of Chicanas/Latinas in the classroom due to xenophobia, language barriers, citizenship status, oversexualization, and much more. Through an analysis of Gloria Velasquez's ("Juanita Fights the School Board," Piñata Books, Houston, 1995) I seek to demonstrate the ways in which…

Previous research in middle-class school districts has focused on "within-school" segregation but not "between-school" segregation. Drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork and 122 in-depth interviews with students, parents, and faculty in an affluent suburban school district, I find that students who struggle…