Leadership for Learning Improvement in Urban Schools

Examines urban school leaders' efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning by supporting progress for diverse students, sharing leadership work, and aligning resources. Analyzes school environments and coordination of various leadership roles

Resources and Standards in Urban Schools

Despite being central to government education policy in many countries, there remains considerable debate about whether resources matter for pupil outcomes. In this paper we look at this question by considering an English education policy initiative - Excellence in Cities - which has been a flagship policy aimed at raising standards in inner-city secondary schools. We report results showing a positive impact of the extra resources on school attendance and performance in Mathematics (though not for English) but, interestingly, there is a marked heterogeneity in the effectiveness of the policy. Its greatest impact has been in more disadvantaged schools and on the performance of middle and high ability students within these schools. A simple cost-benefit calculation suggests the policy to be cost-effective. We conclude that additional resources can matter for children in the poorest secondary schools, particularly when building on a solid educational or ability background. However, small changes in resources have little or no effect on the 'hard to reach' children who have not achieved a sufficiently strong prior level.Education, Resources, Evaluation, Disadvantage

“You Got To Know Us”: A Hopeful Model for Music Education in Urban Schools

Urban schools, and the students and teachers within, are often characterized by a metanarrative of deficit and crisis, causing the complex realities of urban education to remain unclear behind a wall of assumptions and stereotypes. Within music education, urban schools have received limited but increasing attention from researchers. However, voices from practitioners are often missing from this dialogue, and the extant scholarly dialogue has had a very limited effect on music teacher education. In this article, five music educators with a combined thirty years of experience in urban schools examine aspects of their experiences in the light of critical pedagogy in an attempt to disrupt the metanarrative of deficit, crisis, and decline that continues to surround urban music education. By promoting the lived-stories of successful urban music students, teachers, and programs, the authors hope to situate urban music education as a site of renewal, reform, and meaningful learning. This paper emerged from a panel discussion regarding promising practices in secondary general music with urban youth that took place at the New Directions in Music Education conference held at Michigan State University in October of 2011

What Works in Race-Conscious Teacher Education? Reflections from Educators in the Field

This paper presents a study about how schools of education impact their students\u27 ability to be successful in urban schools. What experiences--if any--in teacher education programs shape the development of race-conscious White teachers? To address her goal, the author conducted a qualitative study of six teachers currently employed in urban schools. All were considered excellent White teachers of children of color. Through a series of interviews, the author explored the ways race, culture, and diversity were addressed in their teacher education programs and whether the experiences were meaningful. Participants interacted with schools and communities in several different ways during their preparation. Most only participated in fieldwork as student teachers or during their prepracticum requirements. What was common among all of the participants was that their student teaching and/or prepracticum observations took place in an urban district. Each had experiences in diverse schools. All reported having a positive experience with the students they taught. As teacher educators continue to hone their practice and pedagogy, the feedback from these urban educators provides insights as to what is critical in preparing new teachers for urban schools. They provide an oft-forgotten set of voices that can be instrumental in helping teacher educators think through their work

Reform for Midwest urban schools--conference summary

Education - Middle West - Chicago (Ill.)

High School Students at Risk: The Challenge of Dropouts and Pushouts

Analyzes the factors contributing to high dropout rates at schools in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas. Explores the available alternatives and program reforms that have been implemented to improve graduation rates at urban schools

Uncommon Schools: Turning Urban Schools Into Springboards to College

This report illustrates the successful college preparatory practices of Uncommon Schools, a network of 38 public charter schools in New York, New Jersey and Massachusettsthat serves nearly 10,000 low-income students and students of color. During the 2013 Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools review process, a panel of national education experts chose Uncommon Schools as the best among the nation's 27 largest urban charter management organizations in closing achievement gaps, graduating its students and preparing them for college. The policies and practices highlighted in this report were drawn from a week-long site visit to Uncommon Schools conducted by RMC Research Corporation in November 2013 and a review of Uncommon's quantitative student achievement data from 2008-09 through 2011-2012

Urban-Focused and Community-Based Teacher Preparation

Existing challenges in many urban schools have led to an increased emphasis on urban-focused teacher preparation. While this work can be demanding and complex, many Christian teacher education programs desire to engage in this work as part of their efforts to prepare their teacher candidates to teach all students and to promote more equitable educational opportunities in urban communities. In this article, the author reviews the literature on effective urban teacher preparation and then discusses the potential for collaboration with local schools and communities to support this work in Christian teacher education programs. The author argues that authentic engagement with urban schools and communities is necessary to provide teacher candidates with the understandings, frameworks, and experiences needed to flourish in their work and to develop meaningful relationships with students, families, and community members

Models of Inquiry-based Science Outreach to Urban Schools

NOTE: This is a large file, 15.5mb in size! A primary obstacle to urban precollege geoscience education is limited access to inquiry-based geoscience experiences that are engaging and relevant to students' lives. Opportunities are reduced by the common misconception that the geosciences are less relevant to urban audiences and by the financial limitations of many urban school districts. This paper describes three primary obstacles to improving urban geoscience education and discusses two outreach programs developed by the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) that have been offered to urban elementary school classrooms in central New York. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

Creating a New Vision of the Urban High School

Provides an assessment of current school structure and explores the rational for changing the design of public education. Looks at recent efforts to organize and fund urban schools, in search of a solution to the problem of high school obsolescence