In January 2000, the Alternative and Safe Schools Instructional and Support Division (ASSIS) of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) was charged with developing guidelines that determined how districts could establish and maintain effective Alternative Learning Programs (NC DPI, 2014). In 2003, ASSIS produced the first…

Despite various efforts to reduce disparities in discipline referrals among African American males in schools, the gap continues to persist. African American males are disciplined at a higher rate than any other demographic in the United States. What might be the root cause? Could the perceptions of adults in the classroom be a major contributing…

This integrative review examined correlates, mechanisms, and consequences of teacher bias experienced in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in primary and secondary schools in the United States. Education Resource and Information Center, Sociological Abstracts, and Applied Social Science Index & Abstracts were searched to identify…

The Wake County Public School System's AIG 2019-22 Plan is designed to meet the academic, intellectual, social, and emotional needs of gifted and advanced learners with a focus on providing equitable access to AIG programming. To examine progress towards achieving the plan's goals, a descriptive study utilizing a variety of data sources was…

This briefing paper explores Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (Part C) programs may consider implementing to meet the social-emotional and mental health needs of infants and toddlers in the context of relationships with their parents and other caregivers.

The "defund the police" movement has recently called for the removal of police--or school resource officers (SROs)--from schools. This call is driven by concerns that SROs may heighten student contact with criminal justice or lead to disproportionately harsh disciplinary consequences. This study uses linked disciplinary, academic,…

The issue of over identification of students as Specific Learning Disabled is a nationwide problem and Pitt County Schools is no exception. The purpose of this Problem of Practice study was to focus on the implementation and monitoring of a tiered intervention system at the school level. This study looked specifically at improving the "strike…

Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) is an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support colleges seeking to incorporate technology into their advising and student services. In iPASS, such technology is intended to increase advising's emphasis on a student's entire college experience, enabling…

In response to inquiries about the roles of School Resource Officers (SROs), the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) conducted a review of the SRO program using data from several sources: SRO referral and incident data; a survey of WCPSS students, staff, and members of the community; and data from focus groups. Two major themes emerged from…

Purpose: A growing subpopulation of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims comprises mothers who have been mandated to services by either the court system or child protective services (CPS). Two human service agencies in the United States developed a 13-week novel intervention to address these women. All participants were assigned to the…

The Intervention Support Team possesses the vital components to ensure that students receive every opportunity to excel in the classroom before being referred to the special education program. The largest contributors to students referred for special education testing are teachers. The purpose of this quantitative, correlation predictive study was…

Using student-level administrative data from North Carolina, we explore whether exposure to same-race teachers affects the rate at which Black students receive exclusionary discipline, such as out-of-school suspensions, in-school suspensions, and expulsion. We find consistent evidence that exposure to same-race teachers is associated with reduced…

Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, lifelong condition that affects a person's ability to process language, which in turn can make reading and writing more difficult. Between 10 and 20 percent of all people are dyslexic. Providing appropriate reading instruction and intervention for young children by second grade could reduce the percentage of…

This dissertation was designed to examine the impact of Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation, Success (CHAMPS), a classroom management program in elementary schools in a district in North Carolina. The participants included principals and teachers who attended a 2-day training course and implemented the CHAMPS program at their…

Considerable research on African American males (AAMs) in American schools over the past ten years shows that they are underrepresented in every positive measure of educational outcomes, and overrepresented in every negative measure. Many educators have developed low expectations, deficit thinking, and implicit biases toward AAMs and their…