Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) was the only high school district profiled as part of this project. The high school district is made up of 13 elementary districts that feed into it and has 11 comprehensive high schools, four small specialty schools, three micro-schools, three support schools and a digital…

In the spring of 2020, the US Department of Education updated Title IX guidelines addressing the way campuses investigate gender-based violence. This paper explores how then Vice President of Student Affairs at Phoenix College handled changes to Title IX compliance in the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic while also transitioning to remote…

As downtown Phoenix experiences a wave of new residential and commercial construction, Phoenix Elementary School District #1 (Phoenix #1) is at the center of the largest local demographic change in decades. Phoenix #1 educates more than 6,000 students at 14 schools, from preschool through eighth grade, with many families living in older, historic…

Phoenix Union High School District (PUHSD) has its roots in Territorial Arizona and has served generations of residents as Phoenix evolved from a dusty agricultural town into the fifth-largest city in the nation. For decades, Phoenix Union High School was the lone high school in Phoenix. Desegregation funding makes up approximately 24 percent of…

The Alhambra Elementary School District in Phoenix, Arizona, uses the Standards for Professional Learning to shape and guide their planning and professional learning design, and embeds them in meetings and learning opportunities for district-level directors, specialists, and coaches to ensure they integrate them throughout their work across the…

The problem addressed in this qualitative descriptive design was many K-12 teachers did not have adequate training necessary for effective instruction in online learning. The purpose of this study was to examine the types of training in online instruction for K-12 teachers provided by school districts. The Technological Pedagogical Content…

Founded by mothers long concerned about the safety and welfare of their Black children, Black Mothers Forum (BMF) is an Arizona-based education advocacy group that responded to the COVID-19 crisis by launching two microschools for Black families in Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2021. BMF partnered with Prenda, a well-known microschool provider, but…

The purpose of this quantitative methods study was to determine a relationship between instructional reading strategies and standardized test performance for third-grade students in Phoenix, Arizona, and counties in Arizona school districts. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015…

Black Mothers Forum (BMF) was founded in 2016 to combat institutional racism, including disproportionate discipline, unrepresentative curricula, and racial bullying in Phoenix-area schools. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted public education, the organization launched a network of microschools as outposts of this mission. These microschools were…

This document summarizes the five schools districts profiled during the 2021-2022 school year that are building walls between schools and the justice system, engaging in restorative policies and practices, working to eliminate bias and disproportionality, and providing all children with fair and equitable access to high-quality opportunities. The…

Although prior research finds that poor neighborhood conditions are negatively associated with employment, little study has focused on emerging adults who formerly had contact with the juvenile justice system and are frequently engaged in informal job markets. Using a hybrid model and three waves from panel data with formerly juvenile…

Recess is a critical source of physical, social and emotional health and well-being for children, but generally not prioritized during online learning. A 13-week structured recreation intervention was delivered virtually during recess to students in the fifth and sixth grades (age 10-12 years; N = 71) at one elementary school (Phoenix, AZ, USA).…

Local schools can promote positive social change through expanding shared use of their facilities and campuses. This study investigates the merits of expanding shared use in an urban community in Phoenix, Arizona. Shared use--the use of schools during off-hours--can provide pathways to greater community well-being, specifically through supplying…

White administrators of nonprofit organizations are tasked with the challenge of making the right decisions when their nonprofit seeks to work in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods. They utilize their personal worldviews and instincts to carry out the mission of their organization. The problem is that White administrators use their own…

Background: School connectedness (SC) is associated with improved health and academic outcomes. The purposes of this study were to explore factors contributing to students' perceptions of SC and if participation in structured recreation at school was associated with SC. Methods: We used concurrent mixed-methods including cross-sectional…