This study highlights the efforts of a Detroit-based community research group to understand chronic absenteeism in way that acknowledges its underlying complexities. Employing Participatory Action Research, an intergenerational team members and university researchers examined disconnect between educators’ strategies for addressing students’ lived experiences with barriers regular attendance. The findings reveal school environment characterized by punitive attendance framework constrained...

This study examines the movement of students in suburban Detroit through open enrollment, or inter-district school choice. We examine whether absolute levels and changes district enrollment Black, economically disadvantaged, nonresident are perceived as racial threats by families, leading them to exit their local districts, residential mobility. Using a multilevel discrete time survival analysis, we found that, for each standard deviation increase percentage Black district, resident were...

The national education reform agenda has rapidly expanded to include attention continuous improvement research in education. purpose of this analysis is propose a new approach “developmental evaluation” aimed at building foundation for large-scale school networks, on the argument that doing so essential producing intellectual capital needed replicate effective practices and desired outcomes throughout these networks. We begin by developing rationale developmental evaluation, both illuminate...

Chronic absenteeism in K-12 schools is strongly associated with critical educational outcomes such as student achievement and graduation. Yet, the causes of chronic are complex, environmental, family/individual, school factors all affecting likelihood a attending regularly. This exploratory study examines whether organizational effectiveness has potential to moderate external influences on absenteeism. Using school-level scores from 5Essentials surveys, we find that, traditional public...

Background/Context Chronic absenteeism has received increased attention from educational leaders and policy makers, in part because of the association between attendance important student outcomes. Student is influenced by a range student-, school-, community-level characteristics, suggesting that comprehensive multilayered approach to addressing chronic warranted, particularly high-poverty urban districts. Given complexity factors associated with absenteeism, we draw ecological systems...

This essay combines an ecological perspective with a mobility justice theoretical framework to reconceptualize the relationship between school transportation and educational access. Authors Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Jeremy Singer, Kimberly Stokes, James Bear Mahowald, Sahar Khawaja document problem of “getting school” that is at intersection students’ family, community, social contexts how it goes beyond whether there reliable mode physical transportation. Bringing together historical analysis...

The 2010 Census revealed the extent to which today’s metropolitan areas are growing increasingly diverse. At forefront of this change schools. Yet, research on school context continues rely upon a traditional, cross-sectional bifurcation that designates schools as either diverse or not. This classification may be especially inaccurate for some educational outcomes such whether cultivating effective citizenship democracy. Because changing demographics, paper considers new framework...

The purpose of this study is to advance our thinking about race and racism in geospatial analyses school choice policy. To do so, we present a critical spatial analysis Detroit students’ suburban choices. frame study, describe the racial dynamics choice, drawing particular on concepts opportunity hoarding predatory landscapes. We find that choices were circumscribed by geography concentrated just handful schools districts. also notable differences between students different groups. For all...

This study considers the degree to which attendance policies and practices address chronic absenteeism in a large Midwestern urban school district create suffering Black parents’ experiences. In secondary analysis of longitudinal qualitative data conducted through Afro-pessimist conceptualizations anti-Blackness, we found that district’s antagonize parents ways psychological material distress; educators characterize as problems they must overcome. These findings demonstrate how are...

How much school students attend is a powerful indicator of their well-being and strong predictor future success in school. Prior research has documented the myriad in-school out-of-school factors that contribute to high levels student absenteeism, many emerging from root causes poverty disengagement. The shift online learning during COVID-19 pandemic likely disrupted prior barriers attendance may have created new ones. This sequential explanatory mixed-methods study examined absenteeism...

In severing the link between residential address and school assignment, choice policies have potential to decrease segregation increase educational equity. Yet this promise is undermined when creates greater opportunity for those who are already privileged while limiting access students from historically marginalized groups. This study combines data a new survey of local open enrollment in Metro Detroit, student-level administrative records, geographic critically analyze discretion provided...

Collaborative problem-solving research approaches have the potential to support improvement in educational policy and practice beyond instruction, by facilitating development of a shared understanding complex problems creating social structures where district, community, partners can work together solve them. This study investigates how findings from developmental evaluation district attendance initiative were incorporated into initiation process networked community create narrative about...

Recognizing school improvement networks as a leading strategy for large-scale high reform, this analysis explores developmental evaluation an approach to examining “learning systems” able produce, use, and refine practical knowledge in large numbers of schools. Through case study one network (the New Tech Network), the provides evidence potential power generating formative feedback stakeholders regarding strengths weaknesses their distributed, collaborative learning systems. At same time, it...

Research has documented the complexity of parent decision-making within school choice marketplaces, including ways in which individual preferences, social networks, and geography influence where parents choose to enroll their children school. Yet, choices are constrained by these dynamics intersect with existing characteristics locations. By constructing unique set 'landscapes' for 194 Detroit neighborhoods, taking into account current neighbors attend city, this paper contributes new...

As US public education enrolment grows increasingly diverse, school choice policies create opportunities to break the link between residential and segregation. They also new pathways for families self-segregate into ever more racially isolated schools. This study explores student patterns in Metro Detroit over a ten-year period understand implications of open policy on racial economic demographics. By focusing ten suburban districts that enrol most resident students, we provide initial...

The ways in which the language of reformers intersects with and informs reform implementation is important to our understanding how education policy impacts practice. To explore this issue, we employed critical discourse analysis (CDA) analyze used by a 21st century skills-focused organization promote its program alongside that local actors explain implementation. We examined source materials, field notes, interview data, publicly available organizational data collected over five-year period...

Many problems that we conceptualize as "educational" have multiple causes cut across students' ecosystems. Yet, most education reforms are targeted narrowly at schools, educators, and students. Supporting educators community leaders in conceptualizing educational from an ecological perspective designing policies alignment with conceptualization is critical to improving student outcomes. This study documents the macro-, meso-, micro-level institutional conditions shaped how conceived of...

Wise schools and districts can blend local strategies for improving education with externally developed programs if they ask the right questions.

Students in the Detroit Public Community Schools District (DPSCD) have highest rate of chronic absence (missing 10% or more school days) among large districts United States. Additionally, students DPSCD are poorest country, often lacking access to reliable personal transportation public transit facilitate getting school. Although offers school-sponsored transit, only 30% K-8 were eligible for such 2018 2019. Through use multilevel modeling, we sought identify association between eligibility...

Purpose Federal and state policymakers in the USA have sought to better differentiate performance of K-12 teachers by enacting more rigorous evaluation policies. The purpose this paper is investigate whether these policies are working as intended explore district stressors such funding, enrollment, governance associated with outcomes. Design/methodology/approach authors examined teacher ratings from 687 districts Michigan identify relationship between two outcomes interest policymakers:...