Urban Education Commons^™

Transforming Advising And Improving Outcomes: Assessing Impacts Of Advising Changes, Amy S. White, Tailisha Gonzalez, Elgloria Harrison

Publications and Research

Abstract

Background: Earning full-time credit loads and persisting are how college students successfully graduate.

Objective: We measured whether credits and persistence at an urban, commuter Hispanic/Minority-Sserving Iinstitution improved after implementing a social work-based advisement strategy.

Methods: Using a quasi-experimental methodology on a college’s enrollment database, we measured the impact of a new advisement model on earned and attempted credit loads to compare traditional student advisement within control groups (n = 171 and n = 899) relative to intervention (n = 130).

Findings: In 2024, the intervention group attempted an average of 14.7 credits and earned an average of 14.3 credits, …

Stories Of Social Transformation And Resistance: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Culturally Sustaining Practices Of Teachers Of Color, Daniel E. Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, persistent inequities in schooling have intensified the need for asset-based  frameworks, such as culturally sustaining pedagogies (CSP), to support students from  communities that have been historically racialized and minoritized. At the same time, growing  political and social resistance to practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has created  barriers for schools and teachers seeking to implement culturally responsive approaches to  teaching and learning. Using narrative inquiry, this dissertation explores the stories of three culturally  sustaining teachers of color to understand how they enact resistance and pursue social  transformation in their classrooms and schools. Through an examination …

Centering Well-Being And Wholeness: Exploring Racial Battle Fatigue Among Black 3-K To Twelfth-Grade Teachers, Olubunmi Fashusi

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study, with some descriptive statistics, examined Black 3-K through 12th- grade teachers’ experiences with racial battle fatigue (RBF), the psychological and behavioral stress responses they perceived most accurately convey how RBF manifests for them, and the strategies they used to disrupt RBF’s impact. Participants experienced compounded RBF due to advocating for students (i.e., speaking out, supporting, or intervening). Participants’ most perceived psychological stress response to RBF was racism awareness, and most perceived behavioral stress response was spirituality or religion. Participants disrupted the impact of RBF through intrinsic care (i.e., purpose or why, managing emotions, and self-care) and …

New York State Excelsior Scholarship Program: A Post-Implementation Analysis Of Student Success, Eligibility, And Indebtedness – An Intersectional Study Of Black And White Female Students, Marcus I. Richardson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The New York State (NYS) Excelsior Scholarship Program, introduced in 2017, was designed as a “first-in-the-nation” tuition-free initiative intended to expand college affordability for undergraduate students attending public institutions in New York State. While the program aims to increase access to higher education, its eligibility requirements, particularly the expectation that students complete 30 credits annually through continuous full-time enrollment, may disadvantage students whose academic pathways diverge from traditional enrollment patterns. This study examined the relationship between structural, financial, and academic factors and students’ ability to retain Excelsior Scholarship eligibility at the City University of New York (CUNY). Using institutional data …

A Phenomenologically Informed Study Of Black Male Preservice Teachers’ Lived Experiences: Professional Socialization, Social Representation, And The Redesign Of Teacher Education For Equity, William A. Anders

Student Theses

This qualitative research explores the experiences of Black male preservice teachers in New York City’s teacher education programs. To examine the underrepresentation of Black male preservice teachers, the research employs Critical University Studies and Critical Race Theory to investigate the institutional barriers they face. Using semi-structured interviews with seven participants and reflexive thematic analysis, the findings revealed six paramount themes: Pathways in Teaching, Representation and Identity, Experiences in Teacher Education, Racial Bias and Institutional Challenges, the Role of Mentorship and Support Networks, and Teaching Philosophy.

Participants described the challenges that Black male preservice teachers face, including isolation, economic hardships, unsuitable …

The Role Of White Racial Identity Development In Leadership Practices: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study In White Educational Leaders, Kaitlyn Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined how white educational leaders experience and make meaning of their racial identity development as they lead adult professional learning focused on racial equity and culturally responsive practice. Grounded in Helms’s White Racial Identity Development (WRID) model and guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study explored the lived experiences of ten white leaders across PK–12 and Institution of Higher Education (IHE). Data were collected through three semi‑structured interviews per participant and analyzed using IPA’s six‑step process. Five major themes emerged: transformational experiences that shifted leaders’ understanding of race and privilege; the critical role of white affinity …

A Seat At The Schoolhouse Table: Reimagining Education Through Afrofuturist And Womanist Theory, Natasha M. Capers

