This qualitative phenomenology study examined parent liaisons and their lived experiences of collaboration and communication with families to support their children's social-emotional well-being before, during, and after the pandemic. Due to COVID-19, government restrictions mandated in-person learning shift to remote learning from March 2020 to…

The number of students struggling with chronic absenteeism, while on the rise prior to COVID-19, appears to have increased dramatically since the onset of the pandemic. This dissertation explores the challenges faced in a suburban middle school in Western New York throughout and following the COVID-19 shutdown. Data from the district's student…

Community schools serve as the hubs of their communities by providing wraparound services and enrichment opportunities to students and families in need. If children lack eyeglasses, dental care, mental health counseling, school supplies, winter coats, sufficient food, or stable housing, a community school would connect students and families to…

Legislation outlined in ESSA (2018) pushes schools to address the needs of the diverse populations within the school community as well creating a place for equitable family engagement. This study focuses on the family rather than the parent. Due to changes in family dynamics it is necessary to incorporate not just the parent but all members of a…

The National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) was founded to expand the use of evidence-based decision-making in rural education. NCRERN partners with networks of rural school districts to generate and evaluate strategies for improving student outcomes. During the 2020-21 academic year, over 40 rural districts in New York and…

Several decades of research has generated a near-consensus on the link between positive student outcomes and effective engagement between educators and families. Despite the widespread acknowledgement of this connection, many educators continue to struggle to engage families in ways that are both culturally responsive and sensitive to power…

Researchers have demonstrated the need for teachers to have the training and preparation to meet the needs of a growing diverse student population that can include students who may present with a variety of needs. This research will explore the experience of educators teaching students who are learning English as a second language and present with…

The Coalition for Community Schools (Coalition), as an alliance of national, state and local partners that advocate for community schools, wanted to provide support and a space for community school leaders to share their challenges and successes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning March 17, 2020 through the present, the Coalition conducted…

Given the influx of immigrants and refugees over the past several years, newcomer students are found in the classrooms of small towns, suburbs, and big cities across the country and they bring with them a world of culturally diverse experiences and knowledge. Newcomers face myriad challenges to adapt and succeed in their new home and schools. They…

There is an increasing need for equitable instructional practices that support diverse student populations. Equitable and inclusive teaching involves cultivating awareness of the dynamics that shape classroom experiences and impact learning. It requires an honest review of structures and supports in place and a commitment to being responsive to…

Last spring, the Covid-19 pandemic upended routines for over 56 million students and challenged more than 3.7 million teachers in over 130,000 schools nationwide to continue educating kids in an online format. This transition to "virtual learning" was understandably trying for all educators, schools, and districts, but some managed to do…

The overall purpose of this case study is to examine biliteracy and its effects on a young child's orthographic and writing growth. The analysis of the kindergartener's spelling development and compositional growth in reference to both language systems indicates that biliteracy had a positive effect on the student's acquisition of English…

REL Pacific at McREL, one of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), serves educators in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap), Guam, Hawai'i, the Republic of the…

Out-of-school factors can significantly impact students' readiness to learn and thrive in school. Preventing dropout is a challenge because students fail to complete high school for a myriad of reasons that involve factors inside and outside of schools. This article describes City Connects, an intervention implemented in schools in Massachusetts,…

The author recalls his long ago work with an immigrant student that the school system declared to have a learning disability. Instead, it was the system that was unable to learn how to connect with the child and his family, a task that simply required listening and a walk across the street.