This yearlong ethnographic case study investigated higher and lower track adolescents' experiences with core content-area (social studies, science, and math) writing in one urban working-class district. Teacher, student, and administrator interviews; field notes; and students' written work comprised the data set. The findings from this…

Three arguments regarding racial equity have arisen in the school choice debate. Choice advocates charge that choice will improve access to quality schools for disadvantaged minority students (Chubb & Moe 1990; Coons & Sugarman, 1978; Godwin & Kemerer, 2002; Viteritti, 1999). Critics argue that choice is unlikely to benefit minority…

Disciplinary consequences assigned to all Texas middle school Black and White students ("n" = 172,551 Grade 6 students; 173,671 Grade 7 students; 175,730 Grade 8 students) for the 2008-2009 school year were analyzed to determine the extent to which statistically significant differences were present between the proportion of Black…

Value-added approaches for attributing student growth to teachers often use weighted estimates of building-level factors based on "typical" schools to represent a range of community, school, and other variables related to teacher and student work that are not easily measured directly. This study examines whether such estimates are likely…

The lack of achievement of students from high-risk and high-poverty environments necessitates changes in today's middle school environments to create a caring, supportive environment where all middle school students can succeed. This study investigated the classroom learning environments of resilient, average, and nonresilient minority…

This qualitative study explored Teach for America (TFA) alumni teachers' discourse on Arizona language policy, conducted with eight teachers in the Phoenix metropolitan area who received their professional teacher preparation from TFA, a national organization that uses alternative paths to certification to place teachers in low-income schools.…

In the performance-driven culture of education today, though arguments regarding the definition of student success abound, few argue its importance. This issue is complicated with an additional dimension for those who are learning English as a second language. For those students who lack proficiency in the English language, academic content must…

This article argues that metal detectors bestow an organizational stigma to schools. One symptom of this is students' heightened level of fear at school. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and a matched-pair design, this study finds that metal detectors are negatively correlated with students' sense…

In this article, the author examined the AG by noting that the NAEP reported math scores among 17-year-olds is upwardly biased when compared with the scores of this same cohort 4 years earlier when they were 13 years old. It is upwardly biased because an important event happens over the 4-year period between 8th and 12th grade--a large percentage…

A notable increase in the number of U.S. families choosing to homeschool their children in recent years has underscored the need to develop more systematic knowledge about this approach to education. Drawing on a theoretical model of parental involvement as well as research on families' social networks, this study longitudinally examines home- and…

Having a positive attitude about school, valuing school, and being intrinsically motivated is associated with higher grades, graduation, and college attendance. However, the literature reveals that these characteristics and attitudes are not uniform across race, class, and gender. The purpose of the current study was to examine racial differences…

This article focuses on how parental school choices affect the degree of racial and academic segregation in charter schools. The research design allows for a direct comparison of the racial and academic conditions of the district schools students exited to the charter schools they entered. Parents choose to leave more racially integrated district…

Using standardized tests and surveys of eighth graders in China and the United States, this study explores the relationships among family income, parenting, home environment, and mathematics achievement. Focusing on Chinese only children and American children with no more than one sibling, the study found that the mathematics achievement of…

This research examines the impact of gender on the association between sport participation and students' educational opportunities and outcomes by comparing African American male and female eighth graders, including student background and school demographic and organization characteristics. Unlike previous studies it also investigates the link…