The General Accounting Office (GAO) investigated the effects of educational reform on approximately 61,000 disadvantaged urban students (focusing on Black and Hispanic-American students) in 4 districts. Excerpts from GAO findings and implications of the mixed results, with overall modest gains, are provided. (SLD)

This study examined motivation and residential distribution of parents who enrolled their children in Special Program Non-Neighborhood schools in Tel-Aviv (Israel). Results suggest that enrollment may serve as an alternative to residential mobility for families with high educational and professional status relative to their area of residence. (JB)

The Valley School, Flint (Michigan), an ethnically and economically diverse private school, involves parents and the community to a remarkable degree, in establishing policies and in hands-on practice in the classroom. The principal's leadership is a major factor in sustaining the involvement planned for since the school's founding. (SLD)

The B. F. Day Elementary School in Seattle (Washington) exemplifies positive changes that can be made with principal leadership and teacher involvement. The school is one of six Seattle urban schools receiving federal and state support for educating homeless children under the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. (SLD)

Discusses questions of school climate and parental involvement that must be considered if general education is to assume the responsibility of educating African-American students with special needs. Practical suggestions are given for professionals deciding the proper place to educate African Americans with special needs. (SLD)

The Chicago (Illinois) public school system has been undergoing a major restructuring that has shifted responsibility for running the schools to local school councils. The nine articles of this issue bring together opinions and research of a diverse group of authors with multiple perspectives on the effort. (SLD)

A challenge for urban systemic reform initiatives in science education has been to achieve local, state, and national standards for teaching and learning. We have collaborated with teachers in the Detroit Public School System to design project-based curriculum materials that contextualize the learning of science in meaningful real-world problems,…

While transformational leadership has received much attention in recent years, the purpose of this article is to explicate the concept of transition leadership and its centrality to understanding policy implementation and school change through a case study of one district and its school principals, transitioning from court-ordered desegregation to…

In this article, the author features Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School in Philadelphia, the only Philadelphia's charter high school that meets the adequate yearly progress testing benchmarks in 2003 as established by No Child Left Behind, and describes how the academy's headmaster and founder, Vuong Thuy, confronted criticisms from the…

Americans rely on public schools to educate and prepare almost 50 million students to become productive members of society. Yet many public schools, particularly those in large cities, face significant challenges: over-crowded classrooms, shortages of highly-qualified teachers, low student achievement, achievement gaps, access to preschool, and…

This article unpacks the decision to decharter a successful urban middle school serving African American students, especially focusing on parental choice in a school caught between two urban reform initiatives: charter schooling and state takeovers of urban districts. Originally chartered by a university, DeCharter became a "school of choice" in…

A compelling body of research shows that when students are part of smaller and more intimate learning communities, they are more successful. The latest research demonstrates that small schools, particularly schools of choice, have a measurably positive impact on inner-city students, especially those from minority and low-income families. The…

This paper describes the difficulties that two prospective teachers experienced in student teaching assignments in two city schools; both judged outstanding by the faculty from where they were about to graduate. It examines the ways in which these experiences eroded the student teachers' convictions that they could teach all children in ways that…

The case study of the restructuring of an urban elementary school in Los Angeles (California), the Murchison Street School, in partnership with California State University is described. Of the school's 1,050 students, 67% were eligible for Chapter I funding at the start of the restructuring initiative. Over 3 years, parents, teachers, the…

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) provides tax support for children from low-income families to attend private schools. It is administered by the Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction, although lack of administrative support for the program has been apparent. In addition, the Superintendent of Public Instruction has expressed…