In this dialogue with Monica Ridgeway and Randy Yerrick's "Whose banner are we waving?: Exploring STEM partnerships for marginalized urban youth," I engage the critical race theory (CRT) tenet of interest convergence. I first expand Derrick Bell's (1980) initial statement of interest convergence with subsequent scholarly work in this…

This article presents a review of "Lost youth in the global city: class, culture and the urban imaginary," by Jo-Anne Dillabough and Jacqueline Kennelly. In many ways the "juke-box boys" would today form a stratum of the "lost youth" that Jo-Anne Dillabough and Jacqueline Kennelly discuss in their thoughtful account…

Black and brown people are being murdered by police officers at an alarming rate, and nothing is being done about it.

Many attempt to address the documented achievement gap between urban and suburban students by offering special programs to enrich urban students' academic experiences and proficiencies. Such was the case in the study described by DeGennaro and Brown in which urban students participated in an after-school technology course intended to address the…

Although hip hop culture has been one of the most significant urban youth movements over the last three decades, it has only recently gained attention within the educational literature as a force to be reckoned with. And even then, much of the literature seeks to understand how hip hop can be used to engage students in the official school…

Although the author is a computer scientist, he has been involved with issues of diversity for many years. He developed an online gamelike environment to teach inner-city kids algebra, using culturally relevant learning technologies, and he has applied data-mining techniques to help universities admit diverse classes without relying on just one…

This article builds upon the concept of hybridity to affirm the relevance of poetry, music, and other forms of popular culture in the lives of urban youth. Its focus examines the blending of seemingly disparate forms to understand how young people, in particular young people of color, negotiate their multilayered social worlds. One of these worlds…

In this article, Alfred Tatum argues that the current framing of the adolescent literacy crisis fails to take into account the in-school and out-of-school challenges confronting many African American male adolescents today, particularly those growing up in high-poverty communities. Using the metaphor of literacy instruction as a human body, he…

Vocational student organizations offer opportunities for urban students to achieve their potential as they experience personal growth, a sense of direction, achievement, and the rewards of leadership. (Author)

Broken free of any semblance of family control or community restraints, thousands of American youth roamed entirely at will throughout the cities of 19th-century America and supported themselves alternately from the legitimate street trades and from outright thievery. The invention of modern adolescence was partially a response to this neglected…

Analyzes popular culture as it relates to the expression of universal human values, namely the desire and struggle for freedom from tyranny and oppression. Examines popular culture as the everyday social experience of marginalized students as they confront, make sense of, and contend with social institutions such as schools, the mass media,…

There has been much hoopla surrounding the notion that charter schools may be a viable option for urban youth. However, the existing information on this issue may be easily dissimulated considering less sloganeering about charter school theories and more research on how charter schools enhance the academic experience of the students they serve are…

Discusses the educational needs of urban youth and the role industrial arts teachers can play in improving these youths' lives. Lists agencies and groups of people that should be involved, and public relations programs that industrial arts educators should become involved in. (CT)

This teacher always thought that it was the loudest voices that got heard, but she was wrong. In this document, a teacher shares the greatest tool she has discovered in teaching inner city youth, her quiet voice.

One factor leading to the "invention" of modern adolescence was what the reformers saw as the corruption of youth by the city. The plight of youth set the stage for a child-saving movement during the last century, taking youth off the streets, putting them in schools, and stretching out the home-leaving age from 14 to 18. (Author/KS)