This study documented the curricular and pedagogical adaptations of equity-centered teachers in high-poverty secondary schools in the Washington, DC-metro region. The participating teachers provided survey data, audio-recorded interviews, and curricular artifacts to describe adaptations made within unique classroom environments. Thematic analysis…

Innovations in educational technology have led to heightened expectations for both K-12 teachers and students. Now, more than ever, teachers are expected to develop 21st century skills, which creates a necessity to understand how urban teachers feel about the role of technology in their teaching practice. In addition, teacher perceptions are…

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and challenges that emerged from the first year of a district and university partnership focused on improving a high needs urban elementary school. This research utilizes an instrumental case study design. The elementary school and the university involved in this study are both public serving…

Prior research has discussed high school counselors' role in students' experience, but counselors' understandings of their work and of students has received little commentary. We interviewed counselors in a high-poverty, low-performing urban school district in which two structural elements shape how counselors make sense of their work. First,…

This quantitative correlational study was designed to investigate whether the core and enrichment college readiness program needs within high-poverty urban schools significantly varied with respect to grade level and stakeholder perceptions. Statistically significant differences were discovered in parent, student, and faculty perceptions in core…

Nationwide, place-based initiatives aiming to improve school and community outcomes are in the midst of neighborhood demographic change. We explore this issue through a case study of the Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN). We discuss how the social and educational context of MPN poses several challenges to implementing Promise Neighborhood…

"Education Before Liberation" became the mantra of the struggle against apartheid oppression in South Africa. Apartheid policies predestined the Black majority to servitude and dehumanization. The advent of democracy heralded a plethora of transformative curriculum policies with the express intent to counter the destiny that the…

Teacher attrition, especially among new teachers, has been an issue of major concern for policy makers and administrators for many years. Prior research has provided valuable information regarding the teacher and organizational factors associated with attrition from the profession and teacher mobility across schools. Less attention, however, has…

Similar to Dickens's "Tale of Two Cities", this research study is about a tale of two schools. The first type of school is a dysfunctional school. Dysfunctional schools are schools in a state of chaos (Shipengrower & Conway, 1998). The second school is that of order. The researchers refer to this school as a functional school. In…

This qualitative study explored Teach for America (TFA) alumni teachers' discourse on Arizona language policy, conducted with eight teachers in the Phoenix metropolitan area who received their professional teacher preparation from TFA, a national organization that uses alternative paths to certification to place teachers in low-income schools.…

Most of the low-performing schools and students are in urban districts where poverty is high, where large proportions of students have limited English proficiency, and where students perform poorly on achievement tests. Moreover, urban districts face numerous challenges, including attracting teachers to their schools and optimizing their hiring,…

Schools in the United States have experienced changes in their demographic profile during the last half century. During this changing time, schools have experienced court-involved desegregation and have experienced fluctuations in their populations with regard to both race and socioeconomic status. Existing studies on segregation have focused…

The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between distribution of teacher resources and student need. The effort was to determine if the "best" teachers are teaching the "neediest" students in the elementary schools in the "Big 8" urban school districts in Ohio as equity principles would mandate.…

"Business Week" and "Fortune Magazine" suggest that Teach for America (TFA) is a beneficial postgraduation option for corps members, who teach for a finite commitment in low-socioeconomic status urban school districts. This longitudinal qualitative study examines the complex issues that surround TFA through the voices of TFA corps members,…