School Reform Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

A deep district-wide commitment to racial equity for African American male students, based on the framework of targeted universalism, has laid the foundation for expanding the focus to include African American girls, Latino/a students,... more

A deep district-wide commitment to racial equity for African American male students, based on the framework of targeted universalism, has laid the foundation for expanding the focus to include African American girls, Latino/a students, and Asian and Pacific Islander students.

Herbart's work informs scholars of education history and historiography that seek to understand the foundations of modern German-speaking Education. Scholars interested in education reform find guidance and clarity in Herbart's... more

Herbart's work informs scholars of education history and historiography that seek to understand the foundations of modern German-speaking Education. Scholars interested in education reform find guidance and clarity in Herbart's uncompromising commitment to pedagogy for and with the enlightened human being. This is of particular relevance in view of the current policy developments in the German-speaking world that move away from the roots of Didaktik and toward systems of accountability reminiscent of the past 40 years of U.S. education policy.

The theory and tools of “improvement science” have produced performance improvements in many organizational sectors. This essay describes improvement science and explores its potential and challenges within education. Potential... more

The theory and tools of “improvement science” have produced performance improvements in many organizational
sectors. This essay describes improvement science and explores its potential and challenges within education. Potential
contributions include attention to the knowledge-building and motivational systems within schools, strategies for learning
from variations in practice, and focus on improvement (rather than on program adoption). Two examples of improvement
science in education are examined: the Community College Pathways Networked Improvement Community and lesson
study in Japan. To support improvement science use, we need to recognize the different affordances of experimental and
improvement science, the varied types of knowledge that can be generalized, the value of practical measurement, and the
feasibility of learning across boundaries.

Public schools in the US have long operated as sorting machines channeling students to serve the needs of capital and so-called national interests. Ginsberg deconstructs the rhetoric of contemporary test-driven school reform, with a... more

Public schools in the US have long operated as sorting machines channeling students to serve the needs of capital and so-called national interests. Ginsberg deconstructs the rhetoric of contemporary test-driven school reform, with a specific emphasis on the concept of "at risk." The premise is statistics that identify entire cultures as "at risk" are powerful stories not simply of low expectations, cultural deprivations, and individual laziness, but of political capital, misused power, and unjustly distributed resources. Ginsberg provides a powerful analysis of how the policies that supposedly promote meritocracy, personal responsibility, and individual achievement also contain strong components of separating, sorting, marginalizing, and punishing students, particularly those from communities considered "at risk" and who refuse to conform to the status quo. Unlike many ideologically similar critics of public schools, Ginsberg presents a hopeful message through case studies of four urban schools that illustrate more meaningful and sustainable ways for students to learn. These schools embrace risk in that they are unafraid of challenging the status quo of teaching and learning by cultivating spaces where students can question how and why certain knowledge is validated, marginalized, or dismissed. Summing Up: Essential. All readership levels.-E. W. Ross, University of British Columbia

This literature review explored educational change trends as reflected in the first 15 years of the Journal of Educational Change (JEC), from 2000 to 2014. The examination of 52 articles accounting for 61% of the Journal's historical... more

This literature review explored educational change trends as reflected in the first 15 years of the Journal of Educational Change (JEC), from 2000 to 2014. The examination of 52 articles accounting for 61% of the Journal's historical citations indicated that the JEC has evolved through five periods, which relate to 'waves of educational change' beyond the Journal itself. At the center of this development there has been a process of de-centering of Anglo-American perspectives on educational reform, pushed both by an increasing pessimism among U.S. and U.K. scholars regarding their countries' reforms and by systematic evidence that other educational systems are achieving better student learning outcomes. The aforementioned evolution also shows a shift from more conceptual works by the field's historical leaders toward more empirical research conducted by emergent scholars. After discussing the predominant concept of educational change, the major silences in the reviewed literature, and what this evolution in the JEC says about the field of educational change at large, the paper ends reflecting on challenges as a new generation of scholars begins to enter the conversation.

