We present analyses from focus group interviews with a geographically diverse set of experienced, urban teachers who point to "systemic inequity" as a major contributing factor to the problems they face in their schools and communities. To begin, we overview the literature relating to our development of this project, after which we…

This article uses elements of narrative and portraiture to acknowledge the voices of four teachers who participated in a 3-year effort to turn around an urban elementary school. Turnaround is a sanctioned reform effort intended to produce rapid, dramatic improvement in student academic achievement in a low-performing school. We present the teacher…

Purpose: The evidence is strong that the instability of teacher rosters in urban school settings has negative consequences for student learning, but our concern is with the opposite phenomenon--What is the value added to the organization when a school's teaching roster is stable over time? Our theory of teacher corps stability hinges on the claim…

East St. Louis educators provide critical counter-narratives to Jonathan Kozol's depiction of teaching and learning in East St. Louis, Illinois in "Savage Inequalities." Teachers, educators, and administrators provide a complex view of urban schooling beyond deficiency, inadequacy, and despair. Findings highlight educators' voices as…

Understanding Consequential Assessment Systems for Teachers (UCAST) studied a large urban school district in the United States as it adopted a new teacher evaluation system. This project studied 1,000 principals as they were trained to use this new system, and followed them into their first three years of implementation. This article features a…

The teacher shortage currently plaguing the United States is exacerbated in the urban context. One particular model being adopted in urban school districts to address the teacher shortage and issues of educational equity is the urban teacher residency (UTR) model. The UTR model employs a collaboration between institutions of higher education…

Available evidence suggests that inequities exist in the distribution of qualified teachers within high-poverty urban schools, and further, that such inequities adversely affect student achievement in these schools. This paper highlights the role of teacher education in addressing this challenge by describing the findings of a study of the…

This paper explores urban teachers' published responses to education reform. These compositions published online are examined as sources of cultural knowledge that are relevant to teacher education. Using sociolinguistic theory and method, the compositions' arguments and rhetorical moves are analyzed to interpret the use of digital compositions to…

In efforts to better prepare students for a technology-driven workforce, many states and districts have pushed for clustered teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in K-12 schools, yet science and mathematics remain the cornerstones upon which broader opportunities in STEM education are built. Teachers serve as…

This article examines trends in learning among a multiracial group of activist urban educators in an inquiry group dedicated to the topic of structural racism. I find that deep learning about race and racism requires teachers to engage in risk-taking in 2 realms--conceptual and relational. Conceptual risk-taking involves grappling with ideas in…

With support from the William Penn Foundation, RFA sought to further examine and understand Black teacher attrition and retention in Philadelphia, and promising strategies and initiatives that can promote the retention of Black teachers in the city and elsewhere. In totality, the project includes qualitative research that centers the perspectives…

This research explores a finding from a multicase study of effective teachers working in urban high-poverty schools who used responsive classroom management as a tool. While classroom management was not the focus of the larger study, it emerged as a finding that was critical for participants as they fostered success for their students, and in the…

Background/Context: This research is framed by theories of teacher morale and teacher empowerment and contributes to the literature on neoliberal educational policies and teacher burnout and attrition. Purpose and Research Questions: The purpose of this study is to understand the intersections of teachers' experiences with neoliberal policies, at…

The purpose of this case study was to examine and describe the life experiences that influenced one music teacher's career choice to teach music in an urban school. The primary research question is: What experiences influenced the participant to pursue urban music education as a career? Calling upon research into urban music education and career…

We examine how teachers from two alternative preparation programs--Teach for America (TFA) and Kansas City Teacher Residency (KCTR)--contribute to the teacher labor market in and around Kansas City, Missouri. We show that TFA and KCTR teachers are more likely than other teachers to work in charter schools, and more broadly, in schools with high…