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In this study, we examine eight social and emotional outcomes (e.g., student engagement, sense of belonging) analyzing differences for students who attend racially diverse schools. Drawing on survey responses from roughly 26,000 students, we find that racially diverse schools are associated with more positive social and emotional outcomes for all students. Strikingly, we find that these outcomes are most uniformly positive among white students, whose families have long represented the strongest opposition to systematic racial desegregation. In light of these results, this study has implications for educators, advocates, researchers, and policy makers during a time of renewed attention to school integration.

Since 2006, the Thomas W. Payzant School on the Move (SOM) Prize has been awarded annually to a Boston public school that has made significant progress in improving student achievement. This case study identifies the structures and strategies that best serve students in prizewinning schools and provides a profile of each of the four winning schools from 2006 to 2009. We also explore some of the opportunities and barriers the schools have faced in sustaining their success over time. A common case study methodology was employed, using school observations and interviews with school leaders, staff, and students. Findings reveal the importance of distributed leadership, data-driven instruction, and student-centered approaches to learning in achieving school success.

In the United States, there is enormous controversy about how teachers ought to be prepared and licensed. Many of the sharpest controversies stem from acute public skepticism about whether formal teacher preparation is really necessary at all given the lack of conclusive evidence that teacher preparation has a direct impact on students' achievement. With these larger issues in mind, this article presents a review of recent research that empirically examines the connection between teachers' education and either teaching practice or teacher retention (or both). The literature in six distinct genres of research is reviewed with cross-genre conclusions and implications.