This paper uses critical race theory to analyze several case studies focused on the experiences of two restorative justice coordinators (RJCs), both Black women and how they understood and responded to perceived racial injustices in urban... more

This paper uses critical race theory to analyze several case studies focused on the experiences of two restorative justice coordinators (RJCs), both Black women and how they understood and responded to perceived racial injustices in urban schools with white leadership. These schools were attempting to address unequal disciplinary practices toward students of color through restorative justice and the RJCs adapted their approaches to addressing racialized dynamics while also developing school-wide networks to foster broader critical reflection on race. They navigated the risks of challenging white privilege and systemic racism both of which at times limited their attempts at influencing change.

In In H. P. Baptiste, A. Ryan, B. Arajuo, & R. Duhon-Sells (Eds). Multicultural educationL A renewed paradigm of transformation and call to action (pp. 115-136). San Francisco: Caddo Gap Press.

School reform must begin with a clear and coherent focus on inquiry into student outcomes and links to school practices. Moreover, collaborative professional cultures must be based on evidence, open to new ideas, and committed to... more

School reform must begin with a clear and coherent focus on inquiry into student outcomes and links to school practices. Moreover, collaborative professional cultures must be based on evidence, open to new ideas, and committed to collective responsibility for the success of all students. Those are the principles behind the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC), formed in 1995 to “reculture public education in the Bay Area.” Phase One of BASRC’s work, continuing through 2001, extended grants to 86 Leadership Schools and featured a “Cycle of Inquiry” as the driving force of reform. Through the Cycle of Inquiry, Leadership Schools acquired the data and analysis to shape teachers’ ongoing learning and create an agenda for the continuous improvement of practice.
BASRC’s emphasis on the role of inquiry and collaborative teacher communities in school reform finds much support in the education literature and in the general literature on organizational learning. However, the research reported here differs in two significant ways: it addresses the role of inquiry in the context of a large, multi-site initiative and as the driver for change throughout the school.
This monograph draws upon five years of evaluation research to examine the role and consequences of inquiry in BASRC Leadership Schools (Center for Research on the Context of Teaching, 2002) . We incorporate: 1) data from longitudinal case studies of 10 diverse BASRC schools; 2) less intensive field-based research in satellite samples of 21 schools; and 3) surveys of principals, teachers, and reform coordinators that analyze experiences with inquiry across the initiative; these surveys examine the consequences for teachers and students and describe what inquiry-based reform looks like in practice. Case study data highlight the institutional and organizational factors associated with Leadership Schools’ different trajectories of inquiry and how teachers’ inquiry “habits” changed over time. We conclude by discussing the promise and challenges of inquiry as a culture-changing strategy and how school contexts affect its operation and consequence.

In most countries across the globe, Governments’ commitments toward ensuring quality education and lifelong learning are markedly becoming vibrant, given the pervasive role education plays in stimulating highly skilled, well-informed and... more

In most countries across the globe, Governments’ commitments toward ensuring quality education and lifelong learning are markedly becoming vibrant, given the pervasive role education plays in stimulating highly skilled, well-informed and morally sound citizens. Ghana is not an exception. Since political independence, there have been considerable policy reforms, interventions, and directions as well as structural changes to our education system with the view to meeting contemporary educational standards (e.g. Kwapong Educational Review Committee in 1966; Dzobo Educational Review Committee in 1974; Amanuah-Mensah Educational Review Committee in 2002). To save time and space, this paper considers the major changes that have occurred since the late 1980's with emphasis on the pre-tertiary level of education. The paper argues that the current education system in Ghana has been characterized by three fundamental challenges, namely fragmented and over loaded curriculum, unequal access to education, and weak and incoherent administrative control. The paper concludes by offering a vision for a structural reform, capable of delivering quality lifelong learning to all young people.

