The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federal program that provides free and reduced priced lunch to millions of low-income children in urban schools. Empirical research shows mixed results on the physical and nutritional health of urban students participating in the program. However, a considerable limitation of this literature is that it…

Place-based initiatives, such as the federal Promise Neighborhoods grant, attempt to coordinate interventions, supports, and services with a myriad of organizations to targeted communities. Although Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), inclusive of academic medical institutions, are among the most overall researched anchor institution,…

Obtaining a college degree can enhance many aspects of one's life including health outcomes and lifetime earnings. Given the racial opportunity gap that remains prevalent in the education system, and the gendered racial biases held against Black girls and women, they face many obstacles on their path to higher education. Considering the…

Since "Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education" et al., school districts seeking to voluntarily integrate schools have designed a host of metrics to structure within-school diversity using characteristics of students' neighborhoods rather than the race of individual students. This study utilizes a correlational-multiple…

Chicanos/Latinos comprise the largest racial and ethnic population in the U.S. public K-12 schools, yet hold some of the largest rates of academic underperformance in high school and college completion. This study aims at understanding the academic trajectories of five Chicano/Latino males and their decision to enlist in the military after high…

Student mobility and school discipline are two prominent challenges in urban school districts. The interaction of gender with school discipline in shaping patterns of student mobility has received little attention. This article examines student mobility patterns across gender and the timing of school changes in Clark County, Nevada. The findings…

This study examined teacher perceptions of principals' social justice leadership and their effect on teachers' academic optimism in Taiwan, along with the moderating effects of teachers' gender, position, and school size. While a total sample of 1,470 elementary and secondary school teachers were surveyed, this study applied a multidimensional…

Educational scholars have argued that poverty can hamper student achievement. In this critical discussion paper, we provide a historiography of how urban poverty increased in America over the last 30 years of the 20th century. We contend that educators and educational researchers working in P-12 urban schools should understand how federal urban…

This article identifies seven specific attitudes, behaviors, and skills among academically successful urban Black students and explores the relationship to their achievement. This study examines the academic achievement of 157 Black students and finds that when specific "Successful Learner Characteristics" are present, above-average…

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…

This study uses social network analysis to describe the social network of college mentors in a college access program. Urban students in the program are paired with college mentors-students, professors, and other institutional agents-to help improve their college going process. The study analyzes the social networks within which the mentors are…

In accordance with the Florida Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), students attending public schools that receive failing grades are eligible to receive vouchers to attend a higher performing public or private school. An analysis of standardized test performance across a 2-year period compared students attending "F" schools to…