To better understand the critical early years of teaching and teacher identity development, this study explored the mathematics teacher identity of two early career middle school mathematics teachers and the influence of their working communities on its development. Emel and Berk graduated from the same reform-oriented teacher education program…

This case study examines how relationships with staff in a GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) pre-college program positively influenced the college-going aspirations of Black ninth-grade students. Critical Race Theory and Possible Selves provide an intersecting analytical framework for understanding the…

Despite seven decades of policies aimed to equalize the educational inequities and social injustices experienced by people of color, the inequities and injustices still remain. Through qualitative case study and portraiture methodologies, this study examined how a multi-level social network of families, educators, and community members engaged…

The opioid crisis is widely recognized as one of the most important public health emergencies of our time, and an issue that is particularly acute for rural communities. We propose a simple model of how opioids in a community can impact the education outcomes of children based on both the extent of exposure to opioids in the community and the…

This single site case study examined influences on student success, as perceived by twelve selected sixth grade students (ages 11-12), at a mid-West U.S. middle school (grades 6-8). Using a strengths-based positivist approach, it examined how and why participants thought they had been academically successful during their first year of secondary…

Is public housing bad for children? Critics charge that public housing projects concentrate poverty and create neighborhoods with limited opportunities, including low-quality schools. However, whether the net effect is positive or negative is theoretically ambiguous and likely to depend on the characteristics of the neighborhood and schools…

This study was a narrative inquiry that investigated middle school students' experiences with an informal writing group. The six primary participants were members of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMO). During the month of November, each of the primary participants set a word count goal and composed a novel. Participants met together at group…

To enhance understanding of factors that might improve STEM career participation, we assessed students' self-perceptions of competency and interest in science/math, engagement in STEM activities outside of school, and knowledge of STEM career requirements. We show that the primary positive influencer directing students to a STEM career is high…

This study investigates how a group of Mexican immigrant children in the United States made sense of engaging in school and school mathematics. The research focused on a population of Latino/a middle school students who were a distinct minority, building a model that shows how a complex set of cognitive, sociocultural, and institutional factors…

Data from the spring 2010 Minnesota student survey were analyzed in order to quantify the risk for suicide ideation as a function of bullying variability. Other factors available from the survey included alcohol and other drug use, within-family violence and abuse, mental health symptoms. In addition, a factor analysis revealed a protective…

Across the globe, students learn with digital texts, classrooms connect through the world-wide web, and elementary students apprentice in highly technical skills such as moviemaking or animation. As education embarks on the second decade of the 21st century, technology is becoming more sought after than ever before as countries prepare their youth…