Purpose: School discipline reformers have presumed that such work is largely a technical task, emphasizing discrete changes to discipline policies and protocols. Yet prior theory and research suggest that emphasizing technical changes may... more

Purpose: School discipline reformers have presumed that such work is largely a technical task, emphasizing discrete changes to discipline policies and protocols. Yet prior theory and research suggest that emphasizing technical changes may overlook additional and important aspects of reform, namely, the normative and political dimensions within which technical aspects are embedded. Although this earlier work appears relevant to contemporary school discipline reform, the extent to which this theory extends to school discipline remains unestablished. The purpose of this article is to show how this earlier line of theory extends to the topic of school discipline. Method: We draw on data collected as part of a qualitative study in which we conducted semistructured interviews and focus groups with 198 educators from 33 public schools on the topic of school discipline. We applied an equity-minded reform theory to examine technical, normative,

Research suggests effective professional learning communities (PLCs) enhance teacher collaboration and student achievement. Some studies indicate that these communities also predict greater collective efficacy, while others suggest teacher... more

Research suggests effective professional learning communities (PLCs) enhance teacher collaboration and student achievement. Some studies indicate that these communities also predict greater collective efficacy, while others suggest teacher efficacy is predictive of teachers working together. Although studies have identified effective, research-based PLC practices, how these specific practices effect collective efficacy has not been thoroughly studied. This study, using structural equation modeling (SEM), investigated the relationship between PLCs and teachers’ collective efficacy drawing on 310 surveys from 16 schools in 1 district that had systematically implemented PLCs. Our findings showed that higher functioning PLCs predict higher levels of teacher collective efficacy (TCE). This suggests that engaging and supporting teachers in PLC work, as this district did, can lead to enhanced collective efficacy, which in turn can contribute to improved student achievement.

Recent educational policy reports in the U.S. have called for significant changes in teachers' work to increase their effectiveness. The paper examines the relationship between the restructuring strategies in two comprehensive high... more

Recent educational policy reports in the U.S. have called for significant changes in teachers' work to increase their effectiveness. The paper examines the relationship between the restructuring strategies in two comprehensive high schools and teachers' engagement, which is defined as a multi-dimensional construct. In one school, the restructuring strategies focused on creating a supportive climate for students, and in
empowering students and teachers; in the other, emphasis was on developing professional skills of the faculty and strengthening group cohesiveness. The implications of the strategies for teacher engagement are illustrated with case study data. The discussion
points to several conclusions: (1) the effects of restructuring are more bounded than is often assumed; (2) a quality of work life framework drawn from the social scientific literatures is useful for analyzing the effects of reform policies on teachers' work; (3) teachers make trade-offs between different types of engagement in order to increase their work satisfaction; and (4) restructuring has potential for increasing teachers' engagement in schools with mixed socio-economic and racial populations.

18 years after the first democratic elections education in South Africa is still in a state of crisis. Failure to deliver textbooks, limited support available to schools, ineffective districts, under-qualified teachers, poor matriculation... more

18 years after the first democratic elections education in South Africa is still in a state of crisis. Failure to deliver textbooks, limited support available to schools, ineffective districts, under-qualified teachers, poor matriculation results, and low performance in national and international assessments is symptomatic of a fundamental malaise in education. And it is the poor, marginalised and the disadvantaged who are most affected. For those who have access to private and ‘better quality’ public schools, there is no crisis!
This book considers these issues by reviewing selected large-scale interventions to improve education quality in South African schools. These interventions include the District Development Support Programme (DDSP), the Education Quality Improvement Partnership Programme (EQUIP), the IMBEWU programme, the Integrated Education Program (IEP), the Khanyisa School Programme, the Learning for Living (LFL) Project, and the Quality Learning Project (QLP). It locates these interventions by providing a chronology of education policy development in South Africa since 1994 as well as engaging with key debates about the notion of education quality. Furthermore, it invites policy-makers to critically review and reflect on the changes to improve education quality in South Africa since 1994. By bringing together academics, policy-makers and practitioners to reflect on education development the book sheds light on the continuous but elusive search for quality education for all. In so doing, the book provides a basis for a critical conversation about the history of education change in post-apartheid South Africa, and the implications for interventions aimed at improving education quality.

