This article explores issues surrounding teaching for social justice in urban schools. Using qualitative methods, our study examined the ways in which seven urban teachers used culturally relevant pedagogy as a mechanism for teaching for social justice. We found that by adhering to the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy (e.g. personal…

The book tracks co-author Paul Weinberg during his first year of teaching as he is introduced to the daily tribulations of an urban Los Angeles high school. Paul's father Carl Weinberg, who fifty years earlier himself began his career in education an urban secondary school teacher, shares his experiences side-by-side with those of his son.…

This study compares the retention rates of urban teachers in the Baltimore City Public School System who were recruited through a federal program called Teach for America (TFA) and selected alternative certification programs, with those of certified teachers and teachers who do not possess regular teaching credentials. The authors researched…

This study is the result of my work as a teacher educator in an English methods course and a member of an inquiry community I formed with eight of my students, all middle and secondary student English teachers at the University of Pennsylvania. I investigate what was at stake for them in learning to teach English in Philadelphia urban schools in…

Teacher turnover is a significant problem for many urban schools. Teachers who are committed to urban schools may be more likely to remain in urban schools and may provide a higher quality education for the students they teach. This article explores the changing urban commitment reported by four cohorts of teacher candidates enrolled in a…

The purpose of this narrative study was to explore the thoughts, perceptions, and experiences of 12 urban middle school teachers who were once urban middle school students. The study sought to discover reasons why these teachers returned to urban middle schools to teach and why they decided to stay. A qualitative methodology, using the…

Many urban schools struggle to retain their best teachers because of challenging work environments, poor salaries, and ineffective school leadership. The additional requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation for teachers to be highly qualified and the increased academic requirements of raising students to a proficient level in reading…

Research points to particular problems in the experiences of White teachers teaching students of color (Cochran-Smith et al., 2004). Despite good intentions, teaching students of diverse backgrounds and experiences can be challenging for teachers who are unfamiliar with their students' backgrounds and communities. The purpose of this paper is to…

Teaching students in the inner city has been likened to hugging a porcupine--teachers nudge them toward success while getting pricked along the way. Many urban students perform below proficiency level and are difficult to manage. Their apathy toward completing class assignments, let alone homework, compounds the problem. As a whole, educators do…

This article describes a school-university partnership that focuses on the development of classroom management skills for preservice teachers in an urban setting, through collaboration between mentors, principals, and a university supervisor. To prepare preservice teachers for the unique challenges of urban schools, three key elements were…

The achievement of students in urban schools across the United States lags behind that of their counterparts in rural and suburban schools, a disparity that is at the core of current public school reform. Although socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and its attendant variables, often hinder academic achievement, there is one critical…

This is an investigation of secondary mathematics teachers' understanding of performance-based tasks with respect to the contextual design of tasks that promote urban students' engagement and pursuit in learning mathematical concepts. We examined the alignment of teacher designed tasks with their personal definitions of tasks; then further…

This is a self-study of my professional and cultural biography and identity, a history which directed me first toward the work of urban teaching and then into teacher education and research into comparative educational issues of racial and national identity. I use this inquiry to demonstrate how biography and identity influences the lived…

Democratic political systems and the democratic way of life is aspired by most people around the world. Democracy is considered to be morally superior to other forms of political systems as it aspires to secure civil liberties, human rights, social justice and equality before the law for everyone regardless of their gender, culture, religion and…

History denotes a small number of African-Americans have held leadership roles in educational public and private school systems across the country. However, during the last decade black women have pioneered and forged new frontiers as educational as leaders within urban schools. Because of these contributions, more should be known regarding the…