Annually, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) collects, analyzes, and reports to the Governor and Legislature on disciplinary infractions and their consequences, as reported by school districts, to meet the requirements of the Public School Safety Law, N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46 through 48. This report includes statewide information on…

Students living in poverty and/or experiencing childhood trauma consistently report suboptimal educational results nationwide. The primary focus of this improvement initiative was to build teacher capacity to understand their implicit bias and move from deficit to asset-based thinking in relation to students and families living in poverty.…

This report provides insights into VITAL faculty members' engagement in sustained professional development (SPD) programs, such as faculty learning communities. Throughout the report, we examine how differences in VITAL faculty's career characteristics (e.g., full-time or part-time, promotion opportunities and contract length, career role,…

Diverse-by-design (DbD) schools intentionally recruit students to create a racially/socioeconomically diverse student population. They seek to address historic segregation patterns in neighborhoods and build bridges across differences by intentionally developing diverse learning environments. DbD schools often demonstrate an increase in academic…

The purpose of this article is to present five areas for research and school leadership practice that centre African American girls. An analysis of critical race feminist research published in peer-reviewed articles yielded five themes for inclusive and affirming leadership research and practices: (1) Centring African American girls' and their…

Background: In an era of precipitous insect declines, effective entomology education is especially needed to support firsthand knowledge of nature. Understanding what students know and feel about insects is instrumental to teaching and curriculum development. This study describes the development and validation of a new survey instrument, EntoEdu,…

Background and context: We address the question of what computer science students take the discipline to be. How students conceive the discipline can influence whether a student pursues computer science, what particular area within computer science they focus on and whether they persist in the discipline. In this paper, we examine the epistemic…

This study examined the impact of a classroom-level component of The Inclusive Skill-building Learning Approach (ISLA), an instructional and restorative alternative to exclusionary discipline, on student behaviors and school discipline practices in middle schools. Intervention implementation, classroom observations, and all other data collection…

In this case study, we analyze commentary made in school board meetings by both board members and community members over a period of five years in Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky, as a school safety reform around school policing took shape. We review meeting minutes, public commentary, and policy documents to illustrate how carceral…

Disciplinary action towards racially minoritized students compared to their White peers is disproportionate and these actions often result from teachers' lived experiences, socialized perceptions, or a homogenous teaching workforce consisting of predominantly White middle-class women with limited social interactions with minoritized communities.…

This brief summarizes data from the 2021-22 collection of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)--released in early 2025--for information on access and opportunities for students with disabilities. It marks the sixth time CLE has analyzed data from the CRDC, the primary benchmark of America's ongoing work to build an education system that serves…

This study explores trends and disparities in school discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the persistence of racial gaps in exclusionary practices. Using student-level data from Arkansas from 2017/18 to 2022/23, we study how disciplinary outcomes relate to student race while controlling for factors such as the type and frequency of…

Maryland law allows districts to apply exclusionary approaches to unexcused absences. Exclusionary practices can include removing students from the classroom and preventing students from getting credit for completed work. This report examines how long-standing policies and practices of the truancy system--the application of the unexcused absence…

This review synthesizes research on advanced school surveillance practices, where schools routinely monitor and sort students and their data in pursuit of safety and security goals. Our review of 31 studies confirms the concentrated presence of surveillance technologies in schools serving predominantly poor and minoritized students, and their…

This study examines the distinct and overlapping dimensions of critical and analytical thinking from the perspective of teacher candidates. In the rapidly evolving landscape of the 21st century, these cognitive skills are fundamental to academic achievement and social adaptation. The research aims to evaluate pre-service teachers' tendencies…