This action-research case study examines the potential benefits of explicit formfocused instruction (FFI) on the English learning of Mexican-origin adolescent students attending a middle school designated as low-performing. During the... more

This action-research case study examines the potential benefits of explicit formfocused instruction (FFI) on the English learning of Mexican-origin adolescent students attending a middle school designated as low-performing. During the first year of the study I taught two sections of English as a second language to students beginning their second or third year in U.S. schools. At the beginning of the year I administered a pretest to 20 students, and throughout the year I documented and reflected on my teaching and my students’ learning through written and recorded notes. At the end of the year I administered a posttest to my students. During the second year of the study, I collected tests results using the same grammar test from students whom I had not taught and who had attended U.S. schools from two to eight years. I reported the results and analysis of the study through a retrospective narrative format. The findings suggest that grammar—as the abstract system it is—is difficult to teach and challenging to learn for adolescent immigrant students with varying degrees of prior knowledge. The findings also suggest that immigrant youngsters appear to benefit in diverse ways from being taught through a grammar-based approach. The retrospective narrative provides a description of research process, the contexts of the study, the students, the teaching and learning that went on in viii my classroom, and the results of the grammar test. Although the results of the grammar test favored the students exposed to FFI, these findings cannot be generalized to other students in other FFI classrooms. Limitations of the study are provided along with suggestion for future research and implications for teachers.

While ‘student voice’ is advocated as a means for school reform, studies of its enactment have noted how student voice can become a technology of governance. This article works with the perplexities of a four-year funded period of reform... more

While ‘student voice’ is advocated as a means for school reform, studies of its enactment have noted how student voice can become a technology of governance. This article works with the perplexities of a four-year funded period of reform at one secondary school, where a ‘student voice’ initiative and a Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports programme gradually
entwined. Complementing and extending a Foucauldian account of power as productive, Deleuze and Guattari’s desiring-analysis generates simultaneous accounts of governance, resistance and affirmation. Mapping what behaviour tokens did, and what was done with these tokens, does not undermine the importance of ‘listening’ to students’ (and teachers’) voices, nor the incisive potential of critique, but rather considers latent pathways out of present repetitious patterns of school governance. It is argued that working with these simultaneous movements of voice may foster more productive conversations about perplexing school reform processes.

Participatory research with young people might be re-conceptualised as ethico-aesthetic experimentation (Guattari, 1995). Such an approach unthreads the discursive and affective constraints, contradictions and pressures of voice (cf.... more

Participatory research with young people might be re-conceptualised as ethico-aesthetic experimentation (Guattari, 1995). Such an approach unthreads the discursive and affective constraints, contradictions and pressures of voice (cf. Jackson, 2003; MacLure, 2009), as well as the creation of new collective subjectivities in participatory research. This presentation will briefly review poststructural critiques of voice, power/ knowledge and subjectivication in participatory research, before considering how the concepts of Deleuze and Guattari might shift the questions asked by participatory researchers about particular methodological impasses. Examining particular participatory research encounters when there were blockages, leaks and tears in co-theorising ‘student voice’ in a low socioeconomic school reform process, connections are made to other economic, historical, political and social forces and struggles (Albrecht-Crane & Slack, 2007; Mulcahy, 2012). This process of transversal connection is a “political and social psychoanalysis” that explores “unconscious libidinal investment[s] of sociohistorical production” (Deleuze & Guattari, 1983, p. 98).