Student Theses

“A Seat at the Schoolhouse Table: Reimagining Education Through Afrofuturist and Womanist Theory” critically examines how curriculum, even when well-intentioned, can perpetuate harm by excluding the lived experiences of marginalized communities—especially Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ students. Using a real middle school immigration assignment given to the author's son as a case study, this capstone deconstructs the structural biases embedded in curriculum design and proposes a radical reimagining through the liberatory lenses of Afrofuturism and Womanism. Blending scholarly inquiry, personal narrative, and community-based interviews, this project offers a restructured assignment that centers joy, identity, and speculative storytelling as tools for educational …

Quantifying Educational Impacts Under The Nypd's Stop-And-Frisk Era, Matthew T. Stanton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project examines the educational and economic impacts of the New York Police Department's "Stop, Question, and Frisk" (SQF) program, implemented predominantly under "Operation Impact" from 2003 to 2022. Using data from the NYPD and the American Community Survey, the study explores correlations between high rates of stop-and-frisk encounters and reduced educational attainment among targeted demographics, primarily Black and Hispanic young men. It contextualizes the socioeconomic consequences of SQF policies, including their effect on lifetime earnings and community trust. The project highlights the limitations of data correlation, advocates for further longitudinal and qualitative studies, and suggests frameworks for mitigating inequities …

Sweating The Small Stuff: Exploring Consequence Assignments And Academic Outcomes In A No-Excuses Charter Network, John G. Stevens

Theses and Dissertations

Schools utilize a range of consequences to maintain order and safety. Some employ zero-tolerance policies accompanied by exclusionary tactics like suspension (Martinez, 2009; Muschert et al., 2014). Suspensions are criticized for their disproportionate assignment to students who are Black, male, assigned an IEP, and receiving lunch assistance (Cholewa et al., 2018; Skiba et al., 2002), as well as their deleterious associations with academic achievement (Chu & Ready, 2018; Morris & Perry, 2014; Noltemeyer et al., 2015). Charter schools espousing a no-excuses philosophy often adopt a “Sweat-the-Small-Stuff” (STSS) approach focused on correcting minor (mis)behaviors to prevent more egregious ones (Whitman, 2008). …

Twenty Years Of Community-Based College Success: Oral Histories From Practitioners, Partners, And Peer Mentors Supporting City University Of New York (Cuny) Students, Benjamin J. Carey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For the past twenty years, community-based college success programs have supported a generation of young people entering all twenty-five City University of New York (CUNY) Colleges. As the country’s largest urban university system, CUNY has historically been a major engine of economic mobility for young people in New York City. However, gaps in academic preparation and navigational support have weakened student persistence and graduation rates. Community-based organizations (CBOs) that have provided college access support to New York City public school students since the 1980s began to extend their services into college to provide targeted interventions and improve student outcomes. Grounded …

Transforming Afterschool Programs Into "Engines Of Development": A Policy Analysis Of The Federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Jane Quinn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although schools receive most of the attention in discussions of and research about educational policy, an equally important—and under-investigated—arena is the non-school hours. American students spend more time outside of school than in school, and a host of studies have shown that the ways young people spend their discretionary time can greatly influence their short-term and long-term outcomes. Issues of educational equity are deeply embedded in the topic because opportunities to participate in high quality out-of-school learning experiences are not evenly distributed in American society. The single most important policy target in this aspect of student life is the federal …

Let ‘Em Talk: An Exploration Of And Challenge To The White Supremacy And Colonization Of Black And Brown Girls In United States Public Schools, Keara Small

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The United States Department of Education’s mission statement is described as evolving to “Promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” A key piece of this statement is educational excellence and equality. The pathway to educational excellence and preparation is founded on public school students growing aware of their culture, identity, and history. My objective in this research is to discuss educators’ perceptions and misconceptions about Black and Brown children — especially Brown and Black girls—who attend public schools across the United States. Present-day research regarding school discipline policies and the “policing” …

The Cop In Your Head: Criminal Justice Education, Liberalism, And The Carceral State, Nicole Haiber

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis centers policing ideology in higher education and the way it is constructed and fortified through criminal justice programs. In 1968, the Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) made funds available to police officers to attend college and awarded grants to universities to create criminal justice programs. The program effectively funneled federal money into the project of professionalizing the police and developed criminal justice as a field devoted to conducting crime research, as defined by the federal government. Criminal justice programs exploded across the country with the availability of LEEP funding, and the City University of New York’s (CUNY) John …

Bc Bound: A Pathway Designed To Support Non-Traditional Students, Fiona J. Chan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper reviews the creation and practices of the Brooklyn College BC Bound Program, focusing on its mission and structure. The BC Bound Program is a one-semester service at Brooklyn College that admits and supports individuals with their high school equivalency diploma. Through an interview with a coordinator of the program and students who completed the BC Bound Program in their first semester, we can understand its positive impact on college students in their first semester and beyond. Program structure is key in analyzing the process by which the BC Bound program is and can be implemented effectively. Under the …

