Education Commons^™

Reading On The Ropes: A Pilot Study Of An Accelerated Remediation Program With Alternative High School Students, Joanne V. Coggins, Laura C. Briggs

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

High school students must read to learn curriculum, yet few interventions are proven to substantially help close literacy gaps for older students with reading deficits. Students with large literacy deficits particularly benefit from explicit, systematic instruction of interventions emphasizing the structure of language (i.e., phonology, orthography, syntax, morphology, semantics, pragmatics), aspects of cognition (i.e., problem solving, attention, reasoning, and inferencing), and organization of spoken and written language.

A 14-week pilot study of Readable English, a reading intervention using these structured literacy elements, provided embedded interactive orthography to scaffold online grade level content for students at two alternative high schools ( …

Defining Critical Literacy: A Challenge To A Power Structure, Matt Albert

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

Defining the concept of critical literacy is a difficult task because of its inherently murky boundaries. As time has progressed in the last four to five decades, attitudes and perceptions of literacy have shifted in ways which necessitate a redefining of the concept. This paper presents a retelling of an actual task presented to a graduate student by his committee. In that task, the committee asked for a concise (150 words or fewer) construction of a definition of critical literacy. This article begins with a very brief reflection on the task itself followed by the execution that attempted to circumvent …

Building A Culture Of Collaboration And Shared Responsibility For Educational Equity Work Through An Inclusive Teaching Community Of Practice, Francesca Marineo, Chelsea Heinbach, Rosan Mitola

Collaborative Librarianship

For libraries to be equitable spaces as educational institutions and places of employment, it is necessary that educational equity be a shared, collaborative goal. Unfortunately, equity and inclusion work in libraries has historically been an individual pursuit that falls disproportionately on the shoulders of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) library workers. Communities of practice employ social learning principles to facilitate praxis and offer opportunities to develop shared goals, language, and responsibility. This article explores how we developed and implemented an inclusive teaching community of practice with members of our instruction department in order to foster a culture of …

“They’Re In The Shadows”: School Counselors Share The Lived Experiences Of Latino/A Undocumented Students, Katherine E. Bernal-Arevalo, Sergio Pereyra, Dominiqua M. Griffin, Gitima Sharma

Journal of College Access

Latino/a undocumented students are among the population of students who are in danger of not graduating or pursuing college due to the unique set of challenges they face navigating education in the U.S. This study aims to understand undocumented students' experiences and the factors that impede them from furthering their education. As professionals in education, school counselors can offer a unique perspective on the barriers that college-bound undocumented students face when pursuing higher education. Using a phenomenological approach, data was gathered from counselors (N=14) across 10 school districts. The findings revealed undocumented students are faced with a myriad of challenges, …

Learning From The History Of Language Oppression: Educators As Agents Of Language Justice, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo, Ferial Pearson

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

There is a long history in this country of language oppression that has led to policies currently in place that affect the way educators are asked to teach. Therefore, educators must understand national and local language policy to know how it affects their students and how they can perform their duties as educators. Even though the U.S. does not have an official language, states have enacted language policies through court decisions and legislation. These policies have led to students being denied access to English as a Second Language (ESL) and bilingual education programs, resources, and accommodations, all of which lead …

Interdistrict Choice And Teacher Beliefs: Implications For Educational Expectations, Equity, And Policymaking, Eric P. Ambroso, Erin Rotheram-Fuller, Daniel D. Liou

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Interdistrict choice, which allows families to choose between schools outside of their districts of residence, is currently serving more students than any other choice program in the United States. Yet, despite this popularity, there is a pressing need for more research on how interdistrict choice may affect educational equity within U.S. public schools. Drawing on the analytic framework of educational racial contract, this study examines the issue of teacher beliefs in the context of interdistrict choice at a large, urban high school in Arizona, where market-based school choice programs have been continually expanded for nearly three decades. Data were collected …

Rethinking Constitutionality In Education Rights Cases, Joshua E. Weishart

Arkansas Law Review

Education rights cases often devolve into a farce of constitutional brinkmanship played by a miserable cast of reluctant courts and recalcitrant legislatures. Between successive rounds of litigation and tepid legislative fixes, come threats of impeaching judges, closing schools, stripping courts of jurisdiction, and holding legislators in contempt. Despite all the bluster, judges and legislators both anxiously await the curtain call, when they can bow out and terminate the matter. In the end, what passes for constitutionality in the successful cases is a school funding scheme judged “reasonably likely” or “reasonably calculated” to achieve an adequate or equitable education—as opposed to …

Pushing The Field & Practice: Ofelia García’S Reflective And Responsive Approach To Educational Innovation, Laura Ascenzi-Moreno, Sara Vogel

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Ofelia García’s vision for educational equity for emergent bilinguals has always put children and their agency within social contexts at its heart. This essay draws upon Ofelia’s own writing and the experiences of the authors -- a current and a former student of hers -- to explore how centering people’s dynamic bilingual practices has been a source of innovation for bilingual education theory and practice.

A Baby Boomer’S Journey On The Path To Gender Equity, Sheri Williams

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

This personal poem chronicles a baby boomer’s journey on the path to gender equity and access. The poem recounts events that shaped the author’s positionally as a woman and educator. The journey starts with early life experiences, narrates events in the author’s schooling and career, and springs forward to a more just and hopeful future. Readers are invited to pen their own past, present, and future journey by considering how their lives have been influenced by the intersections of age, gender, class, race, political belief, culture, history and other subjectivities.

The National Commission On Education Excellence And Equity: Hypotheses About Movement Building, Christopher Edley Jr.

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 2013, the congressionally chartered national Commission on Education Equity and Excellence issued unanimous recommendations for P–12 policy changes at the federal, state, and local levels. This remarkably broad consensus, with unusual pragmatism and concreteness, is comprehensive in its scope and predominantly research based. As a clarion call and reform strategy, the commission report, For Each and Every Child, is a successor to A Nation at Risk (1983); the commission’s grand if not grandiose intention was to provide a framework for the next decade or more of nationwide policy struggle. This article, after briefly summarizing the recommendations, focuses on …

School-Based Legal Services As A Tool In Dismantling The School-To-Prison Pipeline And Achieving Educational Equity, Barbara Fedders, Jason Langberg

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Working With Science Teachers To Transform The Opportunity Landscape For Regional And Rural Youth: A Qualitative Evaluation Of The Science In Schools Program, Grania R. Sheehan, Jennifer Mosse

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article reports on a qualitative evaluation of the Science in Schools program; a suite of science based activities delivered by staff of a regional university campus and designed to provide professional development for science teachers working in non-metropolitan schools in a socioeconomically disadvantaged region of Australia. The research identified a range of issues including: the influence of socioeconomic disadvantage and rurality on teachers’ professional learning needs, and the importance of subject specific discourse communities and content knowledge for new and out-of-field teachers. Implications for the design and implementation of school-university partnerships are discussed.

Improving Educational Opportunity And Equity Through School District Consolidation In Maine, Christine Donis-Keller, Beth O’Hara-Miklavic, Janet C. Fairman

Maine Policy Review

In 2007 Maine passed sweeping school district consolidation legislation mandating a reduction in the number of Maine school districts from 290 to approximately 80. The primary goals of the policy were to improve the educational opportunities for all students in the state; and to reduce costs through increased efficiency in the delivery of education programs and services. Based primarily on interviews with district leaders, this article describes the impacts of Maine’s school district consolidation policy on educational opportunities and equity within 24 regional school districts, one year after their mergers. Findings illustrate the different choices districts made when consolidating their …