Since the idea of charter schools took hold in the 1990s, the school reform movement in the United States has expanded rapidly. Ideologically defending itself in the name of school choice and accountability, in reality the movement... more

Since the idea of charter schools took hold in the 1990s, the school reform movement in the United States has expanded rapidly. Ideologically defending itself in the name of school choice and accountability, in reality the movement focuses on dismantling school boards in favor of direct mayoral control and allowing private companies to supply school services. Recently a spate of documentary films - most notably Waiting for Superman - have carried the ideological message to greater swathes of the American public. This paper argues that the US school reform movement is radically regressive, led by an economic elite, and essentially at odds with the democratic civic and political role of a public school system.

The Ministry of Education has set the target of 100% of New Zealand schools to be ‘mostly’ inclusive by 2014. But what are the essential elements of inclusion? This paper explores essential core elements that allow inclusion to flourish.... more

The Ministry of Education has set the target of 100% of New Zealand schools to be ‘mostly’ inclusive by 2014. But what are the essential elements of inclusion? This paper explores essential core elements that allow inclusion to flourish. Based on an extensive time in the field as part of a year-long doctoral research project, these elements are: relationships, shared experiences, advocacy, and a sense of identity. Strengthened and welded together through transparency, inclusive cultures and more inclusive practices have been seen to develop and grow.

Purpose: This article describes how trust emerged as an issue in one school district and the processes by which central office administrators enhanced trust with its school site leaders. Method: This exploratory participant observer case... more

Purpose: This article describes how trust emerged as an issue in one school district and the processes by which central office administrators enhanced trust with its school site leaders.
Method: This exploratory participant observer case study uses multiple sources of data including surveys, interviews, observations, and documents collected during a 4-year period from central office and school site leaders.
Findings: The article illustrates how a university partner can play a critical role in surfacing and bringing forth action on an undiscussable issue—trust between the central office and its schools—and the actions taken by the central office to address specific facets of trust: openness, communication, risk, and integrity. The site administrators’ response to these actions revealed that trust can be developed at both the relational and organizational leadership levels.
Significance to the Field: The study is significant in illustrating that building trust between the central office and school sites can be an essential step in an underperforming district and can serve as a resource in achieving and sustaining school district reform. It also shows that attending to specific facets of trust can be useful when examining the development of trust between school sites and the district office.

Addressing the needs of underperforming central city schools is one of the most perplexing questions in contemporary educational research. At least two approaches have emerged as paradigms shaping the nature of reform efforts: (1)... more

Addressing the needs of underperforming central city schools is one of the most perplexing questions in contemporary educational research. At least two approaches have emerged as paradigms shaping the nature of reform efforts: (1) building-based approaches such as comprehensive school reform, and (2) place-based approaches that include interventions at the community and neighborhood-level. To this end, the proposed chapter will examine the tensions and contradictions that exist between place-based and building-based approaches in the context of a school choice environment. I explore the nexus between federal and local levers for reform, school choice, neighborhood effects, and place-based approaches to school reform. Three gaps in the literature are exposed: (1) gaps about implementation of place-based comprehensive community initiatives (PBCCI) efforts like Promise and Choice Neighborhoods, (2) gaps about the school system’s and individual school’s role in PBCCI efforts, and (3) gaps resulting from potentially conflicting policy demands.

Few studies provide an overview of citizenship education from the primary to secondary grade levels in American schools. Citizenship education consists of specific teaching practices designed to encourage students to become more involved... more

Few studies provide an overview of citizenship education from the primary to secondary grade levels in American schools. Citizenship education consists of specific teaching practices designed to encourage students to become more involved in their communities. This review critically evaluates three kinds of
programmes related to citizenship education: (1) character education programmes, (2) political simulations and, (3) service-learning programmes. Students in the primary grades are mainly exposed to character education programmes, which emphasise the importance of developing ethical values. Political simulations are more common in high school civic courses, where students learn the importance of community-level civic engagement (e.g. volunteering). Service-learning programmes can help students in the secondary grades develop a broader range of civic engagement outcomes that pertain to the school and community-level context. This study reaffirms the importance of increasing
students’ exposure to citizenship education, while emphasising that certain instructional practices can be more effective in helping students develop civic engagement

