The research literature on urban education has tended to focus on the problems of low-status minority groups, the complexity of urban school systems, and the financing and governance of such systems. Given this focus, the deeper problems and the significant opportunities associated with the condition of urbanicity have not yet been properly…

Article describes educational problems inherent in the modern metropolis. (MM)

Solving many current urban problems requires reinventing the American university so it becomes a humanistic, morally inspired, civic institution with an inclination and ability to help America become just and fair for all. The article discusses educational reform similar to Benjamin Franklin's original plan for the University of Pennsylvania. (SM)

Argues that universities are as well equipped as and more obligated than most other social institutions to listen to, understand, and respond to problems in American society. Suggests that the great universities of the 21st century will be judged by their ability to help solve the most urgent social problems. (SM)

This article provides an overview of America's urban population based on the 2000 Census and the implications of increasing cultural diversity for urban public schools. It addresses three basic questions: 1. What does America's population look like at the beginning of the 21st century? 2. What challenges do children and their families face in this…

Two cases of planned curriculum change are examined to illustrate the limits and possibilities of curriculum reform. One case used upgraded mathematics curriculum for low achieving, urban, U.S. secondary students. The other examined a national curricular reform in Scotland where secondary curricula and national examinations were closely aligned.…

Investigates the informal curriculum of a state-funded after-school dropout prevention program for adolescents. The program's goal is to resocialize them into their schools and enable them to achieve academic success. The paper proposes that the program fails to achieve its goal because of its ideology, and it recommends an alternative perspective…

Postwar transformation of U.S. cities gave new form to longstanding racial and economic educational inequities, intensifying barriers to achievement facing disadvantaged students. By concentrating disadvantaged students in inferior innercity schools, educational problems are intensified. Bureaucratic school systems do little to address new…