The Reproductive Health And Academic Impact Of The New York City School-Based Health Center Reproductive Health Project For Adolescents, Michelle Silverio

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Gaining an understanding of how school reproductive health policies impact adolescent sexual health and academic outcomes is a public health priority in the United States (U.S.) since it has the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among developed nations. Adolescence is a critical developmental period and influences in this period affect reproductive health and social well-being over a person’s entire lifespan. Almost all adolescents spend the majority of their time in school settings; therefore local school reproductive health policies may have substantial lifetime impacts. Policies such as providing comprehensive sexual health education and contraceptive access in …

Democracy For Homework: A Review Of Civic Engagement In Urban Public Schools, Amanda B. Rosenblum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Civic engagement education prepares students to actively engage in social and political processes and influence community change. Many educators believe that civic engagement ought to be a central mission of schools because: 1. Adolescent civic engagement predicts adult civic engagement; 2. Schools may be able to reduce the inequity in political participation between individuals of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and 3: Civic engagement orientation and competencies can be developed through any and all content courses and extracurricular opportunities. This literature review on civic engagement education in urban public middle and high schools over the past 15 years explores: 1. …

Goals, Power, And Culture: The Effects Of School Organizational Features On Parental Involvement, Vandeen A. Campbell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Drawing on organizational theory and the school effectiveness literature, this project incorporates new methodological approaches to the analysis of a national longitudinal data set (ECLS-K: 2011) in order to investigate ways in which school goals around parental involvement, distribution of power, and culture affect parental involvement in children’s education, especially in schools serving large proportions of lower socioeconomic status families.

Parental involvement is widely accepted among researchers and policymakers to be essential for students’ academic success; however, parents with lower socioeconomic status exhibit less participation in both home-based and school-based activities compared to those of higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

Many recent …

Racial Integration, White Appropriation, And School Choice: The Demise Of The Colored Schools Of Late Nineteenth Century Brooklyn, Judith R. Kafka, Cici Matheny

Publications and Research

This study examines school desegregation in late-nineteenth-century Brooklyn from a spatial perspective, analyzing enrollment data and policy debates within the context of the shifting racial and geographic contours of the city. We argue that “choice” on the part of black families only partially explains the demise of designated-black schools during this period. White interests also played a role in the closing of these institutions, as white families and developers sought, and ultimately acquired, control over formerly black spaces. This study contributes to a growing body of research on school desegregation in northern U.S. cities by exploring the perceived benefits of …

Despite Overcrowding, School Siting Process Stalls New Buildings, Megan Conn

Capstones

More than half of New York City’s 1.1 million students attend an over-utilized school, where the number of students enrolled exceeds the official capacity. But for years, the School Construction Authority has been slow to identify and acquire sites to build new schools. When City Council ordered a task force to review nearly 30,000 potential sites, the SCA excluded parent representatives from the analysis process, then reported that only two sites could potentially be used for schools. Though the SCA contracts with commercial real estate brokers to identify sites, the agency has declined to specify how many sites the brokers …

Promoting Inclusion In A "Struggling School": Supporting Co-Teachers Through Critical Appreciative-Inquiry Based Professional Development, Louis Olander

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the extent to which the beliefs and practices of teachers who work in a “struggling” school can be shifted towards inclusiveness through an action research based professional development program. The school was struggling in that it was charged with the education of children who are marginalized by a range of social forces while simultaneously accountable to institutional priorities. Broadly speaking, these institutional priorities preferred behaviorist punishment and technocratic approaches to meeting student needs, devaluing and decontextualizing students’ proficiencies as test scores and special education labels, in turn impeding inclusive change. Over the course of four months, an …

Tensions, Dilemmas, And Radical Possibility In Democratizing Teacher Unions: Stories Of Two Social Justice Caucuses In New York City And Philadelphia, Chloe Asselin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the tensions, dilemmas, and radical possibilities faced by two social justice caucuses in democratizing their teacher unions: the Movement of Rank-and-File Educators (MORE) in New York City and the Caucus of Working Educators (WE) in Philadelphia. It asks: What radical possibilities and structural constraints are generated and/or illuminated by educator activists in MORE and WE? To frame the research, this dissertation examines the historical, political, economic, and social contexts in which the caucuses exist and the daily realities that they face; provides an overview of educational and union politics in New York City and Philadelphia; and analyzes …

Class Matters: School Affluence And Other Predictors Of Attainment For Wealthy And Poor Students, Alison Brockhouse

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Public schools in the United States are becoming increasingly segregated by socioeconomic status. Though the educational consequences of socioeconomic segregation are well researched, segregation is often ignored or exacerbated by education reform. To learn more about the wider implications of socioeconomic segregation, this study utilizes theoretical frameworks derived from Max Weber’s theory of social stratification to analyze over 10,000 students’ experiences from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) 2002, 2004, and 2012 waves of data collection. More specifically, this research explores the impact of attending an affluent high school on long-term educational attainment. It finds …

P.S. 25, South Bronx: Bilingual Education And Community Control, Laura J. Kaplan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Through a methodology of oral history interviews with primary subjects and archival research, this dissertation explores the creation and evolution of P.S. 25, The Bilingual School, the first Spanish-English bilingual elementary school in New York City, as well as the entire Northeast. The Bilingual School, founded in 1968, was a product of the civil rights movement in the United States and one key manifestation of that movement in New York City, the struggle for community control of schools.

