Chronic underachievement, as characterized by disproportionate placement of low-income African-American students in low-ability coursework, special education programs, and behavioral remediation persists despite various efforts to address these problems (Children's Defense Fund, 2003; Harris, Brown, Ford & Richardson, 2004; Harry & Klingner, 2006;…

In this dissertation we examine several issues related to the retention of under-represented minority students in physics and science. In the first section, we show that in calculus-based introductory physics courses, the gender gap on the FCI is diminished through the use of interactive techniques, but in lower-level introductory courses, the gap…

Educators are concerned about the loss of instructional time resulting from student suspension. The right to obtain a free appropriate public education must be balanced with the myriad of discipline and school safety issues. The loss of instructional time due to disciplinary sanctions negatively impacts student achievement, possibly resulting in…

The purpose of the study was to examine categories of disabilities and disputes common to special education hearings in the State of Texas between 2006 and 2008, and to determine which party typically prevailed in these hearings. Special education disability was based on the 13 categories identified by the State of Texas. Chi square compared…

This study examined the impact of the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944 (the GI Bill) on African Americans' quest for higher education. The central question guiding this study follows: Why has higher education been so elusive for African Americans? With reference to this question, the following sub-questions were addressed: (1) How can the…

This report compares characteristics of AISD students who had taken career and technical education (CTE) courses or a sequence of such courses, to those of students who had not. The role of CTE in postsecondary employment and enrollment is also examined.

For many years, the responsibility of educating Latino students has been delegated to Latino educators, bilingual teachers, or bilingual directors. Educators have not acknowledged it as a responsibility of each adult hired by the public school system. Although bilingual education has grown into an incredible educational movement, the same…

Youth with emotional and behavioral (E/BD) and other disorders, who in many cases have not received needed interventions and supports in school, are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. This article considers how parents of youth with E/BDs can become more involved in the process when their child is referred to juvenile court, thereby…

At the turn of the century, there was a widespread perception on the part of pupils, teachers, and policy makers that a "problem with school music" existed, particularly at the secondary level. It was hypothesized that one contributory factor was the perceived authenticity of "school music" in relation to "music outside…

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation started the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI). Through this initiative, more than 200 Early College Schools (ECSs) opened by fall 2009. All of the schools aim to provide underserved students access to college classes while in high school. This article will provide an overview of the first 6…

This paper is concerned with the requirements for and implications of, moving from the confines of the conventional concept of the digital divide to one that reflects a world distribution of Internet users with different income levels, with particular reference to those users living in poverty. The first part of the note provides a simple,…

This study examines the underrepresentation of women faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by comparing the intentions of attrition and turnover between genders in Research and Doctoral universities. It is found that the two genders did not differ in their intentions to depart from academia, but women faculty had a…

In 2005 the Texas 79th legislature passed Senate Bill 6, which included mandates to address disproportionality. This article will describe how the Texas Department of Family Protective Services in collaboration with Casey Family Programs' Texas State Strategy systems improvement initiative is addressing disproportionality statewide through…

The involvement of children of color in child welfare has a mixed history. Earlier research has revealed that there was an underrepresentation of minority children in the 19th century. It only grew during the 1970s and 1980s. It should be noted that the widespread concern about disproportionality is not mainly about the disproportionate numbers of…

Although numerous investigations have examined the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in the general population, have special education identification rates of autism kept pace? From the 1992-1993 to 2001-2002 school years, U.S. Department of Education data indicate an increase from 15,580 to 97,904 students with autism, an expansion…