Increasingly, immigrant families in North America are sending their newborns to the parents' country of origin to be raised by relatives until the children reach school age. Then they are returned to their parents. This practice results from lack of childcare in the host countries, low wages among immigrant parents, and/or intergenerational…

This study draws upon theory and methods from the field of organizational behavior to examine organizational learning (OL) in the context of a large urban US school district. We build upon prior literature on OL from the field of organizational behavior to introduce and validate three subscales that assess key dimensions of organizational learning…

This article reveals how test-based performativity pressures interfere with the pedagogical approaches preferred by teachers of second-language learners. Our findings derive from ethnographic research conducted in two non-mainstream high schools: one in a US city and other one in a Swedish city. Both schools serve immigrant students who speak…

In the United States, an increasing number of new teachers are being prepared through alternative, or early entry, routes into teaching. These new forms of teacher preparation raise important questions about how and in what ways candidates are being prepared, particularly in key areas such as classroom management. To shed light upon these…

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that contribute to teachers' sense of community within public, urban, elementary schools. Because previous research has touted the benefits of teacher communities within schools (Kruse, 2001; Leana & Pil, 2006; Ware & Kitsantas, 2007) educational leaders are challenged with creating…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among academic optimism, community engagement, and student achievement in urban elementary schools across one district. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from all 35 urban elementary schools across one district in Virginia, USA. Correlation, multiple regression, and…

This report measures trends in performance among urban schools receiving federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) awards as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Council of the Great City Schools aims to document how member districts of the Council of the Great City Schools implemented SIG and specifically what…

Many teacher education programs in the United States (US) face increasing demands to better prepare teachers for entry into and retention in urban schools. Through a US Department of Education grant, a university-school partnership was formed to develop a community-based model of teacher preparation that placed pre-service teachers in urban…

The primary purpose of the study is to determine the opinions of educators about the "master teacher" concept within the school system. The concept of the "master teacher" refers to the ideological approach used to implement a "master teacher" initiative or programme in the school reform process. The primary school…

Current initiatives to recruit international teachers are on the rise. Although international teachers have always played a part in educating American students, their presence in U.S. schools have increased over the past few years as a result of overseas recruitment programs (Francis, 2005; Hutchinson, 2007). This increase in the recruitment of…

This case study examines the perspectives of a teacher and a set of students in a U.S. history classroom in a "last chance" public New York City high school--with "last chance" being a common term used to describe schools designed for struggling students, those who have a history of truancy, or those who have dropped out. The…

Offering a high-quality education to English language learners (ELLs) is a challenge in schools across the United States. Yet, few studies have been conducted to investigate high school English as a second language (ESL) programs. This study provides insights into how a Kansas urban high school ESL program promotes access to the curriculum for…

Discussions and debates about the educational system in the United States continue to center on curriculum and school reform. However, many children in America's public schools suffer from existing "life hazards" including social isolation, poverty, neglect, drug abuse, violence, school failure, and the breakdown of traditional family…

The tendency to view immigrant students as a monolithic group has masked the needs of specific groups of students. This study gives visibility to Sierra Leonean refugee students and indicates to policy makers, administrators, and teachers provisions that would facilitate the students' integration into the school system in the United States. The…

This article considers how the private finance initiative, a contract for infrastructure, affected teachers' perceptions of efficacy, job satisfaction, and morale at an urban secondary school in the United Kingdom. Qualitative data collection techniques, including unstructured observation and semistructured personal interviews, were utilized to…