The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experiences of practicing teachers, including their origins of mindset related to urban education, and to explore how their preparation for teaching in urban schools enabled them to implement culturally responsive pedagogy in their classrooms. There is ample…

The purpose of this qualitative study was two-fold: (a) to understand the perceptions and experiences of urban high school disciplinary teachers' specific discourse communities and disciplinary literacy practices in a Midwestern metropolitan city, and (b) to understand these teachers' perceptions related to the literacy initiative at Eastside High…

Struggle is a behavior that is often perceived in a negative light in education. Students respond to struggle by avoiding them. Likewise, educators respond by removing obstacles (e.g., heavily scaffolded instruction) or providing assistance prematurely. The ability and opportunity to engage in struggle, specifically productive struggle, is…

Beginning teachers report that they are not prepared and reluctant to teach in an urban setting. New teachers struggle immensely during their first few years of teaching to the point where they transfer to a suburban school or leave the teaching profession altogether. The purpose of this study was to create a list of recommendations for teacher…

In an era of accountability and censorship in public schooling, teaching for social justice is a difficult proposition for K-5 teachers. This inquiry explored the pedagogical principles of five elementary school teachers who navigate the rigors of standardization while also providing an education with a social justice orientation. Using a critical…

The purpose of this convergent mixed-methods study was to understand the extent to which inclusive practices were explicit in teacher residency curricula and the potential effects of four different urban teacher residency (UTR) programs on perceptions of teacher residents' self-efficacy for implementing inclusive practices in the general education…

The goal of this study was to examine how educational leaders help to create and support or inhibit culturally sustaining pedagogical practices for Black educators. The study explored the Black teacher experience at one Northern California public school in Oakland, California. I wanted to understand how they were supported or inhibited in the use…

The purpose of this study was to understand how secondary teachers in urban secondary schools from large districts in the Southwestern United States who utilize restorative practice in the classroom describe the social and emotional learning behaviors (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible…

The purpose of this study is to understand the essences of the lived experience of community members, special education teachers, and students with disabilities in the City of Greenwood (pseudonym) regarding the closure of a small urban school district and its impact on the community. Influenced by Lipman and her studies involving Chicago Public…

This study sought to gain insight into teacher perceptions of their ability to improve a high poverty urban school. The school selected for this study came from a purposive sampling of urban schools that had exited from improvement required status and had then demonstrated gains in student academic performance in subsequent years. Four teachers…

This is a qualitative mixed-methods study of an urban school district in New Jersey. A survey of teachers explored their past and current practices with regard to the use of classroom technology, in particular one-to-one devices; and an interview with the district supervisor for educational technology provided detailed information about district…

This research was based on culturally relevant pedagogy, a teaching method that promotes academic and cultural achievement in environments where student dissatisfaction and antagonism are prevalent. Educational accomplishment, cultural competence, and social consciousness were the foundations of this philosophy (Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995, 2009,…

Partnerships between schools, universities, community organizations and private businesses have become an increasingly popular response to the privatization of resources accompanying market-based education reforms (Rodriguez, 2020; Warren, 2005). Through these partnerships, stakeholders mobilize resources across sectors and scales in an effort to…

This study uses qualitative case study analysis to explore the lived experience of teachers in one school building in a New York urban school district, and examines how they perceive the effects of school building conditions on the teaching and learning process. This study found that teachers are not able to make teaching and learning a priority…

Adolescents in the urban public school system experience childhood trauma that sometimes makes it difficult to focus on learning. Even more so, sometimes trauma experienced by youth manifests in disruptive behaviors in the school setting. Traditionally, urban public schools have focused on teaching and learning academics, generally neglecting the…