Classroom Management, School Staff Relations, School Climate, and Academic Achievement: Testing A Model with Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Back, Lindsey T.; Polk, Elizabeth; Keys, Christopher B.; McMahon, Susan D.

2016-01-01

Urban learning environments pose distinct instructional challenges for teachers and administrators, and can lead to lower achievement compared to suburban or rural schools. Today's educational climate increasingly emphasises a need for positive academic outcomes, often measured by standardised tests, on which student educational opportunities,…

Continuums of Precarity: Refugee Youth Transitions in American High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McWilliams, Julia Ann; Bonet, Sally Wesley

2016-01-01

This article examines how the pre-migratory experiences of 90 Bhutanese, Burmese, and Iraqi refugee youth shape their aspirations, needs and capabilities as they transition to postsecondary education and work in the American urban context. It further explores how their schooling experiences in precarious urban school districts influence their…

An Urban Schools-University Partnership that Prepares and Retains Quality Teachers for "High Need" Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helfeldt, John P.; Capraro, Robert M.; Capraro, Mary Margaret; Foster, Elizabeth; Carter, Norvella

2009-01-01

This article describes a full-time teaching internship program, where, in lieu of student teaching, interns serve as classroom teachers in urban area schools. Through a partnership between a university and participating school districts, all interns received intensive mentoring and induction during their first year. Among the program results, were…

Parents' and Teachers' Beliefs about Children's School Readiness in a High-Need Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piotrkowski, Chaya S.; Botsko, Michael; Matthews, Eunice

2000-01-01

Compared the beliefs of preschool teachers, kindergarten teachers, and parents regarding children's school readiness in one mostly Hispanic and Black high-need urban school district. Found that parents held remarkably similar beliefs, regardless of ethnicity or education. Parents rated all classroom-related readiness resources such as…

The Urban Teaching Cohort: Pre-Service Training to Support Mental Health in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Tammy; Dinnen, Hannah; Smith-Millman, Marissa K.; Dixon, Maressa; Flaspohler, Paul D.

2017-01-01

Supporting students' mental health needs is critical in high-poverty urban school districts where many students are at risk for mental health problems. Although teacher-student relationships are at the core of student mental health promotion in the classroom, many teacher preparation programmes do not adequately prepare pre-service teachers…

Schools as Radical Sanctuaries: Decolonizing Urban Education through the Eyes of Youth of Color. Issues in the Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice of Urban Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antrop-Gonzalez, Rene

2011-01-01

Large, comprehensive urban high schools were designed and constructed with the belief that they could meet the needs of all its students, academic and otherwise. By and large, however, these schools have only done a good job of sorting students for specific jobs in a society based on capitalism and White supremacy. Consequently, students schooled…

Urban Teacher Academy Project Toolkit: A Guide to Developing High School Teaching Career Academies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berrigan, Anne; Schwartz, Shirley

There is an urgent need not only to attract more people into the teaching profession but also to build a more diverse, highly qualified, and culturally sensitive teaching force that can meet the needs of a rapidly changing school-age population. This Toolkit takes best practices from high school teacher academies around the United States and…

Aim High, Achieve More: How to Transform Urban Schools through Fearless Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Yvette; McDermott, Veronica A.

2012-01-01

When you want to succeed in the tough landscape of urban schools, you need more than just passion, faith in your own ability, and a sense of urgency. You need real skills. This book comes to your rescue with practical suggestions, examples of successful practices, ideas to support you and your team, and an inspirational message about how to be a…

"I Thought I Was Prepared!" Meeting the Challenges of Diversity in High-Need, High-Potential Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jung, Eunjoo; Angell, Maureen E.; Moore, Marilyn K.; Lippert, Lance R.; Hunt, Stephen K.; Simonds, Brent

2010-01-01

This article reports descriptive findings of a qualitative investigation of early-career teachers' perceptions of their preparedness to teach diverse learners in high-need, high-potential urban schools. Interviews revealed new teachers' insights into their teacher preparation programs and the challenging expectations involved in teaching diverse…

The Effects of a Consumer Chemistry Intervention on Urban At-Risk High School Students' Performance, Utility Value, and Intentions to Pursue STEM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duffin, Lisa C.; Starling, Michael P.; Day, Martha M.; Cribbs, Jennifer D.

