Books by Donald Easton-Brooks
Rowman & Littlefield, 2016
Data are from the Book, Ethnic Matching: Academic Sucess of Students of Color
Rowman & LittleField, 2019
These data is from my book, Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color
Rowman & Littlefield, 2019
Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color is an in-depth exploration on the impact o... more Ethnic Matching: Academic Success of Students of Color is an in-depth exploration on the impact of ethnic matching in education, the paring of students of color with teachers of the same race. Research shows that this method has a positive and long-term impact on the academic experience of students of color. This book explores what makes this phenomenon relevant in today’s classrooms. Through interviewing quality teachers of color, this book sheds a light on the impact these teachers make on the academic experience of students of color. This approach is meant to provide all teachers valuable insight into techniques for engaging with diverse learners. Also, from these conversations, the book shows how the intentionality of culturally responsive practice can enhance the academic experience of students of color. Topics such as the challenges of recruiting and retaining quality teachers of color, as well as the valuable work being done on the local, state, and national level to promote diversifying the field of education as a way to provide equitable education for all students is also explored in this book.
The book is a collection of thoughts and poems that reflect the hills and valleys of life. The bo... more The book is a collection of thoughts and poems that reflect the hills and valleys of life. The book is a collection of thoughts and poems the author wrote from junior high school to adulthood. From a young age, the author used poem as a way to cope with life and the challenges it presented to him as he grew. The book represents challenges to find love, with God, with society, with past demons, and with self.
Papers by Donald Easton-Brooks
Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Mar 24, 2010
European American students are more likely delayed entrance in kindergarten than African American... more European American students are more likely delayed entrance in kindergarten than African American students. This study examined whether age at kindergarten entry influences the reading proficiency skills of African American and European American students at the start of kindergarten, at the end of first grade, and at the end of third grade. Using a sample of 1,320 African Americans and 4,399 European American public school students from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-K-5, the study found that age at kindergarten entrance had a significant effect on the reading proficiency at the start of kindergarten and by the end of third grade. In addition, the study found that when entering kindergarten when age eligible, the reading proficiency skills of African American and European American students were not significantly different and neither was the reading proficiency growth between kindergarten and third grade.
Journal of Negro Education, Oct 1, 2007
Teachers College Record, Apr 1, 2018
U.S. public schools are becoming increasingly diverse. By 2025, it is predicted that students of ... more U.S. public schools are becoming increasingly diverse. By 2025, it is predicted that students of color will make up more than 55% of the school population across the United States. However, teachers and leaders of color make up less than 20% of the education workforce across the country. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015) establishes a policy goal to increase the number of educators of color. Yet, the policy must go beyond simply increasing the number of educators of color; rather, the policy must assist schools in transitioning and engaging with a new generation of public school students and teachers of color. This study employed a qualitative approach informed by a narrative case study design to explore the challenges schools face in increasing the quantity and quality of racially diverse educators. The researchers examined a school district facing a rapid demographic change over a relatively short period. The findings showed challenges at multiple levels and cultural/racial systematic challenges facing many U.S. public schools. The researchers conclude with recommendations to multiple stakeholders (i.e., public schools, teacher preparation programs, leadership preparation programs) who impact the process of leading schools through the transition into highly diverse communities of learning.
Routledge eBooks, Feb 25, 2021
Journal of Social Research Policy, Dec 1, 2012
In this study, the Personal Wellbeing Index (International Wellbeing Group, 2005) was used to ass... more In this study, the Personal Wellbeing Index (International Wellbeing Group, 2005) was used to assess the wellbeing of 213 gifted college students who entered university in either an early-college-entrance program or entered at normal ages and were accepted into an honors college. One hundred twenty-two participants were students from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS). TAMS is an early-college entrance program allowing gifted students to enter college after their sophomore (second) year of high school, approximately 15 to 16 years old at the time of entrance to the University. Ninety-one participants were students who attended the UNT Honors College. Honors College students are gifted students who enter college at a traditional age in America, after high school graduation (18 to 19 years old). This study also examined the participants' general self-efficacy, beliefs about of intelligence, hope, gratitude, religiosity, and resiliency; and assessed any mediating effects they had on personal wellbeing in the high-ability college students. Data analysis included latent transition, general linear model, repeated measures, and regression. Results of the study revealed that dispositional mood and hope-agency were significantly related to the development of personal wellbeing for high-ability students during their first year of college regardless of age. Knowledge of psychological constructs that are facilitative of the positive personal wellbeing helps parents, teachers, administrators, and counselors prepare gifted students for success in college and beyond.
Theory Into Practice, Oct 1, 2020
The purpose of this article was to problematize the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Bl... more The purpose of this article was to problematize the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Black women teachers in an effort to promote awareness, research, and action. Black women teachers impact the educative and socioemotional needs of all students. However, this impact is most noticeable when Black women serve large populations of Black students. Yet, Black women represent a population of teachers who remain consistently underrepresented in K-12 classrooms. Moreover, Black women consistently represent a substantial portion of the teachers who are "pushed out" or involuntarily exit the classroom each year, and they represent a small percentage of those new to the profession. Despite these trends, few educational policies and programs target the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Black female teachers. Based on our expertise and educational praxis, we utilize empirical research to characterize these challenges and provide solutions for consideration and refinement.
Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers
Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers
Theory Into Practice, 2020
The purpose of this article was to problematize the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Bl... more The purpose of this article was to problematize the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Black women teachers in an effort to promote awareness, research, and action. Black women teachers impact the educative and socioemotional needs of all students. However, this impact is most noticeable when Black women serve large populations of Black students. Yet, Black women represent a population of teachers who remain consistently underrepresented in K–12 classrooms. Moreover, Black women consistently represent a substantial portion of the teachers who are “pushed out” or involuntarily exit the classroom each year, and they represent a small percentage of those new to the profession. Despite these trends, few educational policies and programs target the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Black female teachers. Based on our expertise and educational praxis, we utilize empirical research to characterize these challenges and provide solutions for consideration and refinement.
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 2018
U.S. public schools are becoming increasingly diverse. By 2025, it is predicted that students of ... more U.S. public schools are becoming increasingly diverse. By 2025, it is predicted that students of color will make up more than 55% of the school population across the United States. However, teachers and leaders of color make up less than 20% of the education workforce across the country. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015) establishes a policy goal to increase the number of educators of color. Yet, the policy must go beyond simply increasing the number of educators of color; rather, the policy must assist schools in transitioning and engaging with a new generation of public school students and teachers of color. This study employed a qualitative approach informed by a narrative case study design to explore the challenges schools face in increasing the quantity and quality of racially diverse educators. The researchers examined a school district facing a rapid demographic change over a relatively short period. The findings showed challenges at multiple levels and cultural/rac...
Handbook of Urban Education, 2013
Catecholamine Research in the 21st Century, 2014
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Books by Donald Easton-Brooks
Papers by Donald Easton-Brooks
In addressing this central problem, this study questions what site- and district-level leadership can do to create a more dynamic learning environment for students of color. Moreover, this study provides insight for all stakeholders in the teacher development and support pipeline to examine their roles in the process of addressing rapid student diversity in public schools. Through a narrative case study of a school leader, researchers examine the challenges faced by school leaders placed in environments where the need to develop competency and responsiveness in staffing is urgent.
The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges of leaders and teachers in adjusting to the changing demographic landscape of public schools. We study a case of rapid demographic change and the necessity that it created for leaders to take contextual inventory, increase teacher competency, and empower asset-based teacher leaders to enrich the school climate for students of color. This narrative case provides a statistical backstory complemented by the narrative of a school leader brought in to help stabilize a high school in the American South that more than doubled its African American student population within a year. As the school became a majority African American school, there was little to no change in its White teacher population. The case, which occurred as a result of a boundary change to relieve overcrowding, is not an anomaly of rapid demographic change. Rather, it provides insight into the challenges that will occur as student diversity exceeds teacher and leader diversity, and contributes to our understanding of what this change entails. This narrative case is significant because it reveals teacher dispositions that became evident only when demographic change occurred, and the challenge of leading and developing teachers through such transitions became necessary.
This study finds four organizational lessons that emerge in leading schools through student demographic transition. The first lesson is the challenge of deconstructing deficit-based models of teaching and seeing students. The case reveals instances in which academic achievement was compromised by the desire to contain and control diverse bodies. Deficit-based teacher dispositions accepted student failure and became obsessed with student discipline and behavior. Intentional teacher leadership, as a second organizational lesson, became evident in administration’s desire to employ distributed leadership practices. This case identifies the need to inspect the disposition and intentions of prospective teacher leaders who become empowered with decision-making. The third lesson revealed in this study is the need to recognize and challenge passive obligation and malicious obedience. Stories of noncommitted teachers cutting corners and establishing harmful countercultures within schools present serious challenges to improving outcomes for schools in transition. The final organizational lesson presented for scholars and practitioners is the necessity of identifying, steering, and supporting cultural responsiveness in practice. This study recognizes that a major hurdle to cultural responsiveness is the naming of race and racialized ideas of students of color as the elephant in the room. Taking a contextual inventory of the school climate and boldly addressing the need for change is a precursor that this study reveals.
Research integrated with the findings of the case informs strategies for action from various stakeholders. The recommendations for supporting schools through transition call to action all stakeholders who impact the developmental and professional trajectory of teachers and leaders. These stakeholders range from university teacher and leader educators, who hold the craft and research knowledge to develop culturally responsive teaching and leadership, to school site-level leaders, who hold the contextual knowledge of the instructional landscape and can create contexts for responsive learning and leadership opportunities for faculty. University research and preparation programs are also recommended to engage schools in interrogating deficit-based dispositions. Preparing leaders and teachers with a critical ear and eye for harmful discourse may allow schools to identify and disarm harmful narratives of students of color before they have detrimental impact. To meet the increasing trend toward diversity, it is recommended that districts and universities seek ways in which to recognize and attract future teachers and leaders from within the communities served by the school district. In aligning their community and contextual knowledge with research and practitioner knowledge, schools can better bridge school and home for diverse students.