The study of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) within a social and emotional learning (SEL) program is timely as it supports the increasing body of literature on narrowing the educational gaps prevalent among Black students. Current research is lacking regarding if and how educators utilize CRP to support the learning of SEL competencies with…

Teachers significantly impact students' academic success amidst life difficulties and societal influences (Harlacher & Merrell, 2010; Malureanu & Enachi-Vasluianu, 2021). This qualitative research study was designed to understand the impact of implementing a district-wide social-emotional learning initiative from the teachers' perspective.…

This study examines implementation of college-and-career-ready (CCR) education standards across five school districts in Ohio, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Drawing on the policy attributes theory, we found that the specificity of districts' approaches to two long-recognized policy levers, curriculum and professional…

The Working Group on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Learning Differences was launched in 2021 as an initiative of the Global Cities Education Network (GCEN). Fourteen school districts each worked to implement a unique action plan designed to strengthen SEL supports in their district, including for students with learning differences. Districts…

Purpose: System reforms ask educators within and across organizational levels to interlace their individual practices into a collective practice so they can enact a different, more equitable schooling system for students. System reforms require educators to coordinate their work with their colleagues in ways they are not trained, incentivized, or…

The achievement gap has a long history in the United States of America which is demonstrated by inequitable graduation rates. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019, the continued genocide and murder of countless Black and Brown people, civil unrest demonstrated by protests nationally after the execution of George Floyd and countless others,…

High-impact tutoring has emerged as a primary school district investment for addressing learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. While existing research shows that high-impact tutoring is effective for accelerating student learning, this study examined the school-level facilitators and barriers to scaling high-impact tutoring.…

School districts historically approached conflict-resolution from a zero-sum perspective: suspend students seen as disruptive and potentially harm them, or avoid suspensions and harm their classmates. Restorative practices (RP) -- focused on reparation and shared ownership of disciplinary justice -- are designed to avoid this trade-off by…

Restorative practices is an approach to build relationships within a community. Its purpose is to prevent conflict and wrongdoing and respond to wrongdoing after it occurs. This article provides an introduction to restorative practices, including implementation challenges, success stories, and tips on how to get started. By adopting positive and…

The problem this research study investigated was the readiness of the selected district's administrators, instructional coaches, and teachers in implementing a standards-based grading (SBG) initiative. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the district's elementary administration, instructional coaches, and teachers' perceptions…

This paper reports on a study that explored the roles of district and community-based education structures (DCES) in preparing, implementing, and communicating education policy initiatives at the district and school levels. A descriptive multiple-case survey design involving three purposefully selected districts was employed. The study used a…

Boston Public Schools (BPS) serves approximately 49,000 students across 119 schools and is dedicated to providing equitable, high-quality education for every student, regardless of background or circumstance. While schools create improvement plans, they can struggle to use them as an adaptive tool. Central office leaders often collect these plans…

Background/Context: Rural districts often struggle to provide organizational structures that support knowledge-building and sharing among educators, contributing to the challenge of change implementation in rural contexts. Although prior scholarship identifies social relationships centered on trust as important for fostering educator learning, we…

This guide describes the use of a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework, like positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), to restart classrooms and schools in a manner that all students, families, and educators are supported effectively, efficiently, and relevantly. This guide is not a primer on MTSS or PBIS. (For a basic…

Background/Context: In recent decades, federal policymakers have pushed for education to be a more "scientific" endeavor. While scholars have considered the implications of this orientation for educational researchers, less attention has been given to its impact on educational practitioners. Purpose/Focus of the Study: By focusing on the…