I have had some success with academic writing. Yet, even after publishing in journals like the Teachers College Record, I still find myself running into moments of doubt about my voice, the purpose of my writing, and how to make my work have the impact it deserves. I offer this commentary to you - the academic writer (at any career stage) - and…

Purpose, Objective, Research Question, or Focus of Study: This paper seeks to understand the withdrawal patterns of students enrolled in an urban community college during the COVID-19 outbreak, by focusing on what students voiced about what made college-going so challenging for them from spring 2020 to fall 2021. What was revealed about their…

Background: Lengthy sequences of decontextualized adult education and literacy program courses pose a challenge to two-year college students' educational outcomes. The Integrated Education and Training model has been suggested as a promising approach to creating accelerated and contextualized pathways from adult education and literacy programming…

Context: For decades, educational leaders and researchers have faced a puzzle: Too often, promising new initiatives are adopted only to be quickly discontinued, while other longstanding practices persist despite efforts to undo them. Purpose: We provide a framework for analyzing both change and persistence that we argue can shed new light on what…

Background: Teacher attrition has become a growing concern in education, particularly as educators increasingly turn to online communities for support and advice during their transitions out of the profession. Social media platforms such as Reddit serve as critical spaces where teachers seek practical guidance and navigate the complex emotions…

Background: By attracting high-achieving college graduates and professional career changers, selective alternative certification programs, such as the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF), promise to address pressing teacher shortages while also improving outcomes in hard-to-staff schools. Purpose: Looking at the main patterns in their careers…

Background/Context: Professional development (PD) programs have been the primary tool school districts have used to improve teachers' knowledge and skills, though the evidence is mixed on the degree to which these investments translate into improved outcomes for teachers and their students. Further, most research has tracked researcher-designed…

Context: Systemic oppression is one of the most pressing problems in U.S. society. However, relatively little is known about the process by which college students become committed to social justice agendas. In addition, systematic empirical inquiries that examine how Asian American students, in particular, develop such commitments are difficult to…

Background and Context: Teacher licensure and certification are complex processes that aim to establish standards of teacher quality by regulating entry into the profession. However, many teachers of color experience barriers when navigating licensure and certification. Purpose: Using racialized administrative burdens as a theoretical lens to…

Background/Context: The underrepresentation of students from lower socioeconomic status (LSES) backgrounds among college graduates with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees, and consequently in STEM occupations, is a concern with respect to reducing, perpetuating, or increasing social inequality. The loss of their…

Background/Context: For more than a century, standardized achievement tests have been a feature of American education. Throughout that time, critics of standardized tests have argued that their use has detrimental effects on students, schools, and curriculum. Despite these critiques, the number and uses of standardized tests have increased…

Background/Context: There is a misalignment in contemporary society between the assumption that all high school graduates can and should attend college and the lack of funding and support to make that happen. This is especially apparent at community colleges that enroll disproportionally low-income students, who deal with a variety of obstacles…

Background/Context: Grit has quickly become one of the leading educational goals and markers of success upheld by many schools, parents, and education policies. This article intends to give us pause in the rush toward grit by revealing some of its shortcomings, including the implications of its individualist and long-term goal focus which leave…

Context: Ongoing teacher diversity campaigns will not increase the net number of teachers of color if policymakers fail to address the disproportionate rate at which teachers of color leave the profession when compared to White teachers. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to fill the empirical gap about the mechanisms that influence Black…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic forced districts to rapidly adjust their policies in ways that altered teachers' working conditions. Teachers' perceptions of how conditions changed could impact their well-being, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Purpose: We examined the relationships between Virginia teachers' perceptions of how…