This study uses a theoretical framework rooted in stereotype threat theory to investigate the perceptions and experiences of high-achieving African American students at an urban elementary school that had implemented a test-centered curriculum. The investigation utilized data from six focus group interviews conducted with a purposefully selected…

Philadelphia's Out-of-School Time (OST) system has identified K-3rd grade literacy support as the focus of the first phase of its strategic plan, launched in 2017. Research shows that OST programs can have an impact on early literacy skills, and this plan views OST programs as an important "delivery system" for addressing critical needs…

Due to the recent racially motivated killings in Ferguson, Missouri (2014); Staten Island, New York (2014); Cleveland, Ohio (2014); Charleston, South Carolina (2015); Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2016); and Dallas, Texas (2016), racial and ethnic tensions have heightened across the United States. Whereas schools would seem like optimal spaces for…

This article explores decision makers' responses of surprise or amazement to Students of Color engaged in youth participatory action research (YPAR). To address this topic, I draw upon data collected from a yearlong qualitative study of a YPAR group, applying the theoretical aspects of critical discourse analysis. The findings indicate that the…

In 2017, school board trustees in Ottawa, Ontario, voted to close Rideau High School, an urban secondary school in a historically marginalized neighbourhood. The school board had argued that low enrolment at Rideau HS, and the resultant inability of the school to offer a full range of course choices, made closure the only viable option. To many…

Many Black men interested in special education careers enroll in alternate route special education programs over traditional preparation programs. However, there is little research that focuses on their reasons for choosing special education alternate route programs and what makes these programs an effective choice for Black men pursuing teaching…

This article explores the dynamic between Black youth and their teachers through an exploration of an approach to teaching and learning embedded in the complex cultural knowledge(s) of this population. It interrogates the concepts of ratchedemics and reality pedagogy as both philosophy and practice for moving past the framing of particular…

Conducted in an urban alternative education program for adolescents ages 17-21, this study provides an overview of a professional development program that sought to support teachers in developing unit plans that incorporated backwards design principles and culturally relevant and sustaining instruction. The authors offer a qualitative thematic…

Arts integration in school-based curriculum has been an area of interest in the United States since formal schooling began in the 1800s. Arts integration uses art forms such as, visual arts, music, drama, or dance with a language arts, math, science, and/or social studies curriculum. This article examines nine studies that assessed the effects of…

Purpose: Grounded in the trans-contextual model of motivation framework, this cluster-randomized trial examined the effectiveness of an autonomy supportive physical education (PE) instruction on student motivation and physical activity (PA). Method: The study comprised six middle schools and 408 students (M[subscript age] = 12.29), with primary…

The transition to kindergarten is a critical milestone in children's lives, with implications for academic and future life success. The demographic family/parental variables of residence, social class, and race have been associated with children's adjustment to kindergarten. In particular, children growing up in families from urban, low-income…

We investigate 10th-grade Latinx and African American high school students' engagement in a reform-oriented curriculum designed to foster their critical social analysis of urban schooling. Students' designs of "ideal schools" based on their studies of their neighborhoods largely reproduced existing inequitable structures and practices of…

The Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD) is among several state-run districts established to turn around underperforming schools. Like other such districts, the ASD removes schools from local control and is not accountable to local political institutions. Despite its authority, the ASD has encountered opposition within Memphis where its…

CC Vision -- an urban education reform effort launched to strengthen the cradle-to-career education pipeline in Central City -- provides the impetus for our use of youth participatory action research (YPAR) to gather and activate student voice in the fight for education justice. Student voice can significantly enhance the quality of policy…

Tracing the acoustic ecologies of urban education through a topography of phenomena, this article considers how sound operates as more than paratext to the institutional structures, forms, and mechanisms of teaching and learning. Combining perspectives from phenomenology, feminist new materialisms, and sound studies, the article traces the…