The publication was prepared by representatives of three universities – from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The changing social situation and the changes resulting from scientific advancement have caused a growing difference... more

The publication was prepared by representatives of three universities – from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The changing social situation and the changes resulting from scientific advancement have caused a growing difference between the preparation for and actual performing of particular professions. In the case of teachers’ work, this becomes especially noticeable as social expectations are aimed not so much at the success of educators but mostly at their appropriate preparation of the young generation. Thus, a teacher is to prepare the young for what they will face in a few years, not for the present situation. School should equip youth with the knowledge and skills which will enable them to solve problems associated with e.g. choosing a career. This brings about different views on the ways of teachers’ education and training. The problem has become of special significance in the period of rapid social, scientific and technical transformations taking place over the last decades. New problems also result from the accession to the European Union. School should be a place where a young person is prepared for making use of what other cultures offer, for fast development of technology and science, with simultaneous appreciation of the native tradition. Therefore, teachers are burdened with many new duties which reach beyond the information and skills they have had so far. The changes introduced by new competences determine the broadening of the scope of teachers’ professional functions.
What seems to be the essence of each school reform are the changes taking place in teachers’ activities. All other changes – in legal regulations, in the organization of school work, or in curricula, are of secondary significance. This takes place because the school reality changes according to the reformers’ assumptions only if teachers have necessary qualifications and willingness to implement the assumed transformations. The change should affect the system of teachers’ professional education and training, which ought to alter not only the content-based method of professional work but also teachers’ attitude to their qualifications. In the process of their education, teachers should be equipped with expert knowledge of the subject and practical experience. The discussion on educational models often concerns the proportions in which these elements should appear. The teacher’s profession has always raised emotions due to the possibility of shaping and modelling the young generation. There has been a lot of debates on the personality, authority or power of teachers, various phenomena associated with their didactic work (e.g. “work burnout”), as well as the change in the relation between the teacher and the learner. Another phenomenon concerning the reflections upon the teacher is the “myth of a teacher” – in the past, someone who loves a child’s soul, a social activist rooted in the local environment and acting for others and currently – a specialist and expert in a particular subject.
School is not the only and basic source of knowledge for children any longer. Contemporary learners know more and more, but this does not mean that they understand more. Therefore, what seems a chance and a duty of teachers is using children’s resources of information and experience to teach them to think and organize their own experience. At the same time, a crisis of school knowledge co-occurs with the problem of a teacher’s authority – in the past, a teacher was a mentor and a master, who was widely respected due to the acquired knowledge and a high-rank social position.

Казармено-приютното начало на училищната институция се харктеризира с комбинация от (относително) заплашителна и бедна на стимули среда. Такава тя е биологически токсична за развитието на мозъка. Избягването на училище може да е една... more

Казармено-приютното начало на училищната институция се харктеризира с комбинация от (относително) заплашителна и бедна на стимули среда. Такава тя е биологически токсична за развитието на мозъка. Избягването на училище може да е една стратегия за стратегия за справяне с това предизвикателство.

The article focuses on the democratisation in Polish schools 27 years after the fall of communism in Poland. It discusses the context and barriers of school democratisation in Poland. Appearances deceive... more

The article focuses on the democratisation in Polish schools 27 years after the fall of communism in Poland. It discusses the context and barriers of school democratisation in Poland. Appearances deceive observers from other countries and legitimise policymakers’ unsuccessful enforcement of democratic practices in schools that were supposed to lead to empowerment of school communities, in particular teachers and head- masters. Recent reports and assessments of innovative programs to support schools show that the expected readiness of teachers and headmasters to practice democratic education was an illusion. e failure and weakness of democracy in schools is caused by rapid changes, continuing reforms and the problem of enforcement of democracy by top-down reforms through unacceptable shortcuts, thus creating pseudo-democracy.

