In recent years, the intersection of higher education, identity, and carceral systems has required scholars and practitioners to actively work to interrogate carceral logics in educational settings. As an urban education teacher preparation program, collaborating with a higher education in prison program, we understand that educational gatekeeping…

The current case demonstrates the complexities of utilizing Youth Court as a restorative practice in an urban high school, by focusing on the complexities it presents for one student in particular. In this case, there are reasons why Youth Court clearly is not working at this particular school site as intended. However, more importantly for…

Anti-Blackness is a critical issue. Recognizing instances of this concept will assist with creating an inclusive and safe school culture for all students. This article discusses racism, instances of microaggressions and racial spotlighting that some Students of Color of experience in their K-12 careers.

In this article, we recount our experiences learning from and with Latinx children of immigrants in urban schools. Highlighting how insights gleaned from our respective ethnographic projects have led us to embrace more explicit commitments to participatory engagement, we consider how young people's perspectives can and should fundamentally shift…

Diversity in cultures, languages and identities is a valuable resource in urban education. There is empirical evidence to support this assertion in the existing literature on "funds of knowledge" and "funds of identity." However, the main focus of such research is on the tacit knowledge, skills, and resources that students--and…

Among the most urgent matters in contemporary education discourses are those that delve into the justice issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Colleges of Education are critical sites for such discourse. In particular, the teaching methods course is where candidates are to acquire tools to take up such issues. Success of justice…

This article focuses on the ways the authors incorporate a transformational resistance framework in their ninth-grade ethnic studies curriculum. While literature on transformational resistance often highlights external forms of resistance, there is a need to examine the internal transformation youth experience when engaging in resistance. The…

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework was established as a comprehensive, equitable approach for addressing urban students' academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs. Still, confusion surrounded its implementation. On returning to in-person instruction, urban educators have been challenged to…

In this article, Derek R. Ford develops an urbanist pedagogy, a particular mode of educational praxis that arises out of -- and, more importantly, is oriented toward -- the creation of the urban, a praxis that is internal to and constitutive of urban revolt. Ford does so with the help of two thinkers who are seldom theorized together: Henri…

Cities around the world are increasingly developing city-wide lifelong learning strategies to promote individual and civic adaptation to major economic, technological, and environmental challenges. Such initiatives, however, have not yet received commensurate research attention from education researchers and it is not yet clear that we have the…

While the conception of "failing schools" has proliferated the American public's (mis)understanding of performance of low-income urban public schools unabated since "A Nation at Risk," education literature suggests "failing schools" are not what has been commonly described in conventional wisdom. Here, I begin by…

Currently, there is a national level debate on security-based school safety policies and practices, particularly in relation to the presence of police in schools. Decisions about school safety are discussed at the district level by administrators and board of education members who may not be aware of the importance of utilizing local data to…

On November 14th, 2022, a group of Black community leaders from the Saint Louis, Missouri, area met to discuss their experiences with the serious issues surrounding urban schools in their communities. Although this discussion is specific to a particular time and place, the concerns expressed, and solutions, offered are transferrable to many other…

Despite multiple creative approaches to integrating Minnesota's segregated urban public schools, students of color in these schools remain the majority. The state's progressive, anti-racist sentiment toward education has not evolved into action on the part of White families, which leaves under-resourced urban districts struggling beneath a mere…

Building on Critical Race Theory, Black Critical Theory in education (BlackCrit), and Black Male Studies (BMS), the author theorizes what he terms "Black PlayCrit" and, by extension, "Black PlayCrit Literacies." Black PlayCrit brings attention to the specificity of Blackness and anti-Black misandric violence in the play…