How can we better educate disadvantaged urban students? Drawing on over five years' experience in a broad partnership involving twelve urban professional development schools in five districts, a teachers' union, a comprehensive public university, and several community-based organizations, the contributors to this volume describe how they worked…

Zero-tolerance discipline policies, harsh sentencing laws, and the gentrification of communities of color have devastating effects for the lives of young people. Coupled with the fact that urban schools can devalue their views, values, and understandings of the world, this article examines an effort to challenge deficit theories that permeate…

This study examined the relationship of two putative school-based protective factors--student identification with school and perceived teacher support--to psychosocial outcomes in a sample of urban youth exposed to community violence. Participants were 175 high school students ages 14-19 in grades 9-12 from a large urban school district. Results…

The limited number of organized sport and exercise programs available in urban areas in comparison with more affluent communities, as well as the limited resources, the low pay of service providers who offer the programs (especially in youth work), and the besieged mentality of many professionals require our attention and assistance. Our field…

This article focuses on issues of childhood identity and urban environment. It discusses how a performance art pedagogy inspired by nomadic and relational aesthetics can provide a framework to promote creative learning experiences that address migratory conditions and forms of public alienation lived by young people today. As Lefebvre (1991)…

In this essay, Jeff Duncan-Andrade explores the concept of hope, which was central to the Obama campaign, as essential for nurturing urban youth. He first identifies three forms of "false hope"--hokey hope, mythical hope, and hope deferred--pervasive in and peddled by many urban schools. Discussion of these false hopes then gives way to…

Julie E. Braciszewski, recipient of the APA/APAGS Award for Distinguished Graduate Student in Professional Psychology, is cited for her noteworthy efforts to decrease mental health and academic service disparities among low-income, urban African American youth. Braciszewski recognizes that educational achievement is the clearest and most reliable…

This short-term longitudinal study investigated the simultaneous influences of adults' (mothers and teachers) educational expectations and youth's achievement (standardized test scores and teachers' ratings of academic performance) across a 3-year time span on youth's performance in school (GPA). Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of…

This investigation examined associations between early adolescents' relationships with parents and teachers and indicators of school-adjustment. Participants were primarily students of color (91% Latino) in a low-income urban environment, and analyses were conducted to examine the relative contributions of parent-child and teacher-student…

The potential of drawing from urban youth culture, and hip-hop more specifically, to serve as a bridge to the standard curriculum has been well documented. However, the richness and potential benefits of hip-hop are more far-reaching and present significant implications for teacher education and professional development efforts as well. This…

Winners and finalists for the annual Broad Prize for Urban Education have consistently outperformed peer districts serving similar student populations. What makes the difference? These districts consistently demonstrate a learning loop that influences the district's ability to learn, which ultimately influences student opportunities to learn.…

While high school attrition is a critical issue in the ongoing effort to reduce disparities in educational equity across race and class, rhetoric on the "high school dropout crisis" frequently overlooks the large number of students who reenroll in school or earn their credentials in alternative schools or GED programs. The number of…

While America fights an international war on terrorism a greater war looms in our own backyard. Poverty, the lack of resources and a failing educational system continues to strangle our urban youth. Violence between youth in urban schools perplexes our society everyday. Within this context lie the ever growing confrontation between black and…

The practical reality for far too many urban schools is one that reflects the despair, dire socioeconomic situations, and a complex cultural ethos of numerous neighborhoods and countless youth. Thus, a more rigorous analysis and critical appreciation of youth is necessary because their issues are complex, multifaceted, and delve deeper than what…

The authors investigated a comprehensive set of predictors of high school completion and years of completed education for youth in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an ongoing investigation of over 1500 low-income, minority children who grew up on high-poverty neighborhoods. The study sample included 1286 youth for whom educational attainment could…