College and university admission testing requirements often serve as a barrier to many students seeking advanced degrees. Many graduate school admission boards/committees use the minimum testing requirement as a predictor variable to explain a student's chance for success in a program. Before the 2020 Fall semester, many graduate schools required…

Context: This study examines how urban American Indian high school students negotiate their civic identities within the settler colonial structures of urban American public schools. Research Question: How do urban American Indian students negotiate civic identities in spaces where civic concepts are taught, such as American history classes in an…

Despite growing interest in culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), little research has examined its effect on student performance. In this article, we place CRP in a sociohistorical context and document how one intervention, Fresh Prep, draws on CRP to engage and instruct high school students identified as high risk for not graduating. Using a…

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and challenges that emerged from the first year of a district and university partnership focused on improving a high needs urban elementary school. This research utilizes an instrumental case study design. The elementary school and the university involved in this study are both public serving…

This project examines the supervisory roles and clinical experiences in a School of Education program that offers multiple pathways to licensure, including the Transition to Teaching (T2T) alternative route to certification program. Through our reflective supervisory and instructional experiences within this program, we explore the unique…

In this pilot study, we examine the realities of differential funding structures across the US, which disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized communities (Black and Brown students) and students living in poverty, contributing to an intractable opportunity gap. Prior research indicates that equitable funding can, in fact, decrease…

There are 22 traditional public and 14 public charter schools in Central Harlem's Community School District 5 ("CSD 5"), educating approximately 9,200 students in grades 3 to 8, of whom 94% are Black or Hispanic and 84% economically disadvantaged. School results on 2019 statewide tests ranged from 99.8 % down to only 8.3% at grade level…

Adolescents in the urban public school system experience childhood trauma that sometimes makes it difficult to focus on learning. Even more so, sometimes trauma experienced by youth manifests in disruptive behaviors in the school setting. Traditionally, urban public schools have focused on teaching and learning academics, generally neglecting the…

How better can we prepare students for the roles awaiting them as citizens than by engaging them in addressing challenging issues of the day? We describe our experience as a researcher--practitioner partnership with this objective in a yearlong program involving academically low-performing urban middle schoolers and a student-centered…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of educational leadership graduate students who participated in a short-term study abroad program in Peru. We analyzed assignments submitted for course credit, including a total of 144 photos and 107 corresponding reflections submitted as part of the photovoice…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the unique funds of knowledge among three Hispanic families living in the same city, specifically, how parents supported their children's mathematics learning through funds of knowledge. Participants contributed to their children's mathematics learning by promoting the five National Council of…

This critical case study analyzes Michigan's implementation of Public Act 4 (PA4), also known as the "emergency management" (EM) takeover law. PA4 grants the state control of school districts with dire budgetary problems. As most U.S. school districts are citywide, PA4 gives the state direct control over all the (previously locally…

This paper examines, through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), beliefs often asserted by self-described, open-minded white educators about their students of color. While these teachers may perceive themselves as liberal and inclusive, their interactions with students of color are shrouded by white privilege which can be disenfranchising to…

Based on ethnographic fieldwork and 39 formal interviews with 42 participants, we examine the influence of higher education institutions on a transitional, revitalizing neighborhood in Central Baltimore: Station North, a state-designated Arts and Entertainment District. This case study applies new urban regime theory to the development strategies…

Teachers who attended urban schools as students are uniquely positioned to understand both the structural context that urban schools operate within and the many funds of knowledge that urban students bring to school. The purpose of this study is to examine the funds of knowledge that individuals who have been students in urban schools and now wish…