2016-01-01

The main purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the degree to which a three-week intervention in an urban high-needs high school science classroom would influence students' (n = 51) interest, utility value, content knowledge, and intentions for future study in chemistry. The intervention consisted of an authentic, inquiry-based…

"No One Ever Asked Me": Urban African American Students' Perceptions of Educational Resilience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Joseph M.; Portman, Tarrell Awe Agahe

2014-01-01

This qualitative study examined high-achieving urban African American high school graduates' (N = 5) retrospective appraisal of what K-12 students from high-risk urban areas need to succeed academically despite seemingly insurmountable social, financial, and educational barriers. Findings revealed 6 themes: shared responsibility for…

The Impact of Service Learning on Pre-Service Teachers Preconceptions of Urban Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weber, Sherri

2017-01-01

Urban schools, especially those serving high minority, high poverty, and low performing students, are in desperate need of high-quality teachers, yet issues with retention, recruitment, and preparedness plague urban districts (Aragon, Culpepper, McKee & Perkins, 2014). Teacher educators are challenged to prepare teacher candidates to overcome…

An Extreme Degree of Difficulty: The Educational Demographics of Urban Neighborhood High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neild, Ruth Curran; Balfanz, Robert

2006-01-01

Despite the growth of a variety of alternatives to the neighborhood high school, most students in big-city school systems still attend large comprehensive high schools that serve a particular residential area. The authors contend that the extreme concentration of educational need at these schools is often overlooked by policymakers, school reform…

Changing Perceptions of Teacher Candidates in High-Needs Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeJarnette, Nancy K.

2016-01-01

Candidates enter teacher education programs with established beliefs about diversity and urban education. These belief systems impact decisions that teacher candidates make both now and in the future. Providing opportunities for candidates to spend quality time in an urban Professional Development School (PDS) setting with the support and guidance…

Leaving or Staying in Teaching: A "Vignette" of an Experienced Urban Teacher "Leaver" of A London Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Towers, Emma; Maguire, Meg

2017-01-01

In the field of teacher attrition, there is a significant body of literature on why teachers leave high-needs urban schools and particularly why beginning teachers leave their schools and the profession. However, there is little research on the reasons why experienced teachers leave the teaching profession. This paper examines this subject by…

Optimizing violence prevention programs: an examination of program effectiveness among urban high school students.

PubMed

Thompkins, Amanda C; Chauveron, Lisa M; Harel, Ofer; Perkins, Daniel F

2014-07-01

While demand for youth violence prevention programs increases, the ability of the school-day schedule to accommodate their time requirements has diminished. Viable school-based prevention programs must strike a balance between brevity and effectiveness. This article reports results from an effectiveness trial of a 12-session curriculum-based universal violence prevention program that promotes healthy conflict resolution skills among urban adolescents. Using a review of program record data and a multisite quasi-experimental study design, we examined the effectiveness of a New York City-based violence prevention program entitled the Violence Prevention project (VPP) optimized to meet school needs. We analyzed survey data from 1112 9th- and 10th-grade students in 13 New York City public high schools across 4 consecutive school years. Both participants and nonparticipants were surveyed. Review of program record data indicated that the program was implemented with acceptable fidelity to the core component structure, and that participant responsiveness to the model was high. Multilevel modeling indicated that VPP participation was protective for academic self-concept and promoted conflict resolution skills. Findings indicate that semester-long violence prevention programs optimized to meet the needs of a typical high school can be effective at promoting healthy conflict resolution skills in urban adolescents. © 2014, American School Health Association.