Latinos in general and Puerto Ricans in particular have been written out of the official narrative of the educational civil rights movement …

Place-Based Learning Across The Disciplines: A Living Laboratory Approach To Pedagogy, Karen Goodlad, Anne E. Leonard

Publications and Research

Faculty participants in a fellowship designed to engage students at an urban commuter college of technology in their general education curriculum evaluated and redesigned their courses to include place-based learning (PBL) using the Living Laboratory model of pedagogy. Focused on faculty perception of the relationship between PBL and its influence on general education, the study illustrates how faculty from across disciplines apply PBL techniques to revitalize general education learning outcomes. Findings include the influence of the fellowship on the design of PBL activities and perceived levels of student engagement, especially when compared to more traditional classroom instruction.

Family–School Partnerships And The Missing Voice Of Parents, Laura R. Stein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Educators, researchers, advocates, and others agree that effective family-school partnership is an important component in best supporting the academic outcomes and future success of students. However, schools and educators struggle in forming constructive partnerships with racially and economically marginalized and oppressed parents and families, particularly low-income Black parents and families. This compromises support for low-income Black students that are already served in underfunded and under-resourced schools compared to their White middleclass counterparts. Further, this phenomenon exacerbates a widely understood academic achievement gap between low-income Black students and White middleclass students. In seeking to unearth and better understand effective strategies and …

“I Feed You. I Clothe You. I Send You To School”: Barriers To Involvement Of Low-Income Minority, And Immigrant Parents For The Academic Achievement Of Their Children, Myrtle Dickson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Parental involvement has long been held as a critical variable in the academic outcomes of students. While research in this area consistently cites the positive impact of parental involvement across all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, much still remain to be discovered regarding the parental involvement as well as the cultural parental practices that are unique to low income African American, Hispanic, and immigrant parents and families. Furthermore, this population of parents faces barriers to involvement that provide challenges not only for families but also for schools. Administrators and teachers in the k-12 settings must still consider the forms of capital …

Pipeline To Failure: Social Inequality And The False Promises Of American Public Schooling, Adia Wilson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My experience as a New York City public school student was absolutely electrifying, though filled with many trials. While my mother would have preferred to put me in private school, having access to some of the world’s greatest institutions and resources offered unique opportunities and exposures. The performing arts provided me with an outlet to express myself and build skills and confidence. In particular, dance education kept me occupied and disciplined in a large city full of danger. Every so often, I witnessed hostile, or even violent exchanges between students, or students and staff. While some of my schoolmates became …

Institutional Theory And The History Of District-Level School Reform: A Reintroduction, Judith R. Kafka

Publications and Research

In this chapter I make my case for the utility of institutionalism for historians of education, first by explaining institutional theory and how it has been applied to, and shaped by, the study of schooling, and then by applying new theoretical developments to district-level historical research using examples drawn from earlier chapters in this volume. Ultimately, institutional theory may help us to interrogate Tyack and Cuban’s notion of institutional change in schools, by elaborating on their construction of the change process through specific, embedded, settings, and by rethinking how we determine what “counts” as change in schools and districts.

“Just Get It Done”: How The New York City High School Admissions Process Is Re-Defining The Work & Identities Of Professionals In Screened High School-Programs, Heather Rippeteau

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The implementation of the high school admissions process in the New York City Public schools, has re-defined the work and identities of professionals working the screened high school-programs. This study uses descriptive statistics culled from the Directory of New York City High Schools for 2007 and 2017, and interviews with school personnel from three screened school-programs, to review the impact of the implementation of this process during its first full decade in existence. These data establish the fact that screened school-programs are experiencing the phenomenon of marketization by way of their admissions process. Further, the implementation of this process generates …

Examining School Leadership In New York City Community Schools, Stacey Campo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The community school model is rooted in John Dewey’s (1902) conceptualization of the public school as a hub for the community. The model has recently been identified as part of New York City’s school turnaround strategy and continues to gain prominence nationally, because of this, it is essential to identify the key components of an excelling leadership partnership. This dissertation describes findings and recommendations from interviews with principals and community school directors in ten New York City community schools. These interviews were triangulated with analysis of the New York City school environment survey utilizing both faculty and parent responses. This …