In 2023, charter school advocates continued to make legislative gains in statehouses across the country. These gains were made in red, blue, and purple states, oftentimes in ways that showed bipartisan support for charter schools remains firmly in place. In looking at the results of this year's legislative sessions across the country, four…

By centering students' experiences, youth-led participatory action research can serve as a powerful mechanism for student advocacy and social justice in English classrooms, as demonstrated by the work of Milo Palmer, a transyouth and researcher.

Many Black educators and principals led the nation's schools in the early-to-mid-1900's, when American public education was racially segregated. Black male principals leading predominantly Black schools was commonplace before the United States Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" that ruled that the practice of…

Climate change's health effects are most strongly felt in Environmental Justice (EJ) communities which are predominantly people of color. This results in a disproportionate burden of climate change health effects on EJ communities. Climate change is a public health crisis, and more importantly to pediatricians -- it is a pediatric public health…

Over the course of a year, student authors in the Juntos NC Writing Project participated in the Literary and Community Initiative to write, publish, and share their lived experiences and identities as Latinx immigrants and first-generation high school students in North Carolina. Throughout the publication process of their collaborative bilingual…

In this study, I used a qualitative methodology to investigate the experiences of long-serving Black teachers in American public schools, illuminating their ongoing dedication to the field despite many institutional challenges. Through interviews with these long-serving educators, the study aimed to answer the research question: "What were…

This study examines Mexican-origin first-generation college students' (FGCS) transformational impetus within the sociopolitical context of the Nuevo South. Authors investigate transformational impetus through students' perceptions of knowledge and tools for advocating for equity and social justice in their communities. Results suggest a greater…

Our classrooms haven't kept pace with innovation. The Ford Model T represented breakthrough technology in its day--more than 100 years ago--but it wouldn't serve us well today. Likewise, our traditional classroom model from the same era doesn't work well for far too many students and teachers. In fact, as a result of this outdated model, it is…

Teacher retention is a continuous concern for school districts across North Carolina and throughout America. In high minority, high poverty schools there can be as much as a yearly 50% turnover rate. Having a school culture that is appealing to highly qualified teachers and supportive of effective teachers may be one key in resolving the teacher…

The Oaks Leadership Scholars engage in a year-long program grounded in transformative leadership and framed by Project Based Learning to develop identities as advocates and activists. Analysis of Scholars' reflections throughout the year indicate increased representation of their selves as advocates and activists over time and identifies…

In this article, the authors argue that continued attacks by legislators on public education require that faculty become advocates. The authors examine the issue of advocacy by describing how Imig and Smith's work evolved from traditional research for a scholarly audience to a reactive research model responding to changes in educational policy in…

Out of all the states that have struggled to provide a quality public education over the past decade, perhaps none have seen as precipitous a decline as North Carolina. Once seen as a regional model of progressive education policy, a succession of unfortunate occurrences has severely damaged the public education system. Activists now fight against…

This study explored the experiences of five Latinx Spanish teachers who worked in schools in rural North Carolina and South Carolina. Using data from 25 semistructured interviews and publicly available school/community demographic information, this qualitative multiple-case study sought to answer the following questions: (a) How do Latinx Spanish…

Intermediary organizations play an increasingly important role in public policy related to higher education, particularly related to the completion agenda. This study addresses strategies employed by intermediary organizations to communicate to policymakers regarding college completion. Using rhetorical analysis, we examine 72 documents to…

The term teacher leadership is one that can refer to a differing set of skills and understandings, depending on the context in which it is employed. Providing leadership in a classroom, for example, can be quite different from providing leadership to the profession. Many states, including North Carolina, have developed leadership standards for…