Deepening Teacher Knowledge of Multicultural Literature through a University-Schools Partnership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Athanases, Steven Z.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study is to strengthen teachers' knowledge of multicultural literature for use with high school students in a highly diverse, high needs urban school district through a university-schools partnership. A core English group of 15-20 members of a university-schools partnership met in monthly department-based and periodic…

A Research Brief: "Principals' Hiring of Teachers in Philadelphia"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Heidi A.; Schofield, Lynne Steuerle; Black, Melissa

2008-01-01

The School District of Philadelphia (SDP), like many other urban school districts, struggles to increase its hiring and retention of experienced and highly qualified teachers in its low-performing/high-need schools. Excluding its charter schools, SDP serves approximately 165,000 students, largely from high-poverty (76%) and minority (85%)…

Why (Urban) Mathematics Teachers Need Political Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutiérrez, Rochelle

2013-01-01

Rochelle Gutiérrez has spent 15 years researching effective, urban high school mathematics departments that served Black, Latin@ and low-income adolescents (see, e.g., Gutiérrez, 1996, 1999a, 1999b, 2000, 2002). These were schools where students took more mathematics than was required by their district; where English learners, recent immigrants,…

Principals' Hiring of Teachers in Philadelphia Schools: A Research Report on Improving Teacher Quality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Heidi A.; Schofield, Lynne Steuerle; Black, Melissa

2009-01-01

The School District of Philadelphia (SDP), like many other urban school districts, struggles to increase its hiring and retention of experienced and highly qualified teachers in its low-performing/high-need schools. Toward the goal of improving teacher quality and the experience balance, particularly in hard-to-staff schools, the Philadelphia…

Crisis at a Bronx Junior High: Responding to School-Related Violence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seltzer, Joel A.

Responding to dramatically increased levels of urban violence, inner-city school districts have recognized the need to address the psychological impact of violent events by organizing Crisis Response Teams. In New York's south Bronx neighborhoods, where violence appears endemic, the schools often serve children's basic needs by providing a safe…

Comal County, Texas: Preparing for Life after High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walter, Frank

2018-01-01

Comal County, Texas, may be rural but its students face many of the same challenges as students in urban districts. Communities In Schools of South Central Texas works with the local school district to identify student needs and provide critical supports to help young people prepare for life after high school.

Magnet Schools in Chicago: Achievement at Risk if Policymakers Retreat. Research Notes on Education. No. 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Institute for Independent Education, Inc., Washington, DC.

In many urban areas, educators rely on magnet schools to strike a delicate balance between the need to create opportunities for equity in education and the need for parents to have greater choice among schools. But, are magnet schools successful? This document considers whether they fulfill the promises of high achievement and desegregation in…

Initial Study of Pre-Service Teachers' Comments on a Reality-Based, Urban-Student Video Streamed within an Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Connor, Eileen A.

2009-01-01

The Master of Arts in Teaching program at Empire State College, an alternative teacher certification program focused on bringing career-changing adults to high-needs schools, has an important need in its initial pre-service year. These adult students must be prepared to move into complex, high-needs schools without student teaching and often with…

Teaching High School Students To Write for Life Outside of School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knight, Lorraine Rushing

A practicum (which took place at a high school in an urban community in the Southeastern United States) was designed to give high school students the opportunity to gain writing skills that meet the challenge of real-world demands. Students need to be competent in basic skills, the use of computers, and applications that meet workplace challenges…

College Readiness of Urban High School Students in the United States: The Role of Technology in Preparing All Students for College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Kane, Eileen Vollert

2010-01-01

As we enter deeper into the 21st Century, there is a more urgent need to transform our educational system in the United States to better prepare our youth for the careers and technology of the future. This study examines how improving technology education at the high school level can improve the learning and college readiness of urban youth. It…

Factors Affecting the Retention of First-career and Second-career Science Teachers in Urban High Schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rak, Rosemary C.

