Maintaining that urban teaching and learning is characterized by many contradictions, this work proposes that there is a wide range of social, cultural, psychological, and pedagogical knowledge urban educators must possess in order to engage in effective and transformative practice. It is necessary for those teaching in urban schools to be scholar-practitioners, rather than bureaucrats who can only follow rather than analyze, understand, and create. Ten major sections cover the myriad issues of urban education as it exists today.

Strong system-wide support is increasingly being identified as laying an important role in policy efforts aimed at increasing student achievement (Hightower, Knapp, March, and McLaughlin: 2002). Yet current research often views district and other system-wide support as largely governance changes without substantive linkage to school improvement outcomes (Cuban and Usdan: 2003). In this volume we seek to deepen our understanding of the role of school districts and system-wide initiatives through a series of case studies that focus on how school districts and system-wide actors facilitate policy innovation and reform initiatives that are designed to improve student achievement. Through both quantitative and qualitative studies from diverse settings across the country, chapters in this volume examine the role of instructional technology, alternative accountability practices, management and partnership reforms, and school improvement efforts through new incentive and support practices. While challenges remain, these case studies demonstrate how districts support and facilitate school change aimed at improving student achievement.

Based on data from 6 states and 11 districts, this essential resource helps educators understand the issues raised by NCLB and its implications for educating all children.

From curriculum standards and testing to school choice and civic learning, issues in American education are some of the most debated in the United States. The Institutions of American Democracy , a collection of essays by the nation's leading education scholars and professionals, is designed to inform the debate and stimulate change. In association with the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, The Institutions of American Democracy is the first in a series of books commissioned to enhance public understanding of the nature and function of democratic institutions. A national advisory board--including, among others, Nancy Kassebaum Baker, David Boren, John Brademas, Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, David Gergen, and Lee Hamilton--will guide the vision of the project, which includes future volumes on the press and the three branches of government. Each essay in The Institutions of American Democracy addresses essential questions for policymakers, educators, and anyone committed to public education. What role should public education play in a democracy? How has that role changed through American history? Have the schools lost sight of their responsibility to teach civics and citizenship? How are current debates about education shaping the future of this democratic institution? Among the contributors are William Galston, Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland;Clarence Stone, Professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland - College Park and editor of Changing Urban Education and Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946-1988 (University Press of Kansas, 1998).; Susan Moore Johnson, Pforzheimer Professor of Education in Learning and Teaching, Harvard University; Michael Johanek, Executive Director of K-12 Professional Development, College Board; Kathy Simon, co-executive director of the Coalition for Essential Schools and author of Moral Questions in the Classroom (Yale University Press, 2001); and Jennifer Hochschild, Professor of Government and Professor of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University and author of Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation (Princeton University Press, 1995).

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is designed to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and disadvantaged children through its Title I program. This book explores models to achieve equity in Title I schools; and defines what is required of states in Title I schools. It examines how each state implements NCLB accountability standards.