Public support for market-based education reforms persists despite evidence that these reforms exacerbate the educational marginalization of Black and Brown students. Even among Democrats and ostensibly equity-minded policy actors, support for reforms like charter schools is widespread. How do people come to support racially stratifying policies despite their supposed commitment to ethic of social justice? The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the theories of unconscious racism (Lawrence, 1995a) and moral disengagement (Bandura, 1999) in the state takeover of a majority Black school district by a majority white state government. Methods included a critical race analysis of Doe v. Arkansas Department of Education (2016) and a critical discourse study of the state takeover speech of elite white policy actors. Findings included two parallel appeals: to the legal precedent on which Lawrence based the theory of unconscious racism, from the court in Doe v. DOE; and to the mechanisms of moral disengagement, from white policy actors justifying the takeover. It is therefore plausible that public support for racist education policies is a result of morally disengaging policy rhetoric, and that these policies are protected by strict legal obstacles to discrimination claims. Recommendations include increased political involvement on the part of school leaders, including principals; further critical policy studies of pre-adoption policy discourse and policy outcomes; and deeper interdisciplinary investigation of the moral disengagement of individual policy actors and citizens in an education policy arena.

In an attempt to maintain on-time graduation rates and reduce dropout rates, school districts, such as the one in this study, implement credit recovery programs. In an effort to improve student graduation rates and address graduation disparities, the Virginia school district in this study implements a summer credit recovery program that utilizes accelerated online learning as opposed to traditional direct instruction. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the summer program as it relates to the success of student credit recovery and verified credit achievement to determine if there is a correlation to program participation and remaining on-track for on-time graduation. The program evaluation focused on the short term outcomes of the summer online credit recovery program for high school students. The study analyzed four years of post ex facto data. The findings show a relatively high rate of participation of economically disadvantaged, special education, and Black students. The results of this study show that the online credit recovery program is an overall effective instructional method for students in need of recovering failed credits. Results show significant success for students enrolled in English and math courses, a moderate level of success for social studies courses, and a marginal level of success for science courses. There is no correlation between final course grade and accompanying SOL test, and the SOL pass rate was 23%. Ultimately, participation in the summer online credit recovery program proved likely to keep students on-track for on-time graduation.

Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation rate. We compared the number of mathematics and science courses students in a STEM magnet program completed to the number of courses completed by students not participating in a STEM magnet program. Additionally, we surveyed teachers and administrators to learn their perceptions of student success factors in STEM magnet programs. There was a positive difference in graduation rates with a low effect size. The differences in the number of math and science courses completed were not practically significant. Moreover, magnet students earned a statistically significant higher GPA than non-magnet students. Furthermore, teachers reported a high degree of teacher efficacy, while administrators rated themselves higher on general leadership ability than on STEM leadership. We recommend clearly defining STEM education, additional professional development for teachers and administrators, streamlining accountability for STEM programs, and continuing to invest in STEM education as a pathway to producing college and career ready students.

This qualitative study examined the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in Virginia and how this implementation impacts student achievement. Three research questions were the focus of this study. First, how is a local rural district implementing components of ESSA related to school improvement? Second, what are principals' beliefs about the potential benefits and liabilities of the implementation of ESSA regarding school improvement? Finally, what are the recommendations to principals regarding improving the implementation of ESSA to enhance the effectiveness of school improvement? This study supported the idea that entrepreneurial or creative thinking is essential in providing sustainable success for improvement in schools. A document review of school improvement plans found that schools contained elements of best practice and were in alignment with the requirements for school accountability under ESSA. Structured interviews were conducted to explore principal beliefs and perceptions of ESSA accountability and school improvement policies. Common themes identified from school improvement plans included recognition of gap groups, specific academic goals for gap groups, steps or initiatives to close gaps groups, implementation of social emotional learning, and steps to increase attendance. Common themes from principal interviews included principals identifying the benefits of evaluation measures beyond standardized testing, participant understanding of ESSA and social emotional learning as an intervention.

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While K-12 schools have been making efforts to integrate culturally responsive curriculum and instruction, the voice and representation of Black female students has been largely ignored. Overdisciplinary practices, high dropout rates, a likelihood to be incarcerated, exposure to sexual violence, and familial obligations have negatively impacted the academic achievement of some Black female students. Thus, educational leaders can try to find ways to acknowledge the unique needs of Black female students through reconceptualizing curriculum. The purpose of this study was to examine current curricula within a particular school district for strategies and practices that may be responsive to the needs of Black female students, as well as to include the voices of Black female students who attended schools in the same district to examine their perspectives. The reconceptualist theoretical framework, as well as existing literature on Black female students’ needs, and culturally responsive curriculum methodology was used to create a coding framework. A qualitative content analysis (QCA) was conducted with the collected data (i.e., existing curricula and interviews from Black female students) using the coding framework. Four categories emerged and maintained throughout the QCA for reconceptualizing the curriculum in response to the needs of Black female students: student ownership, collaborative and authentic experiences, critical pedagogy, and cultural responsiveness and cultural competence. Educational leaders can integrate strategies, such as goal-setting, cooperative learning, including diverse perspectives in materials, and assessing students’ prior knowledge, into the formal curriculum to respond to Black female students’ academic needs.

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Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation rate. We compared the number of mathematics and science courses students in a STEM magnet program completed to the number of courses completed by students not participating in a STEM magnet program. Additionally, we surveyed teachers and administrators to learn their perceptions of student success factors in STEM magnet programs. There was a positive difference in graduation rates with a low effect size. The differences in the number of math and science courses completed were not practically significant. Moreover, magnet students earned a statistically significant higher GPA than non-magnet students. Furthermore, teachers reported a high degree of teacher efficacy, while administrators rated themselves higher on general leadership ability than on STEM leadership. We recommend clearly defining STEM education, additional professional development for teachers and administrators, streamlining accountability for STEM programs, and continuing to invest in STEM education as a pathway to producing college and career ready students.