The turnover of high school science teachers is an especially troubling problem in urban schools with economically disadvantaged students. Because high teacher turnover rates impede effective instruction, the persistence of teacher attrition is a serious concern. Using an online survey and interviews in a sequential mixed-methods approach, this study investigates the perceptions of high school science teachers regarding factors that contribute to their employment decisions. The study also compares first-career and second-career science teachers' perceptions of retention and attrition factors and identifies conditions that urban school leaders can establish to support the retention of their science teachers. A purposeful sample of 138 science teachers from urban area New England public high schools with 50% or more Free and Reduced Price Lunch-eligible students participated in the survey. Twelve survey respondents were subsequently interviewed. In accord with extant research, this study's results suggest that school leadership is essential to fostering teacher retention. The findings also reveal the importance of autonomy, professional community, and adequate resources to support science instruction. Although mentoring and induction programs receive low importance ratings in this study, career-changers view these programs as more important to their retention than do first-career science teachers. Second-career interviewees, in particular, voice the importance of being treated as professionals by school leaders. Future research may examine the characteristics of mentoring and induction programs that make them most responsive to the needs of first-career and second-career science teachers. Future studies may also investigate the aspects of school leadership and professional autonomy that are most effective in promoting science teacher retention. Keywords: career-changers; school leaders; science teachers; second-career teachers; teacher retention; teacher turnover; urban high school

[Parenting skills situation and need assessment among parents of primary school pupils].

PubMed

Ma, Ya-ting; Chen, Jing-qi; Wang, Fu-man; Xiao, Wan-qing; Zhang, Man; Zhang, Wen-jing; Duan, Gui-qin; Li, Jing-yi; Luo, Xiao-ling

2012-06-18

To investigate parenting skills and need among parents of primary school pupils and to explore influencing factors. A total of 1 394 parents of rural and urban primary school pupils were recruited by multistage stratified random clustered sampling method. They were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire regarding demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, parenting scale, parenting need assessment, parent-to-child interaction attitudes, social support, physical/mental maltreatment experiences in childhood and so forth. Apart from TV/film/broadcasting, rural parents' utilization of other parenting deliveries was less than that of urban parents. Urban and rural parents both had high needs for parenting skills. Parents' physical/mental maltreatment experiences in childhood were risk factors for dysfunctional parenting. Positive parent-to-child interaction attitudes and high social support were protective factors against dysfunctional parenting. Mothers, parents of boys, middle/low family incomes, and parents with positive parent-to-child interaction attitudes had higher demands for parenting skills. We should make full use of mass media, interpersonal communication to meet the needs of parenting for parents, especially rural parents. More attention should be paid to parents with childhood maltreatment experiences, low social support and less positive parent-to-child interaction attitudes.

Seed Balls and the Circle of Courage: A Decolonization Model of Youth Development in an Environmental Stewardship Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wenger-Schulman, A. R. S.; Hoffman, Lauren

2018-01-01

Middle School 88 in Brooklyn, New York serves a community of students often considered at high risk for dropping out of high school and other socially undesirable behaviors. In this high-need setting, the authors designed and implemented an environmental education program designed to meet the needs of urban youth of color. The approach they used,…

Meeting the Needs of Urban Youths in Columbus City Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deglau, Dena A.; Barnes, Diane

2009-01-01

With 55 percent of the 53,400 students on free and reduced lunch programs, a 78 percent mobility rate, and a diverse population, Columbus City Schools (CCS) in Ohio faces the challenges common to other urban districts. In spite of the challenges, CCS has made a long-term commitment to engage students in high-quality physical education and physical…

"We're Going to Make Lemonade out of Lemons": Urban Principals, Emotion, and Race to the Top Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wieczorek, Douglas; Theoharis, George

2015-01-01

This study reports on four urban middle- and high school principals' emotionally shaped sense making of Race to the Top policies and their ability to balance the competing demands of teachers' emotional needs with the charge to implement mandated, accountability-driven, instructional, and evaluation changes in their schools. Despite the pressure…

Boundary Spanners as Bridges of Student and School Discourses in an Urban Science and Mathematics High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buxton, Cory A.; Carlone, Heidi B.; Carlone, David

2005-01-01

A key to improving urban science and mathematics education is to facilitate the mutual understanding of the participants involved and then look for strategies to bridge differences. Educators need new theoretical tools to do so. In this paper the argument is made that the concept of "boundary spanner" is such a tool. Boundary spanners…

The Nature of Teacher Interactions at a High Achieving, High-Risk Urban Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heaton, Charles Richard

