The teacher shortage currently plaguing the United States is exacerbated in the urban context. One particular model being adopted in urban school districts to address the teacher shortage and issues of educational equity is the urban teacher residency (UTR) model. The UTR model employs a collaboration between institutions of higher education…

This paper explores urban teachers' published responses to education reform. These compositions published online are examined as sources of cultural knowledge that are relevant to teacher education. Using sociolinguistic theory and method, the compositions' arguments and rhetorical moves are analyzed to interpret the use of digital compositions to…

In this article, I employ sociocultural theory to analyze the learning to teach process of two novice teachers enrolled in one Urban Teacher Residency (UTR). Findings show that Genesis and Jackie were differentially drawing on programmatic, disciplinary, relational, experiential, and dispositional resources as they learned to teach in an urban…

In this article, we describe the promise of professional development for teachers by considering the following questions: (1) What do teachers who work in urban public schools see as the intended purposes of professional development, and what do they identify as their needs? (2) Can a move from professional development as absent of what teachers…

This study provides insight in the variety of urban-related challenges that beginning teachers experience in urban schools. Literature on urban teaching focuses on teaching children from low socio-economic status (SES) and/or culturally diverse backgrounds. In many European cities, however, schools are populated by both children from relatively…

Urban educational contexts are increasingly complex, both in terms of what count as "urban" communities, and in regard to the increasing diversity of schools in these settings. Given that school-based learning experiences are a core element of nearly all teacher education, it is critical that we develop a better sense of how early career…

The educational accountability movement in the United States under No Child Left Behind has negatively affected urban teachers because of high-stakes testing, narrowed curriculum, and scripted pedagogy. Such conditions have led to teacher stress, burnout, and attrition. Missing from the scholarly literature are the ways in which teachers work to…

As a proposed solution to the issues plaguing urban schools in the United States, Teach for America (TFA) continues to garner national attention and attract an increasingly competitive pool of applicants from the nation's most elite colleges. In fact, TFA has become the nation's largest provider of teachers to low-income communities and…

With the current teacher workforce in urban school districts diminishing in size, teacher preparation programs are being called to use creative ways to attract candidates to ensure that schools in urban districts keep their staff filled with highly qualified teachers. This article considers the factors for successful recruitment in an urban…

Preparing teachers to work in urban public schools--and to remain there--is a daunting challenge. In an age plagued with the overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students placed in special education programs, it is important that teacher preparation programs within the field of special education devote attention to the…

This article presents 7 years of qualitative research into the emerging understandings of a population of 456 beginning 7 to 12 urban teachers who supplied 130 participants who were enrolled in a total of 26 MSEd English Language Arts courses over 7 years. These were interviewed while teaching in urban schools focused primarily on testing and…

Background/Context: Teach For America (TFA) affiliates with universities in most of its 40 regions nationally; however, few researchers intentionally study the content and processes of a partnership between TFA and a college of education. Purpose/Research Question/Focus of Study: To ensure that investments both organizations were making had a…

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of an effective urban music educator in an effort to provide strategies for university teacher training programs to prepare students to teach in urban schools. The study examined urban music teachers' (N = 158) educational background, effective and ineffective characteristics, perceived…

This study explores teachers' beliefs about urban students and urban teaching. The author discusses some cultural aspects of these teachers' definitions of urban and points out their highlighting of race as an essential component of urban teaching. Even though race is rarely named, it is often at play in the teachers' descriptions of urban…

The relationship between Brighton High School (BHS) and Boston College (BC) spans several decades. Professors from multiple departments at the university--not only teacher educators but professors of psychology, measurement, and arts and sciences--have walked, as regular parts of the school community, the halls of the gothic-style high school…