Andrene J. Castro Virginia Commonwealth University Genevieve Siegel-Hawley Virginia Commonwealth University
Kimberly Bridges Virginia Commonwealth University
Shenita E. Williams Virginia Commonwealth University "Drawn Into Policy: A Systematic Review of School Rezoning Rationales, Processes, and Outcomes" Review of Educational Research, Volume 94, Issue 4, August 2024.
The 2025 Review of Research Award is presented to Drs. Andrene J. Castro, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Kimberly Bridges, and Shenita E. Williams, for their article “Drawn Into Policy: A Systematic Review of School Rezoning Rationales, Processes, and Outcomes,” which was published in the August 2024 issue of the Review of Educational Research. Castro, Siegel-Hawley, Bridges, and Williams’ manuscript is a timely, cutting-edge contribution to the field that synthesizes a fragmented body of literature on school rezoning. Drawing on critical policy analysis, the awardees stress the need for transformative action that emphasizes “the intent of rezoning to transform school communities rather than replicate (or worsen) systems of educational inequity through school attendance boundaries” (p. 568). The manuscript also calls for more research with sustained attention to race, racism, and the political context while providing a roadmap for future empirical and theoretical work to directly engage the equity dimensions of rezoning.
The Review of Research Award recognizes the most outstanding research review article published in the Review of Educational Research (RER) or the Review of Research in Education (RRE). The elements of an outstanding research review include: (1) significance of the contribution to advancing knowledge, (2) transparency of the methods and scope of research included in the review, and (3) uniqueness in addressing new or novel bodies of research or integrating distinctive areas. The award is granted based on substantial merit, as determined by the selection committee. The committee considers all articles published in RRE and RER from October 1 of a given year to September 30 of the next year, preceding the year in which the award is conferred.