This brief study serves as an introduction into exploring the existence of resilience and self-esteem in urban high school learning environments. Data collection stems from interviews and surveys of graduates of urban high schools, who transitioned into college or careers. Findings from this qualitative phenomenological research contains…

This article shares a study of an interview/writing project for adolescent girls, which was a component of the Girls Writing Science Project at a diverse urban high school in the Southwestern United States. The group of high school girls planned, initiated, conducted, and wrote interview profiles of women scientists from their local community.…

This paper presents findings from a larger research project that provides insight into the attitudes of high-school students who were taught using different types of mathematics curricula when they were in middle school. A total of 44 12th-grade students from 10 high schools in the same urban school district were interviewed. Eighteen (41%) of…

Digital technologies open new windows for ethnographic explorations of cultural experiences. In this paper, we examine text messaging among academically talented teenage girls of colour at three US urban high schools. Texting introduced a new communication modality into the girls' lives and created a space for new discourses mediating their…

Background: Scholars have argued that far too little research has examined the complex processes that many Black males undertake in constructing identities that function in schools (Howard & Flennaugh, 2011; Howard, Flennaugh, & Terry, 2012; Terry, Flennaugh, Blackmon, & Howard, 2014). Some have highlighted the perpetuation of a false…

The iPad, which came out in 2010, was introduced in one-to-one initiatives in schools to replace the laptop, or simply as a new technology. Schools that incorporated tablets reported an increase in student-led learning, increased collaboration, and increased communication. Following a one-to-one iPad implementation at an urban high school for one…

This article explores the disjuncture between refugee's pre-migratory educational aspirations and their everyday encounters with urban public schools. This study engages with two main questions: How do refugee youth's experiences with their urban public schools act as barriers to their educational aspirations? How do these experiences inform their…

Background: Health literacy is crucial to develop health-related knowledge, adopt healthy lifestyles, and benefit from health care services. However, research on the association between health literacy and adolescent health outcomes, particularly on their prospective associations, is rare. We assessed health literacy using 3 validated measures,…

This qualitative study investigated how educators in urban second-chance high school settings made sense of their work with formerly disconnected youth. Using Duncan-Andrade's framework of critical hope, we examined how adults' orientations toward hope shaped the educational context in ways that were necessary and sufficient for student success.…

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…

There have been significant advances in educational programming and postsecondary options targeting acquisition of self-determination skills among students with intellectual disability. This article provides a description of an inclusive concurrent enrollment (ICE) program at an urban public university and describes findings related to student…

The college education gap between Latinas/os and whites has grown to 29 percentage points (Kolodner, 2017). I am a product of this gap. As a high school principal, I believe the solution to this problem lies within the creative minds of school principals/leaders. When a resource was not available to address the college readiness gap at my campus,…

Latino students are the fastest growing minority population and currently have the largest population of student-aged young people. However, Latino students are lagging behind White, Asian, and African American in college attendance rates. The purpose of this study was to examine how an AVID program at an urban high school helps Latino students…

In the context of transnational migration, schools are reimagining their role in preparing students to become democratic citizens. The qualitative research study described in this article explores the places where five Dominican transnational youth attending a New York City public high school for late-arriving migrants enacted their civic…

This study examines how school structures and policies shape school culture to ultimately influence student success in one urban high school. We develop a model that explains how caring and personalized connections between students and teachers, coupled with a focus on academic press and support, interact with teacher efficacy to influence student…