Nine distinguished Black scholars created an academically rigorous correspondence school in 1927. It lasted only three years. This article explores the reasons why the school failed.

Globally, statistical analyses have found a range of variables that predict the odds of first-year students failing to progress at their Higher Education Institution (HEI). Some of these studies have included students from a range of disciplines. Yet despite the rise in the number of criminology students in HEIs in the UK, little statistical…

Continuing to study mathematics is currently a requirement for low attaining 16- to 18-year olds in Further Education, as part of an ongoing drive to raise basic numeracy skills in England. However, these students, widely regarded as demotivated, often fail to make any progress in mathematics over the two years. This research explores how students…

Struggle is a behavior that is often perceived in a negative light in education. Students respond to struggle by avoiding them. Likewise, educators respond by removing obstacles (e.g., heavily scaffolded instruction) or providing assistance prematurely. The ability and opportunity to engage in struggle, specifically productive struggle, is…

The International Dyslexia Association definition of dyslexia was updated 20 years ago and has been referenced frequently in research and practice. In this paper, researchers from the Florida Center for Reading Research consider the components of the definition and make recommendations for revisions. These include recognizing the persistence of…

Institutions of higher education are presented as vital pathways to economic mobility, particularly for working class, first generation, and students of color. Yet the inequitable outcomes produced by post-secondary institutions suggest structures and systems of exclusion and enclosure. In this critical mixed methods case study, we explore the…

History teaching in secondary school is intended to be a source of knowledge, hastening the nation-building process and enhancing the critical thinking and analytical skills of youth. It can serve as a tool for promoting peace and social cohesion within a nation. However, in Ethiopia, it has become a source of controversy, suspicion, hostility,…

Since its inception in 2011, Museum Teen Summit (MTS), a youth-led collective dedicated to better understanding and transforming the role of young people within museums, sought to act as a bridge between teens and cultural organizations. Over eight years, MTS built an impressive network of youth and adult professionals interested in specialized…

Research on productive failure suggests that attempting to solve a problem prior to instruction facilitates conceptual understanding compared to receiving instruction prior to problem solving. The assumptions are that during the problem-solving phase, students activate their prior knowledge, become aware of their knowledge gaps, and discover deep…

This work draws on a combination of three theories, dependency (economics theory), the inner plantation as a socio-psychological construct, and plantation pedagogy (education theory) to develop its own educational theory called edutocracy, as a partial explanation of the failure of the West Indian education system in Barbados. It employs document…

While the literature on doctoral writing groups suggests that these groups can have a substantial positive effect on doctoral dissertation completion, little is known about how group practices contribute to their success or failure. This collaborative autoethnography explores the experiences of five doctoral student participants in a peer writing…

In the past six years, more than 40,000 students have failed the AP Music Theory Exam. Students have struggled especially when sight-singing or taking melodic dictation in compound meter and minor tonality. Research has shown that students can improve these specific aural skills through learning pitch and rhythm patterns, improvisation activities,…

Personal experiences and histories shape teacher identities to a great extent. In the domain of personal experience, however, little is known about how experiences of failure shape the process of becoming a teacher. Gaining this insight, however, is important as failure may define teachers and their work, which can further undermine their…

Objectives: This study addresses the challenges faced by students repeating an introductory programming course (CS1) at an online university, where dropout and failure rates remain high. While programming education has been widely studied, targeted interventions for repeating students remain scarce. Our research aims to analyze the experiences of…

Preparing students for science, technology, and engineering careers is an urgent state policy challenge. We examined the design and roll-out of a science testing requirement for high school graduation in Massachusetts. While science test performance improved over time for all demographic subgroups, we observed rising inequality in failure rates…