The recent economic downturn highlights that poverty continues to be a significant social problem. Mindful of this demographic reality, it is imperative for teacher educators to pay close attention to the manner in which teachers are prepared to educate students from impoverished backgrounds. Given the number of frameworks that offer reductive…

The purpose of this article is to investigate the multiple political histories that have coalesced to produce support for or resistance to the Oakland Unified School District's full-service community schools policy. It analyzes oral history interview data from eight stakeholders who represent the district's major constituencies to…

How African American girls cope and excel amidst the discriminations and inequities they experience within U.S. educational systems has not been widely discussed in the body of research about African Americans' schooling experiences. In this study, the researchers examined the applicability of Ogbu's cultural-ecological theory to the…

This article utilizes interview data to explore how notions of risk operate in a school-university partnership program. Our analysis traces the divergence between conceptualizations of "at-risk" in scholarship, its use in policy, and students' responses to this terminology. Although students targeted in such programs are often constructed in both…

The purpose of this article is to extend the growing counternarrative in education research concerning the negative consequences of school desegregation and its implications for urban education, educational leadership, and policy reform in the post-Civil Rights Era. Guided by qualitative and historical research methods, this article presents the…

This article reports on six White urban principals who came to administration with a commitment to create more equitable and excellent schools for students from marginalized communities. These leaders made strides in raising student achievement, creating a climate of belonging for students, staff, and families, and increasing access to learning…

For over a century after the 1896 "Plessy v. Ferguson" decision, researchers have been grappling with how to effectively implement educational reform policies to provide students with an equal education in American schools. This literature review examines previous school desegregation cases and school desegregation plans to investigate how schools…

In an attempt to operationalize an equitable educational program, a dual immersion program was established. After 2 years of field observations, a series of focus group interviews was conducted to examine the perceptions and viewpoints of parents whose children had participated in the program for 2 years. These interviews offered parents an…

The growing numbers of English language learners across the country provide an opportunity for state policymakers and education leaders to invest in and reap the benefits of a well-educated, culturally competent workforce. In this article, the authors review state-level ELL funding for the ten states experiencing the highest ELL population growth…

At the start of the New Year and the second Obama administration, a national dialogue about extending and improving the school year for "all" students--especially those students who face limited resources within and outside their schools--should be a national priority. Students from affluent families already make up for the short school…

This issue of "Voices in Urban Education" examines different aspects of asset-based education for English Language Learners (ELLs). Rather than write about ELL education as a problem, dilemma, achievement gap, or crisis, these innovative practitioners, scholars, and policy analysts shift the paradigm, reminding and urging us to embrace…

the report "Democratic School Turnarounds" considers the democratic tensions inherent in the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) policy's market-based school reforms and critiques the research base that many of these reforms are based on. It concludes with a set of recommendations that re-center the purposes of public education…

January 2013, as this issue of "Voices in Urban Education" ("VUE") goes to press, marks the beginning of a new presidential term--a good opportunity to gather ideas, reflect on what's working and what needs improvement, and rethink policies. The year 2013 also marks the Annenberg Institute for School Reform's…

This research documents and analyzes the nature and content of the knowledge that enables professors to foster learning for Black students. Specifically, it suggests that knowledge of the discourses of a students' community of origin, discourses often based on collective experience, are a valuable resource to professors in their efforts to promote…

Classroom management continues to be a serious concern for teachers and especially in urban and diverse learning environments. The authors present the culturally responsive classroom management practices of two teachers from an urban and diverse middle school to extend the construct, culturally responsive classroom management. The principles that…