To update and extend research on teachers' expectations of students of different sociocultural groups, 57 Black, White, Asian, and Hispanic teachers were asked to evaluate responses spoken by Black, White, and Hispanic 2nd- and 3rd-grade boys and girls. The results show that responses perceived as spoken by minority boys, minority girls, and White…

This article contributes new evidence on factors associated with low achievement among pupils in urban informal neighborhoods in Nairobi, Kenya. The authors use three different data sets to examine the effect of residence in particular neighborhoods, pupil gender, primary school type, and household socioeconomic status on pupil achievement in the…

This investigation demonstrates the effect that peers have on students' academic engagement and educational aspirations. Forty-nine African American university students retrospectively discuss the manner by which their friends influenced their academic commitment and activity while in high school; their postsecondary education aspirations,…

In this article, we suggest that communities must explore alternative leadership ideologies, actors, and venues to make meaningful academic and social improvements in our cities. We examine how themes from Paulo Freire's critical ideology can help expand our conceptualizations of educational leadership and facilitate pragmatic responses to complex…

The study examines two issues of the relationship between social capital and educational performance: the different effects of bridging and bonding social capital on urban educational performance and the contextual effects of social capital. The main argument states that bonding and bridging social capital are differently related to educational…

Consistent with a sociocritical frame and the analytic tools of hybridity theory, this article explicates how urban fifth-grade children made language hybrids using rap and poetry to participate in classroom literacy. Ethnographic data from a yearlong study illustrate two key findings. First, standards-based and canon-driven writing models…

The study demonstrates a direct link between housing uncertainty and children's time preferences, or patience. We show that students who face housing uncertainties through mortgage foreclosures and eviction learn impatient behavior and are therefore at greater risk of making poor intertemporal choices such as dropping out of school. We find that…

This article investigates the lasting legacy of the National Teacher Corps (NTC), which was created in 1965 by the U.S. federal government with two crucial assumptions: that teaching poor urban children required a very specific skill set and that teacher preparation programs were not providing adequate training in these skills. Analysis reveals…

Improving teacher retention and resiliency are key educational problems. In this article, we share findings from case studies of six educators who, for over 200 combined years, worked in urban, high-poverty schools and highlight what teachers need to remain in such contexts. We argue that developing "professional resilience" is a process built on…

Disconnects between the demographics of teacher candidates and the students attending today's public urban schools are well documented. At the same time, research points to the educational value of linking students' lived experiences to their classroom learning. This article presents the research-based findings of faculty who implemented a…

Although the value of school-community partnerships is unquestioned, the reasons for success and failure are not sufficiently understood. This mixed-methods case study examines 60 years of partnering at one urban high school, using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory to better understand the effect on student development as measured by…

In 1999, Ball and Cohen proposed a practice-based theory of professional education, which would end inadequate professional development efforts with a more comprehensive approach. Their work has been referenced over the past decade, yet there have been limited attempts to actualize their ideals and research their implications. In this article, I…

African American adolescents from families with low levels of human capital (i.e., caregiver level of education) are at risk for poor early adult outcomes. The current study examined the relationships among 48 African American high school students' literacy performance (e.g., reading and vocabulary), their implicit views of intelligence, their…

A persistent problem in educational policy and research concerns how social (dis)advantage is reproduced in free societies built on ideologies of equality, opportunity, and social mobility. In this article, the author examines narratives by and for incarcerated young men about how they "got caught up" in illegal activity and eventually…

This article addresses teacher retention in urban schools, focusing on high-need secondary science classrooms. As a longitudinal study, this research investigated how eight case study teachers conceived of their careers and career moves. The experiences and perspectives of three case study teachers indicated that they were situated along a…