Summer school makes an unlikely candidate for a bright spot in education reform during these difficult economic times. It occupies a long-held negative place in U.S. culture, prompting dread in the hearts of many former and current students. Summer school conjures up images of sitting in hot classrooms and receiving remedial instruction while…

In this article, the author talks about the disaster in the United States that reignited a debate about poverty and the responsibility of government--and government schools--that had never really gone away in the first place. Hurricane Katrina was one of the biggest natural disasters in the U.S. that swept through four states, killed more than…

Fostering the growth of science educational programs is one of the most challenging and rewarding task instructional leaders will have to do in the twenty-first century. This article analyzes the current science teacher shortages and turnovers in public, urban secondary schools and brings to the forefront the need for an assessment of…

Each of the articles included in this issue launched the author backward into nostalgia and reconsideration of her own work as they motivated her to ask new questions in current and future studies. The author's goal, therefore, is not to provide a linear road map through the articles but to point to themes and ideas that run through the project…

This study explores the thinking and decisions of Vera (pseudonym), a Hispanic elementary teacher, while she enacted a reform-based science curriculum in an urban school in the southern United States. Vera's thinking, decisions, experiences, and practices were documented over a 2-year period. Using the data collected from semistructured…

Aimed at eliminating the barriers to learning wrought about by poverty, Minneapolis and other urban school districts educate a substantial portion of poor and disadvantaged children and go nearly anywhere to hold parenting classes, homeless shelters, neonatal care units, high schools, and even jails. This article details the early childhood…