The COVID-19 pandemic created numerous disruptions for schools and districts that are still being dealt with heading into year three of the pandemic. These disruptions significantly impacted approaches and initiatives that were being set in motion prior to the pandemic. However, recent political and social shifts in U.S. society have exacerbated…

To reduce the number of chronically absent students in schools annually, cities and municipalities across the United States have implemented programs, initiatives, and invested resources into educational reforms that would lead to improvement in school attendance. Drawing on ecological systems theory and interview data, we examined how…

This proposal begins with a critical race commentary on how the current day anti-Asian racism is nothing more than a similar playing out of the United States's handbook on anti-Asian sentiment. Then the paper takes a narrative turn employing Pinay methodologies such as "kuwentos." Each "kuwento" illuminates how Pinay…

A substantial body of research has shown how white, middle-class parents in urban school districts use school choice as a tool to pursue educational advantages for their children. The purpose of this qualitative research was to examine the debate over neighborhood schools and school choice among a diverse group of parents in a gentrifying, yet…

Understanding why and how stakeholders become involved in education governance, and with what consequence, is critical to the success of any equity-minded participatory policy. This area of inquiry is especially salient to California's education law called the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). LCAP requires local district officials to…

Voucher proponents have increasingly pursued empirical evidence on the effectiveness of vouchers as a form of education improvement, in addition to advocating for vouchers on moral or ethical grounds. Voucher proponents contend that randomized assignment studies of students in voucher programs have consistently confirmed the effectiveness of…

Recent advances in conceptualizing structures of influence in education policymaking have emphasized the role of nongovernmental actors working in networks to promote their agendas. These useful insights have allowed researchers to consider the evolution from "government" to "governance" in education policymaking, broadening…

This article explores the territory that has been covered since the publication of Ladson-Billings and Tate's 1995 article, "Toward a Critical Race Theory in Education." We organize our review of the CRT literature around what we are calling CRT "boundaries." We identify six boundaries for CRT and education: 1) CRT in education…

A case study of a Latinx parent-school engagement program is presented illustrating how immigrant parents became collective political actors providing input into their California school district's formulation of its Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The LCAP was part of newly adopted statewide Local Control Funding Formula policy providing…

U.S. educational policymakers and equity advocates often frame the negative ramifications of racial inequality in schools in terms of worries about the nation's future global economic competitiveness. This article draws on frame theory (Snow & Benford, 1988) and education organizing theory (Warren & Mapp, 2011) to argue that educational…

Although researchers consider them powerful, teacher policy advocates are among the least studied stakeholders in U.S. public education reform today. Although plenty of attention has been given to the impact of policy on teachers' work, little research explores how teachers interpret or interact with policy. Drawing on the work of Spillane,…

In recent years, several states have engaged in significant action surrounding a key policy area-- teacher policy reform. In Florida, for example, the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 736, the Student Success Act, heralded substantial shifts in the boundaries defining the profession of teaching in the state. Through SB 736 and its unsuccessful…

A barrage of pro-privatization policies that cascaded into North Carolina education statutes during the 2013-2014 legislative session helped spark a series of organized protests known as the Moral Monday Movement. Powerful and strategic policy networks, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), have made privatization and…

Across the United States, a counter-network of teacher activists is engaged in the development of grassroots organizing structures to advocate for social justice, resist the privatization of public education, and increase union democracy. The United Caucuses of Rank and File Educators (UCORE) is a national network of more than 20 union reform…

In this article, Kelley and Mead consider changes in the policymaking process in Wisconsin before the election of Governor Walker, in the early years following his election, and in the months preceding passage of the 2015-17 biennial budget. Kelley and Mead argue that in Wisconsin, serious and significant attacks to public education motivated by…