This article presents findings from a qualitative study exploring parents' struggles over their children's education. Drawing on affective practice theory (Wetherell 2012) and feminist care ethics (Fisher and Tronto 1990), we offer insights into the affective practices of care driving parents' educational activism. We detail how parents' activism…

Contemporary environmental crises are often attributable to a growing disconnect between humans and the natural world. One potential solution to this disconnect, as it relates to children, is the naturalizing of school playgrounds. This paper seeks to contextualize the impacts of a school ground naturalization program on the outdoor play and…

While parent involvement has been shown to have positive academic outcomes for their children, for structural changes to be made, parents have to go from being active to taking on a more activist role, thus "stoking the flame" of the norm. Parent advocacy and empowerment groups play a vital role in the transformation of parent activists,…

Since 2011 DC School Reform Now (DCSRN) has worked to help families in the city's most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods find success with school choice and enroll in high-quality schools. DCSRN's parent advocates focus on understanding the families they serve and the barriers they must overcome--an approach that requires flexible,…

Refugee youth attend schools in every state in the United States. Yet, little is known about their schooling experiences or the ways in which schools engage their parents. In this paper, we resituate notions of parent involvement by focusing on the interactions between refugee parents and U.S. schools drawing on data collected during a twenty-six…

Washington, D.C., has looked to school choice as one way to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged students. School choice attempts to "level the playing field" between students of different backgrounds by making it possible for all families to have access to a city's high-quality public schools--whether students live near these…

This narrative inquiry concerns preschool education in the USA. It describes and analyses the barriers and possibilities for inclusion/exclusion that educators and parents of young children in a West Virginian community believe that it poses. The researchers present a case study designed to examine the context of inclusive education as revealed in…

UNCF conducted this study to shed light on African American grasstops' perspectives toward education reform and how they work to develop community-centered strategies to address disparities in schools. One narrative about the lack of engagement by local grasstops in education reform is that they do not care or are not informed about the topic.…

This study is a critical discourse analysis of the New Jersey Opt-Out Movement. In 2015, and in response to the increasing standardization of US public school instruction, and over-use of high-stakes testing, NJ parents began to refuse to allow their children to take a key end-of-the year exam, the PARCC. We employ the concepts of master and…

In May 2013, this author moderated the first mayoral debate in New York City. It was held at New York University with hundreds of parents, students, and teachers in attendance. There were more than sixty media outlets, including MSNBC. The debate had attracted national press, thanks to Anthony Weiner's entry the day before into the New York City…

This paper examines the discursive strategies employed by advocates of Parent Trigger laws in the United States which allow parents of children in "failing" schools, in some states, to call for interventions in the operation of the schools via petition. The paper reviews the genesis of Parent Trigger laws, the network of conservative…

This dissertation examines the effects of participation in grassroots organizing on the capacity and commitment of public school parents and community members to engage in future activism. The study used a mixed-methods research design, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected from individuals involved in seven exemplar…

In their last column, the authors described a Gold Standard School--a place in which all children thrive including the gifted and talented. The Checklist for a Gold Standard School, which is included in this article, highlights the main characteristics of such a school including a focus on continuous progress, talent development, policies that…

I examine the development of my political clarity and its relation to the exercise of humanistic violence as a K-12 teacher in the United States. Reflecting upon my experiences as a classroom and community educator, I conclude that the mission of forging a new humanity is currently not possible from within the U.S. classroom. Presenting a series…

Urban districts throughout the nation are contending with declining enrollment, aging facilities in disrepair, persistently low student achievement, increased competition with charters, and severe fiscal constraints. Philadelphia is a case in point. Over the past year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was forced to borrow $304 million…