As low-income youth of color seek to persevere and succeed against the odds, afterschool programs have become a growing resource and support for many of these low-income youth and their families. However, the body of research concerning the impact of afterschool programs is largely inconclusive and there is still a growing urgency to determine the…

As diversity grows in the United States, schools are tasked with supporting diverse students. This dissertation explored the concept of social and psychological inclusion as a potential protective factor for marginalized students. It examined the variables of inclusion, marginalized group membership, and student outcomes using the California…

In addition to the cross-cutting need to improve adequacy and equity in education investments, this policy agenda presents the current statewide priorities of The Education Trust-West, who continues to advocate for investments, policies, and practices through research, reports, events, and legislative efforts while engaging with educators,…

In this ever-changing work environment, the value of a graduate business degree is increasingly questioned. In response, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) conducted a longitudinal study of over 3,600 individuals around the world from their first consideration of business school to successful graduation. Participants' survey…

Educational leaders of diverse student populations that traditionally struggle academically are charged with implementing transformative leadership practices to build strong effective teams that produce results for all students no matter race, socioeconomic status, language, at-risk status, etc. (Donohoo, Hattie, & Eells, 2018). Traditionally…

Despite the representation and significance of Asian American students to enrollment and graduation goals of U.S. colleges and universities, Asian Americans are fundamentally invisible in critical leadership roles that make decisions and drive policy at these institutions. Scholarship points to racism and white supremacy in U.S. higher education…

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a promising framework for addressing academic and disciplinary disproportionality for racial and ethnically minoritized (REM) students, yet these problems continually manifest in schools that implement PBIS with fidelity. In response, researchers have developed culturally responsive PBIS…

Coloniality permeates across realms and leaves no systemic stone unturned in its path. As such, coloniality manifests in our education system through a variety of practices, policies, and procedures that center Western-European modern rationality and White supremacy. To disrupt and decenter these unilateral paradigms within our schools is to…

Historically, research has focused on academic underperformance for students of color and those living in poverty, with less attention given to protective factors that promote academic achievement. Students' perceptions of their school environment (i.e., school climate) and their social-emotional competence have emerged as protective factors for…

Many students use financial aid to pay for their collegiate education, specifically gift aid and student loans. While gift aid is free, it has not kept up with increasing college costs, which has led to borrowing student loans. Students believe borrowing loans are an investment in their employment goals (Baker et al., 2017; Dwyer et al., 2012;…

Several factors, including stigma and help-seeking behaviors, create barriers to college males seeking professional mental health services. Previous research has focused on socialization, masculinity ideologies, and attitudes to explain this disparity. However, little is understood about how this population's coping style, race, and psychological…

This qualitative study explores a pedagogical approach that centered participants' epistemic authority to select the ways of knowing and focus for their practices of science. Guided by Black feminist theory, the program facilitators and participants engaged multiple cultural practices to (re)define science practices and (re)center participants'…

The scholarly application of representative bureaucracy (RB) theories to research on public school systems has explored the connections between the race of teachers and administrators to policy outputs and student outcomes, suggesting own-race effects between teachers and students positively impact student outcomes accepted as susceptible to…

Mental health is a growing concern faced by college administrators. Self-stigma is a major barrier preventing mental health utilization and recovery on college campuses. The purpose of this research study is to understand how self-stigma influences the mental health experiences of college students. The research study builds upon narrative…

This article depicts a qualitative narrative study that reflects on the educational paths followed by three generations of Black women from rural Mississippi. The purpose of this study was to expand the documented footprint of Black women's educational experiences in the rural Deep South by exploring my own educational experiences as a researcher…