This grounded theory study highlights the words of urban career teachers who participated on a wikispace (wiki). The purpose of the investigation was to offer urban career teachers a space, outside of their daily work, in which to recognize and understand their professionalism. The grounded theory content analysis is carried out by way of a study…

Providing preservice teachers in urban settings with authentic educational experiences may be an effective approach in preparing them to teach diverse students. Therefore, this investigation examined preservice teachers' perceptions of mentoring at-risk high school students. Data analysis reflected preservice teachers' positive experiences and…

This article explains how Jim Crow's teachers--former teachers of legally segregated schools for blacks--prepared and motivated disadvantaged students in spite of funding and resource deprivation. According to the author, black teachers fashioned situated pedagogies for the acquisition of educational capital that could be used in exchange for…

While the challenge to retain highly competent teachers affects all schools, the crisis is critical in urban districts, which historically suffer from high teacher turnover (Ingersoll, 2004). This high turnover is especially problematic in the content areas of science (Ingersoll & Perda, 2010). Through ethnographic case studies the first year…

At the earliest grade levels, young Black males, who have been identified by their teachers as "challenging" (in psychological terminology, exhibiting externalizing behavior), have the same disproportionate rate of school suspension and expulsion as their older counterparts (Gilliam, 2005; Lewis, Butler, Bonner, & Joubert, 2010;…

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…

Despite alarming rates and negative consequences associated with urban teacher attrition, mentoring programs often fail to target the strongest predictors of attrition: effectiveness around classroom management and engaging learners Edution; and connectedness to colleagues. Using a mixed-method iterative development framework, we highlight the…

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…

In this study, I explore the role of the "small schools" context on the development and learning of two first-year urban high school teachers with respect to equity-focused teaching. Analysis points to specific ways in which the small schools context fostered teaching for social justice: strong student-teacher relationships, interdisciplinary…

The George Washington University's Urban Initiative Professional Development School (UI-PDS) partnership used interviews, surveys, focus groups, and observations to research its effectiveness in preparing urban educators. The research conducted with UI-PDS preservice teachers and first year graduates, indicates they were well equipped to meet the…

Within a two-year mixed method action research study, two cohorts of White senior preservice Art Educators reflected on anti-racist and anti-classist course materials and attended field experiences within urban schools. A majority of both cohorts identified systemic racism within social systems and language after engaging in course materials.…

This article presents an urban teacher education center as a process model of how a university can cultivate authentic community engagement. Tree essential steps of the process model are identified: (1) being physically located at the school or community site in order to build trust and become integrated into the life of the school or community,…

This article reports on a research study investigating the career decision-making processes of urban science teachers as one element central to understanding the high rates of attrition in the field. Using a longitudinal, prospective, context- and subject-specific approach, this study followed the career decisions of case study teachers over a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation of brain-based instructional strategies by teachers serving at Title I elementary, middle, and high schools within the Memphis City School District. This study was designed to determine: (a) the extent to which Title I teachers applied brain-based strategies, (b) the differences in…

School districts often struggle to recruit and retain effective math teachers. Alternative-route certification programs aim to expand the pool of teachers available; however, many alternate routes have not been able to attract large numbers of teacher candidates with undergraduate degrees in math. In response, some districts, including Baltimore,…