Written as a letter to a first-year teacher, the author--acting as a mentor, veteran teacher--critically conceptualizes the hidden curriculum using the work of Jackson (1968), Anyon (1980), and others in order to historicize the term for their newest colleague. Following an initial introduction to the hidden curriculum, the author draws on…

The core of almost any local education leader's strategy is the rapid growth of high-quality school options for their city's students. Quarterback organizations, however, must decide on the most efficient and sustainable pathways to realize their school creation and growth goals. The basic pathways pursued by most cities include: (1) Replication -…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created in 2009 to support schools' implementation of rigorous college and career ready standards for English language arts (ELA). Combining evidence-based principles of professional development with a systematic design process, LDC helps teachers to embed literacy skill development throughout their…

As theater audiences decline society-wide, university theater programs have felt the impact, with many being cut back as institutions face difficult economic decisions. The Tacoma Theater Project at the University of Washington-Tacoma is an innovative effort to resist this trend. By working with professional theater groups in a partnership…

Policymakers and the public are increasingly asking educators to approach instruction from a STEM perspective, integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to prepare students for future careers. At the same time, administrators are directing teachers to make learning more communal and student-driven, emulating the workforce…

A pedagogical model called student-led academic teaming takes a different approach to personalizing instruction and meeting the multifaceted needs of each student without increasing teacher fatigue and burnout. With student-led academic teaming, students take increased ownership and accountability for their own and their peers' learning, relieving…

In the wake of racial violence in urban schools and society, we question, "Can the field of urban education love blackness and Black lives unconditionally and as preconditions to humanity? What does it look like to (re)imagine urban classrooms as sites of love? As educators, how might we utilize a pedagogy of love as an embodied practice that…

The purpose of this article is to address how teaching in learning communities can be an effective tool for the retention of faculty of color. The article outlines the on-going, concerning issue of higher education's lack of faculty diversity. Through their shared lens as tenure-track faculty of color at an urban community college, the authors…

Almost every state-level Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) in the country includes family engagement as an indicator of early childhood education quality. Yet, most QRIS measure family engagement using a uniform, narrow set of parent involvement activities at the center. We propose an alternative approach that emphasizes a range of…

This article presents a conceptual School-Community Group Model for working with African American adolescents. The model stems from a group conducted with urban, male, African American, adolescents co-facilitated by a White female school counselor and an African American male community leader. The article describes the theoretical underpinnings…

Across the nation, uncertified teachers represent a very small percentage of the teaching workforce in public elementary and secondary schools. However, research has shown that student access to certified teachers varies across districts within states, across schools within districts, or across classrooms within schools, and that teachers who are…

This paper describes instructional choices used by two high school teachers to engage students in the research process. Working with diverse learners in large urban high schools, the teachers used different approaches to support students' through the research process. The teachers' intentional teaching helped to engage students through structured…

School districts that have adopted the 3Ls™ approach to provide rigorous instruction for English learners (ELs) have, invariably, had to make a case for what this approach offers, how it reflects best practices in English language development (ELD) instruction, and how it meets the needs of English learners. They have also had to make explicit…

Rick Mosher's coining of the word "Urbkinder" reminds us that the city provides a broad environment for learning with key experiences being defined by the student's choice of in-depth involvement. Quoting John Long, these city experiences are real, engaging, connected to thought, allow for personal reflection, and rely on the teaching…

This seventh annual High School Benchmarks Report provides the most updated data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. The report was designed with several features particularly tailored to secondary education practitioners and policymakers. First, results presented in this report were based on the most…