Background/Context: Research has documented the benefits of family and parental involvement in children's schooling, both developmentally and across domains. Classroom teachers play pivotal roles in establishing and maintaining home--school partnerships because of their sustained contact with children. Despite this, few studies have examined…

This paper explores the ways in which success in school is constructed by a majority White teaching staff during day-to-day classroom practices and schoolwide policies, such as the disciplinary systems at a "no-excuses" charter school in one of the largest urban districts in the U.S. Stakeholders were assessed by interviews and…

The development of one's teaching identity is a dynamic and multi-layered process, which becomes more immediate when one enters the profession through an alternative route, such as Teach For America (TFA). This grounded theory study examines how participation in three interrelated institutions--the urban school, the university, and TFA--directly…

Presented in this article is a case study of first-year teachers working in an urban school. Drawing on literature around the early-career experiences of teachers--including a unique vulnerability for emotional turbulence and belief change--this article examines the changing beliefs of brand new urban educators as they progress throughout their…

In this analysis of the extant literature, we examined teacher quality variables that have shown a relationship with teacher efficacy for instructing urban minority students. We focused on the following areas: (a) importance of teachers, (b) teacher quality defined, (c) components of teacher quality, (d) self-efficacy, and (e) teacher efficacy.

Current federal and state education mandates were developed to make schools accountable for student performance with the rationale that schools, teachers, and students will improve through the administration of high-stakes tests. Public schools are mandated to adhere to three accountability systems: national, state, and local. Additional elements…

This qualitative study examined the question: How do African-born teachers in U.S. urban schools conceptualize the "teacher" and his/her role and characteristics in an African school context? The data resulted in the conceptualization of the teacher as "the community teacher" who is intimately invested and integrated into the community,…

As preservice teachers enter their first teaching experience, they often have perceptions about what teaching will be like based on a vision that is typically linked to their own background and experiences. This study explores the changes in visions of 15 preservice teachers throughout student teaching in an urban environment. The research will…

This grounded theory study highlights the words of urban career teachers who participated on a wikispace (wiki). The purpose of the investigation was to offer urban career teachers a space, outside of their daily work, in which to recognize and understand their professionalism. The grounded theory content analysis is carried out by way of a study…

Providing preservice teachers in urban settings with authentic educational experiences may be an effective approach in preparing them to teach diverse students. Therefore, this investigation examined preservice teachers' perceptions of mentoring at-risk high school students. Data analysis reflected preservice teachers' positive experiences and…

Often students' inquiry can be a great teachable moment as well as a "researchable moment." Today, even though much has been written about culturally responsive teaching, the author is often surprised to find that the notion of culturally responsive teaching does not resonate with urban teachers and when it does, they do not know how to teach…

How can we better educate disadvantaged urban students? Drawing on over five years' experience in a broad partnership involving twelve urban professional development schools in five districts, a teachers' union, a comprehensive public university, and several community-based organizations, the contributors to this volume describe how they worked…

Research about educational resilience provides a framework for understanding why some at risk children are successful in school, while others are not. It can inform and guide teachers as they strive to improve the odds of urban student achievement. This research, an instrumental multiple case study, gathered the experiences of three experienced…

Teacher identity has been defined in different ways through different methodologies. In this paper, the author uses autobiographical information, based on his life as an urban teacher and teacher educator, to depict his journey, insights and experiences. In doing so, he synthesizes the personal, pedagogical, and political aspects of his identity…

Latinos represent the fastest growing population in U.S. schools, and teachers face an increasingly demanding educational context in which to teach. The goal of this article is to present vignettes drawn from classroom observations conducted by preservice teachers in urban areas. Preservice teachers capture the dilemma faced by many teachers who…