2010-01-01

Increasingly, teachers are asked to work both systemically and systematically in addressing school performance and student failure. Structuring school communities for teacher collaboration is one area where educators have found common ground; the present and unprecedented need is reflected in the policy statements of the leading education…

A Collaborative Autoethnography of Literacy Professional Development Work in a High-Needs Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanders, Jennifer Y.; Parsons, Sue Christian; Mwavita, Mwarumba; Thomas, Katherine

2015-01-01

This article presents the findings of a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) of three teacher educators' work as literacy professional development (PD) leaders in a high-needs, culturally diverse, urban, US school district. The research questions focused on what the facilitators learned about leading literacy PD in a high-needs/high-stakes…

"Find the Strength in Every Teacher": Urban Middle School Teachers' Perceptions of Effective Change Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Timothy Clancy

2013-01-01

Urban middle schools face many accountability measures which often create the need for school improvement. Leading urban middle schools through the change process is extremely challenging for principals. The combination of leading change, leading urban schools, and leading middle schools is an uphill climb. Teachers' perceptions of leadership…

Breaking through to Reluctant Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarke, Bill

2006-01-01

With 70 percent of its student body entering school reading below grade level, Blackstone Academy Charter School realized that teachers needed to make literacy a pillar of the school's culture. This 9-12 urban high school administers a reading evaluation developed by the Northwest Evaluation Association each fall and spring to all incoming…

Step-Up: Promoting Youth Mental Health and Development in Inner-City High Schools

PubMed Central

Pardo, Gisselle; Conover, Kelly; Gopalan, Geetha; McKay, Mary

2011-01-01

African American and Latino youth who reside in inner-city communities are at heightened risk for compromised mental health, as their neighborhoods are too often associated with serious stressors, including elevated rates of poverty, substance abuse, community violence, as well as scarce youth-supportive resources, and mental health care options. Many aspects of disadvantaged urban contexts have the potential to thwart successful youth development. Adolescents with elevated mental health needs may experience impaired judgment, poor problem-solving skills, and conflictual interpersonal relationships, resulting in unsafe sexual behavior and drug use. However, mental health services are frequently avoided by urban adolescents who could gain substantial benefit from care. Thus, the development of culturally sensitive, contextually relevant and effective services for urban, low-income African American and Latino adolescents is critical. Given the complexity of the mental health and social needs of urban youth, novel approaches to service delivery may need to consider individual (i.e., motivation to succeed in the future), family (i.e., adult support within and outside of the family), and community-level (i.e., work and school opportunities) clinical components. Step-Up, a high school-based mental health service delivery model has been developed to bolster key family, youth and school processes related to youth mental health and positive youth development. Step-Up (1) intervenes with urban minority adolescents across inner-city ecological domains; (2) addresses multiple levels (school, family and community) in order to target youth mental health difficulties; and (3) provides opportunities for increasing youth social problem-solving and life skills. Further, Step-Up integrates existing theory-driven, evidence-based interventions. This article describes Step-Up clinical goals, theoretical influences, as well as components and key features, and presents preliminary data on youth engagement for two cohorts of students. PMID:23564983

Step-Up: Promoting Youth Mental Health and Development in Inner-City High Schools.

PubMed

Alicea, Stacey; Pardo, Gisselle; Conover, Kelly; Gopalan, Geetha; McKay, Mary

2012-06-01

African American and Latino youth who reside in inner-city communities are at heightened risk for compromised mental health, as their neighborhoods are too often associated with serious stressors, including elevated rates of poverty, substance abuse, community violence, as well as scarce youth-supportive resources, and mental health care options. Many aspects of disadvantaged urban contexts have the potential to thwart successful youth development. Adolescents with elevated mental health needs may experience impaired judgment, poor problem-solving skills, and conflictual interpersonal relationships, resulting in unsafe sexual behavior and drug use. However, mental health services are frequently avoided by urban adolescents who could gain substantial benefit from care. Thus, the development of culturally sensitive, contextually relevant and effective services for urban, low-income African American and Latino adolescents is critical. Given the complexity of the mental health and social needs of urban youth, novel approaches to service delivery may need to consider individual (i.e., motivation to succeed in the future), family (i.e., adult support within and outside of the family), and community-level (i.e., work and school opportunities) clinical components. Step-Up, a high school-based mental health service delivery model has been developed to bolster key family, youth and school processes related to youth mental health and positive youth development. Step-Up (1) intervenes with urban minority adolescents across inner-city ecological domains; (2) addresses multiple levels (school, family and community) in order to target youth mental health difficulties; and (3) provides opportunities for increasing youth social problem-solving and life skills. Further, Step-Up integrates existing theory-driven, evidence-based interventions. This article describes Step-Up clinical goals, theoretical influences, as well as components and key features, and presents preliminary data on youth engagement for two cohorts of students.

