One of the problems school districts face is the shortage of teachers, but more severely the shortage of African-American male teachers. The recruitment of minority male teachers is an important prerequisite for teachers to equal their students in diversity; further, social justice demands the presence of minority men in the teaching profession to…

The plight of students in the United States has been one of repeated socialization toward dehumanizing divides trapped in policies with a history of reproducing oppression and social stratification. The voice of reason has left the educational policy debates as the idea of equity and access in schooling has been replaced and confused by neoliberal…

As students return to full in-person learning in 2021-22, California public schools face considerable challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Record-high funding distributed through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) will provide some of the resources that will be key to an equitable recovery. In order to examine how school districts…

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the lives of millions of schoolchildren and exacerbated existing educational inequities. Most schools rapidly transitioned to remote instruction in March 2020 and continued operating under fully remote or hybrid learning conditions for the 2020-21 school year. This rapid transition to, and subsequent…

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. Over the years, the program has evolved to become a local afterschool model -- serving students attending high-poverty, low-performing schools in…

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has for years acknowledged and addressed the equity and achievement gaps that exist in the state's education pipeline. In 2013, the Commission passed a resolution to close Indiana's educational achievement gaps by 2025. In 2021, gaps are closing, but not quickly enough. Data must be the driving force…

This is the 22nd report by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) that describes how states publicly report assessment data for students with disabilities in K-12 schools in the United States. The purpose of this report is to examine the extent to which states reported 2018-19 assessment data for students with disabilities "to the…

Faced with shrinking state funds, rising student demand, high failure rates, and racial and ethnic achievement gaps, the introductory microeconomics course became a bottleneck for business students at California State University, Northridge. The Economics Department responded with the creation of a flipped, introductory microeconomics course where…

Despite federal and state laws and regulations that require states and local districts to provide English language learners (ELLs) with support services, prior research has indicated that ELLs are, in general, lagging behind non-ELLs in academic achievement. An unanswered question is whether the initial designation of students as ELL influences…

In the past decade and a half, measurable outcomes of teacher performance and student achievement have moved to the forefront of education policy. Researchers have identified a gap in special education teacher preparation research and have called for the re-envisioning of current educational models, emphasizing a focus on effective methods in…

When do children become unequal in reading and math skills? Some research claims that inequality grows mainly before school begins. Some research claims that schools cause inequality to grow. And some research--including the 2004 study ''Are Schools the Great Equalizer?''--claims that inequality grows mainly during summer vacations. Unfortunately,…

The enrollment, retention, and graduation rates for African American, Latino, Native American, and segments of Asian and Pacific Islander men in higher education are disproportionately lower than women from all racial groups and White men. A significant body of research substantiates the concern by institutions on the opportunity gap for men of…

Invest Early is a comprehensive early childhood collaborative of four school districts in Itasca County, Minnesota, that serves young children and their families with risk factors that may impede school success. Wilder Research, in conjunction with the Invest Early leadership team and staff, is conducting a longitudinal evaluation of the program.…

This thesis explores impact of evidence-based active-engagement courses (EBAE) on student achievement and gender gap in introductory physics. The first study is about the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of the physics teaching assistants (TAs) at identifying introductory students' difficulties using the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and…

Leadership for social justice has been receiving increasing attention in recent years as more and more scholars have explored the ways by which educational leaders can lead for social justice in schools (e.g. Arar, 2015; Ayers, Quin, & Stovall, 2009; Fua, 2007; Furman, 2012; Jean-Marie, Normore, & Brooks, 2009; Lindsey & Lindsey, 2011;…