This dissertation examined whether an urban-rural intergroup dialogue (IGD) curriculum intervention can improve participants' (a) awareness of social identities, privilege, and oppression; (b) intergroup understanding and relationships; (c) strategies to engage and intervene; and (d) capacity to advance equity and justice for bridging the…

Children in under-resourced schools are often subjected to a "pedagogy of poverty," in which their school days consist primarily of independently completing worksheets and preparing for assessments. By contrast, children in more affluent schools often experience engaging, hands-on learning opportunities. This discrepancy is identified as…

Across East and Southeast Asia, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is expanding and diversifying. More students from affluent families are 'opting out' of mainstream schooling to take the IB's Diploma Programme (DP), which is marketed as a distinctive skill-based education that prepares students for university. This research investigated how DP…

This cross-sectional study measures decoding and fluent reading skills of a random sample of 250 first- through third-grade students attending a high-SES school. Growth was compared between proficient and struggling readers with results showing the latter group significantly behind their higher attaining peers on all measures. When student…

There is currently much conversation on the issue of the achievement gap as scholars, politicians, and educational leaders continue to grapple with educational inequity and underperformance of students in urban neighborhoods who are mostly Black and Latinx as compared with higher performing students, mostly white, in suburban neighborhoods. This…