Much of the author's career as a researcher, writer, and teacher has been built on the idea that evidence should inform public policy. What works, why, and for whom? As a young scholar, the author joined large research projects concerning the extraordinarily controversial issue of school vouchers: programs that use tax dollars to fund private…

This article reports on how longitudinal counselling for career construction clarified and promoted the sense of calling of a black woman. Purposive sampling was used to select a woman wanting to promote her sense of calling to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable people. A longitudinal, eight-year, explanatory, and intrinsic case study…

While Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have seen a surge in enrollments in higher education around the world especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear if learners from the economically disadvantaged regions (EDR) are also able to capitalize on them. Specifically, challenges related to using MOOCs in these regions have been reported…

Housing selection priority based on monetary deposit is a practice that colleges and universities across the United States utilize to manage student housing assignment processes. However, this system perpetuates racial, socioeconomic, and other historically oppressive ideological institutions. The prioritization of deposits ranging from $50 USD to…

Faced with the problem of how to measure the magnitude of economic disadvantage in the populations served by schools or districts, researchers addressing school finance topics have invariably turned to the fraction of students eligible for free- or reduced-lunches (FRPL). But the facile dependence on FRPL may be problematic. A large and growing…

Despite much empirical evidence highlighting the harmful effect of socioeconomic disadvantage on educational outcomes, there is a relative lack of understanding of how different risk factors impact upon attainment. Importantly, it has yet to be established what effect, if any, austerity cuts have had on the most disadvantaged students. Using rich…

The number of single mothers continues to grow across the nation, and many are at a socioeconomic disadvantage. Little research focuses, however, on how single mothers describe their experiences of balancing motherhood, work, and pursuing higher education, all while undergoing food insecurity. Lazarus and Folkman's transactional theory of stress…

This study explores the implications of promoting online learning for equalisation, focusing on urban China where online learning is promoted to alleviate socio-economic gaps between rural migrants and urban residents. To achieve equalisation, online learning should benefit disadvantaged individuals as least as much as, if not more than, the…

The study investigated school-to-family communication efforts to improve daily attendance among economically disadvantaged students at the R Elementary School (pseudonym). Research questions during this study included to what extent does a 6-week school-to-family communication initiative impact student attendance rates and what are the existing…

Direct certification has been described by policymakers and academics as a tool which may replace National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data (Douglas Geverdt, National Center for Education Statistics, personal communication, August 28, 2023). It suggests a policy future in which we change the metric of how we identify disadvantage. On…

Involvement with the juvenile justice system carries immense consequences both to detained youth and to society more broadly. Extant research on the "school-to-prison pipeline" has often focused on school disciplinary practices such as suspension with less attention on understanding the impact of school referrals to the juvenile justice…

Studies in low-resource settings suggest that multiple aspects of early childhood development are sensitive to the relative poverty of a child's environment. We examined whether direct, quantitative measures of early developing cognitive functions show a similar association with relative poverty. Eye movement latencies were recorded in children at…

Early childhood (EC) education is increasingly becoming an inclusive environment where children with and without disabilities can learn and participate in shared daily activities and routines. Parental advocacy and engagement are pivotal factors in enhancing the quality of inclusion for children with special needs, meeting their unique…

This study adapts the English Social Mobility Index (smi) to the Scottish higher education system, addressing the distinct socio-economic and policy landscape of Scotland. The analysis evaluates the role of Scottish universities in promoting social mobility by examining access, retention, and graduate outcomes, using data tailored to the Scottish…

This paper evaluates a Hungarian gifted education programme aimed at providing equal opportunities for students with social and economic disadvantages. In the context of a retrospective study, the differences in academic success and learning pathways were examined in a cohort comprising a group that participated in the programme and a group that…