Drawing on ethnographic data of an urban school, this paper contrasts how two White female teachers take up the idea of 'teaching for social justice.' Fourth-grade teacher Maestra Rachel enacts a superficial understanding focused solely on curricular topics, while third-grade teacher Maestra Jennifer roots her teaching in an understanding of how…

This research examines how a student voice experience--Social Justice Youth Summit--developed youth capacities as transformative school leaders. We engaged a youth development framework situated in school- and community-based youth leadership literature to analyze a diverse group of urban youth's experiences and sensemaking of the youth voice…

There is a growing emphasis on social justice pedagogy as a predominantly White teacher labor force infiltrates classrooms in urban schools. Using "critical race theory" (CRT)--and the construct of interest convergence--this study examines how White teachers working in an urban school apply and enact teaching for social justice during…

As part of a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project to create culturally responsive curriculum that uses critical spatial thinking and geospatial technologies to address spatial justice in urban neighborhoods, students from a predominantly African American inner-city public high school in Toledo, Ohio participated in two summer workshops…

The purpose of this research was to examine the disconnect between urban school expectations and actual lived realities of marginalized students. Taking into consideration the conversation surrounding the definitions of urban education, and the importance of school connectedness with youth, we chose to focus on the lives of five former high…

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced U.S. schools to shutter and teach remotely in March 2020, several states suspended external measures intended to hold educators accountable for student learning. Research on leadership during the pandemic highlights how the pause on external performance measures shifted school leaders' behaviors; they used…

School discipline has been a site of contention and reform. In this study, we draw from 17 interviews with traditional and charter school principals in one mid-sized urban school district to examine how principals use discipline as a tool to both maintain control and demonstrate care. Our study calls attention to different strategies principals…

Diversity in cultures, languages and identities is a valuable resource in urban education. There is empirical evidence to support this assertion in the existing literature on "funds of knowledge" and "funds of identity." However, the main focus of such research is on the tacit knowledge, skills, and resources that students--and…

This article examines teacher self-efficacy in social and emotional learning (SEL), particularly by teachers of color, and the conditions that shaped their efficacy beliefs. Data are drawn from surveys with two teacher groups, one comprised of teachers of color and a comparative group that was predominantly white. Surveys were followed by…

The Atlanta Schools Critical Education Network for Distinction (ASCEND) is an ongoing interdisciplinary coalition supporting the critical consciousness of social justice educators. ASCEND partners include: (1) activist faculty from two university departments: Middle and Secondary Education and African American Studies; (2) a justice-oriented…

Few studies have examined the growing trend of teacher-legislators, specifically teachers' trajectory to elected office. Drawing on qualitative data and raced-gendered frameworks, this article examines how three female teachers of color in one Southwest state leveraged their teaching experiences to shape their policy priorities and how they…

We explored the psychological and educational impact of distance learning during the COVID-19 and racial injustice pandemics. The sample included 19 urban high school students of Color from the San Francisco Bay Area. Interview data were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis revealing seven themes: (1) challenges learning from home; (2)…

This article contributes a deeper understanding of teachers' experiences with and beliefs about teaching mathematics for social justice in urban schools. In-depth, phenomenological interviews were conducted with a national sample of 15 secondary mathematics teachers from eight cities across the United States. Findings identify five overarching…

Teachers who attended urban schools as students are uniquely positioned to understand both the structural context that urban schools operate within and the many funds of knowledge that urban students bring to school. The purpose of this study is to examine the funds of knowledge that individuals who have been students in urban schools and now wish…

We examined the high school experiences of 133 African American, Latina/o, and biracial college students through employing a mixed methods concurrent nested design, including survey analysis and qualitative content analysis, to identify themes and the extent school counselors provided assistance with promoting academic and college readiness. The…