This study uses a mixed-method sequential exploratory design to examine influences on urban adolescents' engagement and disengagement in school. First, we interviewed 22 middle and high school students who varied in their level of engagement and disengagement. Support from adults and peers, opportunities to make choices, and external incentives…

This paper looks at the perspectives of 22 young adults concerning their upbringings and life experiences, experiences in inner city and suburban schools, after leaving school, and later in a privately funded urban GED preparation facility in a large southern city. Specifically it addresses the conceptions students have about school and their…

Background: Wearable and mobile technologies are often used by people who wish to document their own health and lifestyle behaviors. The feasibility of health tracking among youth is unclear, particularly in low-resource communities where health strategies stand to have the greatest impact. Methods: Youth (n = 24) enrolled in an afterschool…

The More Effective Schools Program was designed to prevent academic failure of disadvantaged urban children by focusing on their basic language and mathematics problems. It attempted to improve the quality of a traditional educational program through reducing the pupil-teacher ratio; offering more small-group and individualized instruction;…

The purpose of this paper is to report our findings from a qualitative study intended to develop our understandings of: what high-poverty urban children understand and believe about food and food systems; and how such children transform and use that knowledge in their everyday lives (i.e. how do they express their scientific literacies including…

Despite the critical failure of many urban schools to educate poor children and children of color, there are examples of schools and teachers who help students meet challenging academic standards in a supportive, culturally responsive, and empowering context. This paper represents one such success story of a teacher's efforts to nurture his…

The understandings of and interest in the environment of children in an inner-city black community were studied. To investigate their environmental moral reasoning, children's evaluations and supporting justifications were assessed regarding a hypothetical scenario that involved polluting a local waterway. Seventy-two children, 12 males and 12…

The difficulties facing teachers in the largest urban school districts in the United States are different from those in smaller districts. It is especially important to identify the success stories of teachers and students in demanding urban classrooms. Star teachers are those who are outstandingly successful in terms of student achievement and…

What are the thoughts of exemplary teachers from high poverty schools on linguistic diversity and cultural responsiveness? What do inner-city children say about their best teachers? In focus groups, faculty and students from high poverty schools were asked about the qualities and characteristics of exemplary urban teachers. One focus group…