The literature base on Restorative Practice (RP) outcomes suggests that schools that adopt RP experience reductions in suspensions/expulsions and improved school climate. Yet data suggests disproportionality in exclusionary disciplinary practices persist. Less is known about whether there are differences among student populations in their…

Although efforts for educational reform and innovative practices have grown (e.g., the Every Student Succeeds Act [ESSA]), data and research findings from multiple sources such as the Nation's Report Card (NAEP) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2022), confirm consistent achievement disparities in learning and dropout rates…

With the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act, schools can now be measured for success in ways other than student test scores, including student engagement. This study examines how urban math and science teachers are controlling classroom elements for student engagement, defined as a composite of affective, behavioral, and cognitive…

The Every Student Succeeds Act supports personalized learning (PL) to close achievement gaps of diverse K-12 learners in the United States. Implementing PL into a classroom entails a paradigm change of the educational system. However, it is demanding to transform traditional practice into a personalized one under the pressure of the annual…

How students feel about their schools--their perception of the safety, inclusiveness, and rigor of the school environment--has important implications for their happiness, engagement, and academic success. A wide variety of research suggests that a positive school climate contributes to students' academic engagement, growth, and success. These…

Purpose: To help protect students from school employee sexual misconduct, this qualitative case study examines implementation of school employee sexual misconduct policies in five geographically and demographically diverse school districts that experienced incidents of school employee sexual misconduct in 2014. Method: Data were collected from 92…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 supports states and districts in implementing personalized learning, a student-centered approach designed to help all students develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities that will prepare them for college, a career, and life. Personalized learning emphasizes: (1) developing trusted and caring…

English Learner (EL) students in the United States are historically lower achieving students than their native- English-speaking peers. There are a number of contributing factors for the achievement gap. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Education has undertaken various initiatives to address some of the known factors to improve education…

The overarching goal of this project is to tell a genuine story of Latino students across the U.S. public school system in order to counter negative narratives about these students, their families, and communities, and to point to systemic solutions that must be considered by school administrators and teachers, school districts and states, federal…