School-wide approaches to increase college-going can potentially improve postsecondary education outcomes for all students. The ongoing process and challenges to establish such approaches are, however, little understood. Using qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with leaders at five public high schools in the Southwest,…

This article explores issues that secondary general education teachers face in planning lessons that include students with disabilities. We briefly explain the concepts of inclusive education and inclusive pedagogy and then identify six tenets of inclusive instructional planning: high standards for everybody in the class, multiple entry and exit…

We examined the practices, beliefs, and attitudes of secondary teachers in order to identify factors that led to success for non-dominant-group students. We found a unique paradigm among educators whose students of color and/or poverty showed no achievement gap. Rather than coming from a deficit perspective or one expecting assimilation, those…

This study examined the behaviors that teachers in eight large urban high schools in a Northeastern state considered important for good teacher-student relationships. A factor analysis of teacher (N = 103) survey responses revealed three factors related to student behaviors: (a) demonstrating engagement and interest in schoolwork; (b) being…

Feature films provide a significant form of historical evidence about a culture even when they are fictional. Like books, films are texts that can be analyzed, questioned, and discussed. Vintage films can, therefore, add a valuable new dimension to the history classroom. This article examines how popular films of the 1940s reveal the values,…

Successful schools acknowledge that collective responsibility for student learning occurs when strong teacher relationships and collegiality are present, but few school interventions are aimed at improving outcomes for teachers. In this study, a nonequivalent wait-list control group design was used to test the effects of teacher-to-teacher written…

Creating a learning environment where all students can thrive academically requires an understanding of the complexities of classroom management. The notions of "discipline," "conformity" and "obedience" that have littered discussions of classroom management in the past are no longer sufficient to describe the diverse…

This single site case study examines the ways a particular STEM school in its first year of operation meets the unique needs of freshmen students with disabilities (SWD). Specific research questions address primary supports and challenges to the learning of SWD, and the working relationship among general and special educators and administrators. A…

Paraprofessionals are critical to special education service delivery in inclusive classrooms where they are used to support teachers in reading instruction. This qualitative case study examines the use of paraprofessionals in reading instruction in an adolescent reading program. The study focuses on their roles, training, and the feedback…

The degree to which students think, feel, and act engaged in school plays a vital role in their chances for academic and life success, yet levels of student engagement remain low. In this article, we focus specifically on how engagement works in the classroom, namely as a function of the interactions between students, teachers, and the class…

Emerging research suggests that teachers' perceptions of fairness with respect to interactions with school administrators, decision-making processes, and decision outcomes can contribute greatly to understanding effective schools. This study of Virginia public high schools used correlational analysis to measure the strength of the…

Many minority students enter the university without the discursive ''codes of power" that they need both to find academic success and to self-identify as scholars. High schools and college preparatory programs too often ignore the role that academic language and literacy play in success at the college level. Even when academic…

Recent research on the college application essay has shown that essay prompts are misleading, and that the expectations of admissions officers remain largely implicit. These studies have not, however, examined how essays written by low-income, ethnic minority students are scored by admissions officers. For this study, forty-two seniors at a…

This article provides teachers and administrators with a description of foundational principles and curricular approaches to create meaningful educational experiences for secondary students with intellectual disabilities in inclusive general education classes. The four principles provide: (a) the least dangerous assumption, (b) partial…

Including students with special needs in the general education classroom is being widely promoted in the public schools. This practice places a heavy burden on the general educator who is often inadequately trained to meet the needs of such a diverse classroom. Co-teaching has been one of the support strategies used to address the challenges and…