Investment in preschool education is increasingly seen as a policy priority in middle and high-income countries due to the early benefits it provides children in their educational journeys. This article discusses the impact of recent increased investment in preschool education in China which has served as a correction to relative historical…

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework was established as a comprehensive, equitable approach for addressing urban students' academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs. Still, confusion surrounded its implementation. On returning to in-person instruction, urban educators have been challenged to…

It has long been researched on the differences in motivation profiles between English learners in urban and rural schools to promote educational equity. However, important stakeholders such as students in developing cities and rural-urban-migrant students have been overlooked. Additionally, the moderating roles of regional variables between…

Despite ongoing reform efforts, academic achievement in the U.S. educational system is declining both on internal measures as well as on international comparative assessments. While students from affluent backgrounds continue to do well academically, there is a growing achievement gap as underprivileged urban students fall further behind. This…

While parent involvement has been shown to have positive academic outcomes for their children, for structural changes to be made, parents have to go from being active to taking on a more activist role, thus "stoking the flame" of the norm. Parent advocacy and empowerment groups play a vital role in the transformation of parent activists,…

A distinct education has become a heretical right for urban elites despite educational equality is an official agenda. This has not only widened the gaps between urban and rural counterparts but also developed discriminations amongst different classes of student within the urban schools. To validate this tenet, the facilities offered by various…

This study seeks to critically examine perceptions of urban school climate from a predominantly white teacher workforce and discuss the role that white identity, as the Dominant culture, plays in maintaining the status quo of racialized school climate. Participants included 145 teachers from a large southwestern urban setting. Teachers'…

Response to intervention (RtI) is touted as an equity-focused provision of special education policy that holds promise for reducing overrepresentation and providing academic opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. However, teachers working to implement RtI have encountered complex challenges that stifle equitable…

In 2011, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) conducted a compliance review of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to examine the district's provision of resources and opportunities to schools with predominantly African American students as compared with schools with predominantly White students. The purpose of this study is to examine the…

Identifying sources of variation has been used extensively in educational research as a tool to identify potential drives of variances in student achievement. However, prior research predominantly relied on findings from national- or international-level data, and thus their conclusions remain very broad-based. This study contributes new insight by…

As cities across the country experience an influx of White and middle- to upper-class residents, new opportunities for the integration of urban schools emerge. Yet crucial challenges persist even when equity and inclusion are a focus for new stakeholders. This article explores the story of a largely White group of parents committed to investing in…

This study examined middle-class mothers' engagement in urban school selection as residents of two gentrifying neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia. Gentrifiers levy social capital when activating or exercising agency and create social networks that valorize child-rearing concerns through exchange of information. Thirty mothers with children under…

Principals are positioned at the center of school improvement. In the United States, current turnaround reforms target the principalship as a key lever for change. This article uses institutional theory to explore the logics of turnaround leadership that steer principals and their work. Specifically, we draw on qualitative interview data from a…

The articles included in this volume of "Education and Urban Society" inform the special issue theme that poses the question "Are We There Yet?" An examination of educational equity in the era of school reform and accountability. Despite two decades of dramatic shifts in educational reform and policy among states and local…

As the postscript for this special issue of Education and Urban Society, this article considers the struggles urban schools report confronting as they implement standards-based reform and high stakes testing and discusses the implications these challenge have for future accountability policy aimed at promoting educational equity. Among the issues…