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1. What is school culture? Proposing a new, integrative model

   https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785251351272  

   Cucchiara, Maia; Golann, Joanne_W; Diehl, David (June 2025, Theory and Research in Education)

   For decades, the term ‘school culture’ has been widely used in scholarly, policy, and popular discussions of education, school reform, and school leadership. Yet, school culture remains an abstract term, and different definitions abound. Moreover, important research on aspects of the school environment often does not fall under the purview of school culture research. Drawing from recent work in organizational sociology and cultural sociology, we develop a model that is both more expansive and more specified, accounting for different sources (formal, informal, environmental) and forms (meanings, practices) of school culture. This model views school culture as not onlyofficialandtop-downbut also asemergentandsituatedand highlights the role of alignment across key elements of a school’s culture. Examples from two very different schools – a ‘no excuses’ charter middle school and a ‘progressive’ high school – illustrate elements of the model and patterns of alignment/misalignment. This model can aid scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in understanding and, ultimately, improving school culture. 

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2. School counseling practices related to postsecondary STEM participation

   https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12338  

   Gearns, Richard; Kelly, Angela M.; Bugallo, Mónica F. (December 2023, The Career Development Quarterly)

   Abstract This qualitative exploratory cross‐case analysis analyzed the beliefs and practices of high school counselors related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academic advisement, postsecondary planning, and career participation. Interviews were conducted with high school counselors (N = 13) who were purposively sampled to represent a diversity of schools in terms of demographic variables. Findings indicated that high school counselors perceived that (a) sociocultural factors influenced student preparation for STEM, career planning, and decision making; (b) students’ STEM‐related career goals and academic behaviors were sometimes misaligned, and academic advisement often mediated this tension; and (c) their professional STEM knowledge, beliefs, and practices were influenced by professional preparation, workplace characteristics, and their academic experiences. Implications include the need for early, sustained high school STEM counseling and academic advisement; accessible professional development in STEM preparation and careers to promote multiple pathways and reduce school counselor bias; and encouraging family involvement in STEM career decision making. 

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3. Illuminating inequality in access: Variation in enrollment in undergraduate engineering programs across Virginia's high schools

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20352  

   Knight, David B.; Grohs, Jacob R.; Bradburn, Isabel S.; Kinoshita, Timothy J.; Vaziri, Stacey; M. Matusovich, Holly; Carrico, Cheryl (October 2020, Journal of Engineering Education)

   Abstract BackgroundDetermining the root causes of persistent underrepresentation of different subpopulations in engineering remains a continued challenge. Because place‐based variation of resource distribution is not random and because school and community contexts influence high school outcomes, considering variation across those contexts should be paramount in broadening participation research. Purpose/HypothesisThis study takes a macroscopic systems view of engineering enrollments to understand variation across one state's public high school rates of engineering matriculation. Design/MethodThis study uses a dataset from the Virginia Longitudinal Data System that includes all students who completed high school from a Virginia public school from 2007 to 2014 (N= 685,429). We explore geographic variation in four‐year undergraduate engineering enrollment as a function of gender, race/ethnicity, and economically disadvantaged status. Additionally, we investigate the relationship between characteristics of the high school and community contexts and undergraduate engineering enrollment across Virginia's high schools using regression analysis. ResultsOur findings illuminate inequality in enrollment in engineering programs at four‐year institutions across high schools by gender, race, and socioeconomic status (and the intersections among those demographics). Different high schools have different engineering enrollment rates among students who attend four‐year postsecondary institutions. We show strong associations between high schools' engineering enrollment rates and four‐year institution enrollment rates as well as moderate associations for high schools' community socioeconomic status. ConclusionsStrong systemic forces need to be overcome to broaden participation in engineering. We demonstrate the insights that state longitudinal data systems can illuminate in engineering education research. 

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4. Optimized hydrodynamic interactions in phalanx school arrays of accelerated thunniform swimmers

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/acb859  

   Abouhussein, Ahmed; Peet, Yulia T (February 2023, Physica Scripta)

   Abstract Optimal fish array hydrodynamics in accelerating phalanx schools are investigated through a computational framework which combines high fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations with a gradient free surrogate-based optimization algorithm. Critical parameters relevant to a phalanx fish school, such as midline kinematics, separation distance and phase synchronization, are investigated in light of efficient propulsion during an accelerating fish motion. Results show that the optimal midline kinematics in accelerating phalanx schools resemble those of accelerating solitary swimmers. The optimal separation distance in a phalanx school for thunniform biologically-inspired swimmers is shown to be around 2L(whereLis the swimmer’s total length). Furthermore, separation distance is shown to have a stronger effect,ceteris paribus, on the propulsion efficiency of a school when compared to phase synchronization. 

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5. Validation of the Entrainment Signal Regularity Index and associations with children's changes in BMI

   https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23641  

   Moreno, Jennette P.; Hannay, Kevin M.; Goetz, Amy R.; Walch, Olivia; Cheng, Philip (January 2023, Obesity)

   <sc>A</sc>bstract ObjectiveThis study examined the validity of a novel metric of circadian health, the Entrainment Signal Regularity Index (ESRI), and its relationship to changes in BMI during the school year and summer. MethodsIn a longitudinal observational data set, this study examined the relationship between ESRI score and children's (n = 119, 5‐ to 8‐year‐olds) sleep and physical activity levels during the school year and summer, differences in ESRI score during the school year and summer, and the association of ESRI score during the school year and summer with changes in BMI across those time periods. ResultsThe ESRI score was higher during the school year (0.70 ± 0.10) compared with summer (0.63 ± 0.11);t(111) = 5.484,p < 0.001. Whereas the ESRI score at the beginning of the school year did not significantly predict BMI change during the school year (β = 0.05 ± 0.09 SE,p = 0.57), having a higher ESRI score during summer predicted smaller increases in BMI during summer (β = −0.22 ± 0.10 SE,p = 0.03). ConclusionsOverall, children demonstrated higher entrainment regularity during the school year compared with the summer. During summer, having a higher entrainment signal was associated with smaller changes in summertime BMI. This effect was independent of the effects of children's sleep midpoint, sleep regularity, and physical activity on children's BMI. 

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