Over the last few decades high-stakes accountability has become commonplace in education policy, both in the U.S. and internationally. In this paper, we consider the role of school leaders and ‘accountability talk’ in implementing this... more

Over the last few decades high-stakes accountability has become commonplace in education policy, both in the U.S. and internationally. In this paper, we consider the role of school leaders and ‘accountability talk’ in implementing this shift through a case study of one urban school principal’s talk during a period of reform. Consistent with broader policy discourses, the 650 instances of principal rhetoric in 14 elementary school meetings reflected issues of standardization and assessment through rational appeals to logic (logos). However, the principal’s ‘accountability talk’ also relied on rhetorical sequences that wove these rational appeals together with moral (ethos) and emotional (pathos) claims, thereby connecting the accountability paradigm to more established discourse associated with the educational profession. We argue that school principal talk is a primary means through which broader institutional changes and local work practices become coupled together, often in ways that blend apparently competing models of organization. As such, accountability talk should be of both empirical and theoretical interest for scholars studying school leadership and education reform.

Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld argues that advancing a positive social and academic climate in schools for students, faculty, staff, and administrators of all social identities, including sexual and gender identities and expressions, should be... more

Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld argues that advancing a positive social and academic climate in schools for students, faculty, staff, and administrators of all social identities, including sexual and gender identities and expressions, should be major priorities (“agenda” items) for all (including people as individuals and at politically and religiously conservative organizations like Focus on the Family) if they are truly concerned and interested in ensuring safer and more welcoming school environments.

In this article, I critique the labels and terms used to frame practices aimed at closing the achievement gap. I examine how an unacknowledged achievement gap Discourse has emerged from the language that informs practices and policies of... more

In this article, I critique the labels and terms used to frame practices
aimed at closing the achievement gap. I examine how an unacknowledged achievement gap Discourse has emerged from the language that informs practices and policies of contemporary school reform. I use Gee’s uppercase “Discourse” and a cultural analytic framework to critique what I refer to as the achievement gap “Discourse.” I challenge educational stakeholders to rethink (a) student comparisons, (b) teacher and student assessments, (c) labels, (d) community input and involvement, and (e) the collective commitment to public schooling as an institution.

The enduring existence of disproportionate representation of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in special education programs and disciplinary practices creates a double bind for educators, educational... more

The enduring existence of disproportionate representation of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in special education programs and disciplinary practices creates a double bind for educators, educational leaders, and families. Disproportionality is an adaptive systemic issue that is not under any entity’s control; thus, it demands collaboration and critical dialogue among local stakeholders. This article examined the implementation of Learning Lab, a new methodology of systemic transformation, for local stakeholders to collectively examine and address disproportionality in behavioral outcomes from the ground–up. Learning Lab aims to increase equity within the local implementations of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) by opening up decision-making and problem-solving processes with local stakeholders. Designed to increase authentic collaboration and dialogue among educators, families, and community based organizations, Learning Lab offers the possibility of contextually fit, culturally responsive implementations of PBIS and building the capacity for forming adaptive and inclusive schools.

Background: Local control has historically been a prominent principle in education policy-making and governance. Culminating with the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), however, the politics of education have been nationalized to an... more

Background: Local control has historically been a prominent principle in education policy-making and governance. Culminating with the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), however, the politics of education have been nationalized to an unprecedented degree, and local control has all but disappeared as a principle framing education policymaking. During the same period, policies imposed upon locales by state and federal governments have shifted from an emphasis on equity to accountability.

Background/Context: Scholars agree that students' academic preparation for college begins as early as middle school. This preparation includes both instructional and social supports. The present study draws much-needed attention to how... more

Background/Context: Scholars agree that students' academic preparation for college begins as early as middle school. This preparation includes both instructional and social supports. The present study draws much-needed attention to how Black males articulate the role and function of their Chicago high school for helping them negotiate the challenges of urban living to both earn admittance to, and graduate from, a four-year college or university.