Despite recruitment efforts, teachers of Color are underrepresented and leaving the teaching force at faster rates than their White counterparts. Using Critical Race Theory to analyze and present representative qualitative narratives from 218 racial justice-oriented, urban teachers of color, this article affirms that urban schools--despite serving…

School turnaround--a reform strategy that strives for quick and dramatic transformation of low-performing schools--has gained prominence in recent years. This study uses interviews and focus groups conducted with 86 teachers in 13 schools during the early stages of school turnaround in a large urban district to examine teachers' perceptions of the…

This case study examines the leadership practices and actions of an urban high school principal who faced many challenges, but worked diligently to improve student achievement and school climate over a 3-year period. Significant improvements were made by using elements of Distributed Leadership, Professional Learning Communities, and Social…

The article draws on work in Critical Geography Studies and Photovoice methodology, to illustrate the ways in which youth in an inner city conceptualize neighborhoods and public spaces. We utilize youth's photographs, narratives, and maps to tell a story of youth's lived experiences and argue that these experiences are vital sources of knowledge…

White Canadian teacher candidates are brought into direct dialogue with urban high school students through a yearlong immersion in a high school with a "demonized" image in the broader community. Interviews with students reveal experiences of school as "my safe space" and the predominance of a student culture not characterized…

From the perspectives of Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs), this study examines the design and implementation of a simulated teaching environment in "Second Life" (SL) for prospective teachers to teach algebra for diverse learners. Drawing upon the Learning-for-Use framework, the analyses provide evidence on the development of student…

This study investigates the effects of widely advocated organizational reform for secondary schools, namely the small school model, on the collective efficacy of teachers and students who did not share the school's common vision. Themes that emerged during the study linked the students' academic engagement to faculty dispositions, the physical…

The overwhelming majority of published scholarship on urban high schools in the United States focuses on problems of inadequacy, instability, underperformance, and violence. Similarly, across all schooling contexts, most of what has been written about young men of color continually reinforces deficit narratives about their educational possibility.…

Reviews of research evaluating the impact of beginning teacher induction suggest that the mixed results may be due to the fact that the programs do not fully address school context. We examine how one induction program for urban teachers explicitly addresses teachers' specific schools and students to illustrate how context becomes the…

Responding to recent reports that Latina students often lack feelings of belonging at school and are dropping out in increasing numbers, this study explores how classroom environments influence engagement or disengagement among Latina students. Through case studies with five Latina 10th-grade students, this research examines how variations in the…

A mainstay in NCLB and the Obama administration education plan is turning around low-performing schools. This study utilized surveys and interviews with school leaders from four turnaround urban high schools in Texas to understand student outcomes before and after school restructuring and reconstitution. Although some organizational changes were…

This study examines the impact of the zero-tolerance policies on Black males' educational experiences and outcomes. Individual interviews were conducted with Black males who dropped out of high school. Using counter-storytelling within a critical race theory framework, Black males discussed the influence of the zero-tolerance policies on their…

This article explores the connection of teacher self-efficacy beliefs in promoting student resilience to teaching practice and support of Latino students. Results suggest that efficacy beliefs related to resilience are linked to building important relationships through connecting with students, building on their experiences and knowledge, and…

In this case study, we examined the effects of two instructional methods, Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) and Collaborative Reasoning (CR), on students' written and oral arguments. Using an interview, we also explored students' understanding of academic arguments and their perceptions about the instruction. The students were 38 middle…

School districts that offer bilingual education often find it difficult to hire enough teachers for their growing Latino populations. To expand the pool of bilingual teachers, some districts recruit teachers from Spanish-speaking countries. Yet there has been little research on how these teachers fare or what supports they need to succeed. This…