A theoretically and empirically rich treatise on school push-out, Urban Youth and School Pushout illustrates urban public schooling as a dialectic of humiliating ironies and dangerous dignities.

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This timely book demonstrates why there needs to be a more thoughtful and collaborative effort on the part of K–12 schools, as well as institutions of higher education, to provide better college access to students from low-income communities. Building on a 10-year case study of a successful school-university partnership, the authors examine the supports, mentoring, and resources needed to transform the college opportunities and life chances for under-represented urban youth. Featuring first-hand accounts from student participants, the book documents how the model provided college access to some of the most selective and prestigious universities across the nation. Because this partnership situates college access within a social justice framework, it is one of the more unique programs in the country. “Few social problems are of more pressing importance than the challenge of increasing access to higher education. Howard, Tunstall, and Flennaugh carefully outline those problems and give us our marching orders. Historical. Empirical. Well-written. Thoughtful. Provocative. This book is useful for all of us concerned about access and equity in education.” —William G. Tierney, professor & co-director, Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California “This book represents a moral and ethical call to any of us who believe in an educational pipeline for liberty, humanity, possibility, and justice for all—everyday!” —H. Richard Milner IV, Helen Faison Professor of Urban Education, University of Pittsburgh Contributors: Irene Atkins, Bree Blades, Jon Carroll, Whitney Gouche, Tr’Vel Lyons, Justyn Patterson, Jerry Morrison, Michelle Smith, Ashley V. Williams

Critical Literacy and Urban Youth offers an interrogation of critical theory developed from the author’s work with young people in classrooms, neighborhoods, and institutions of power. Through cases, an articulated process, and a theory of literacy education and social change, Morrell extends the conversation among literacy educators about what constitutes critical literacy while also examining implications for practice in secondary and postsecondary American educational contexts. This book is distinguished by its weaving together of theory and practice. Morrell begins by arguing for a broader definition of the "critical" in critical literacy – one that encapsulates the entire Western philosophical tradition as well as several important "Othered" traditions ranging from postcolonialism to the African-American tradition. Next, he looks at four cases of critical literacy pedagogy with urban youth: teaching popular culture in a high school English classroom; conducting community-based critical research; engaging in cyber-activism; and doing critical media literacy education. Lastly, he returns to theory, first considering two areas of critical literacy pedagogy that are still relatively unexplored: the importance of critical reading and writing in constituting and reconstituting the self, and critical writing that is not just about coming to a critical understanding of the world but that plays an explicit and self-referential role in changing the world. Morrell concludes by outlining a grounded theory of critical literacy pedagogy and considering its implications for literacy research, teacher education, classroom practice, and advocacy work for social change.

Presents current research and theoretical perspectives on the challenges facing educators in U.S. urban schools.

"Finally, educators leading the movement to smaller high schools have a resource they can draw upon for guidance and direction. This book offers clear, practical advice on how to create small schools that are effective in meeting student needs." —Pedro Noguera, Professor New York University "Relevant, individualized, and an insightful read. This book will be useful for any school system working to develop small learning communities." —Nancy Betler, Teacher Mentor Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, NC Learn about big educational results in smaller schools! Educators are increasingly turning to small learning communities, which have proven to be highly effective in facilitating academic engagement and achievement, particularly among low-income urban students. This in-depth sociological study reveals the unique aspects of this movement and: Examines the structural and cultural features of small learning communities and small schools in two major urban cities Highlights students′ perspectives on school culture, personalization, and student involvement Offers timely suggestions to benefit students at all levels and in every educational setting Based on original research, this text offers school leaders and policy makers a deeper understanding of the broad, positive impact of small school reform.

Urban India is undergoing a rapid transformation, which also encompasses the educational sector. Since 1991, this important new market in private English-medium schools, along with an explosion of private coaching centres, has transformed the lives of children and their families, as the attainment of the best education nurtures the aspirations of a growing number of Indian citizens. Set in urban Kerala, the book discusses changing educational landscapes in the South Indian city of Kochi, a local hub for trade, tourism, and cosmopolitan middle-class lifestyles. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the author examines the way education features as a major way the transformation of the city, and India in general, are experienced and envisaged by upwardly-mobile residents. Schooling is shown to play a major role in urban lifestyles, with increased privatisation representing a response to the educational strategies of a growing and heterogeneous middle class, whose educational choices reflect broader projects of class formation within the context of religious and caste diversity particular to the region. This path-breaking new study of a changing Indian middle class and new relationships with educational institutions contributes to the growing body of work on the experiences and meanings of schooling for youths, their parents, and the wider community and thereby adds a unique, anthropologically informed, perspective to South Asian studies, urban studies and the study of education.