In early 2014, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released data illustrating how racism and structural inequalities impact schools today. Some of the most startling findings from these data include the following: although African American students account for only 18 percent of U.S. pre-K enrollment, they account for 48 percent of preschoolers [our emphasis] with...

The history of this text begins with the power of story. As a teacher for more than twenty years, many of the stories contained in this volume are based on my own experiences. Now as a teacher educator, I often wished to find case studies where my students could struggle with issues that they would eventually face within their future classrooms.

This volume includes cases pertaining to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, discrimination and harassment, culturally responsive pedagogy, intersectionality, et cetera. Each case requires the reader to look beyond the facts, by providing guidance on current research and policy. Each case provides the reader with additional information that will assist them in making informed decisions....

This case explores how schools reproduce race and class inequality through discipline policies. Non-dominant students (students of color, i.e., persons primarily of African American and Latina/o ancestry who may also practice non-standard English language usage) often find themselves at odds with the culture of schools. Under these conditions, issues of misperceptions and proportionality become...

Because most teachers and educational leaders are not also researchers, the field of education is rife with faddism. Some authors and proponents of educational reform are quick to take advantage of this fact. This case challenges the reader to sift through proposed educational solutions to the pressing problems faced in classrooms and schools for their veracity and make evidence based decisions....

This case is based on the real case of Derek Henkle (2001) who was awarded $451,000 in damages because his school failed to protect him from harassment. But, unfortunately, Derek is not alone. Bullying and harassment in education greatly impacts lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth.

Brown v Board of Education (1954) was the U.S. Supreme Court case declaring separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v Ferguson (1896), which upheld state-sponsored segregation in public education. The Brown decision declared de jure racial segregation a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Although the United States purports to be a nation of individuals free to express their religious liberty, our history is rife with the banning and burning of books, religious and otherwise. This case asks the reader to examine whether public school teachers should be free to engage students in the discussion of various religious traditions. This case also hints at the aspect of the customer...

As the United States becomes increasingly multicultural, cultural competence and the ability to effectively lead and advocate for an array of diverse students and their families is a requirement of twenty-first century leaders. This case has been written to reflect the need for educational leaders to create and sustain a school culture and instructional programs conducive to student learning...

This case describes the summer slide, or what happens when students refrain from reading and other academic pursuits during the summer months. Students who do not read over the summer will lose more than two months of reading achievement (Reading is Fundamental, n.d.). Summer reading loss is cumulative. By the end of sixth grade, children who consistently lose reading skills over cumulative...

The policies and legal issues raised in this case include English Only movements, the education of immigrant and ethnic student populations, the Third-Grade Reading Guarantee, and the banning of Ethnic Studies courses and programs in Arizona.

Gender inequity remains a problem in all areas of education. Gender inequity tends to occur most often as a result of adherence to the philosophy of essentialism, or the notion that there are fixed characteristics women and men possess, which influences what it means to be feminine or masculine. This philosophy perpetuates the idea that the traditionally held ideas of women as more nurturing and...

School choice and the use of vouchers for education have fueled the expansion of virtual online charter schools. This redirection of tax dollars contributes to the idea that virtual school success is comparable or even superior to the performance of traditional public schools, and to the misperception that virtual charter schools and traditional public schools are subject to the same governmental...

Abington v. Schempp (1963),5.82 ,