Should I apply to medical school? High school students and barriers to application.

PubMed

Whalen, Desmond; Harris, Chelsea; Harty, Chris; Greene, Alison; Faour, Elizabeth; Thomson, Kalen; Ravalia, Mohamed

2016-01-01

A major goal of the Faculty of Medicine at the Memorial University of Newfoundland is to produce physicians who will return to rural areas that are currently underserviced. Research shows that the strongest indicator of practice in a rural area is a rural background, and thus it is important that rural students apply to medical school. We investigated what high school students believe to be preventing them from pursuing medical education. Between September 2013 and June 2014, we administered a paper survey to high school students in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. A total of 665 participants completed the survey. We found that fewer rural students (75.6%) than urban students (98.6%) believed that they could gain admission to medical school (p < 0.01) and that medicine was promoted as a career choice in fewer rural schools (55.7%) than urban schools (69.7%). Also, 55.4% of urban students, but only 44.4% of rural students, believed that rural students were disadvantaged when applying to medical school. In our study, rural students believed they were less likely to be accepted into medical school than urban students, and fewer rural students felt that medicine was promoted as a potential career choice. Our results may be explained by a lack of role models or perhaps by financial barriers, although further research is needed.

Teachers' challenges, strategies, and support needs in schools affected by community violence: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Maring, Elisabeth F; Koblinsky, Sally A

2013-06-01

Exposure to community violence compromises teacher effectiveness, student learning, and socioemotional well-being. This study examined the challenges, strategies, and support needs of teachers in urban schools affected by high levels of community violence. Twenty teachers from 3 urban middle schools with predominantly low-income African American students completed open-ended interviews. Selected schools were in geographic areas with high violent crime levels. Consistent with an ecological risk and resilience framework, findings revealed that teachers experienced challenges and adopted coping strategies at the individual, family, school, and community levels. Teachers employed a number of strategies associated with resilience, such as prayer and seeking support from family and colleagues, but also engaged in some avoidant strategies, such as emotional withdrawal and avoiding difficult students. Findings suggest interventions to improve school safety and reduce the negative impact of violence-related stressors. Teacher training in behavior management, effective school leadership, improved school security, peer mediation, expanded mental health services, and parent involvement may promote resilience among both teachers and their students. © 2013, American School Health Association.

GOAPe: An Urban High School Program out beyond the Concrete.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagler, Steve

The Galileo Outdoor Adventures Program (GOAPe) addresses the needs of high school students with a student-centered experiential program that is project- and community-based. At the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, a public school in inner-city San Francisco, GOAPe is a semester-long program and a student club. From the first day of…

A Professional Learning Community to Improve Literacy at a Minority Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCallum, Salimah A.

2012-01-01

Despite No Child Left Behind legislation, there has been little significant progress in literacy for African American and Hispanic high school students. This issue reflects a failing school system and an urgent need for educational reform in the United States. Using social cognitive theory as the conceptual framework, this qualitative study…

Current Use of E-Cigarettes and Conventional Cigarettes Among US High School Students in Urban and Rural Locations: 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

PubMed

Noland, Melody; Rayens, Mary Kay; Wiggins, Amanda T; Huntington-Moskos, Luz; Rayens, Emily A; Howard, Tiffany; Hahn, Ellen J

2017-01-01

Adolescent tobacco use is higher in rural than in urban areas. While e-cigarette use is increasing rapidly among this age group, differences in prevalence between rural versus urban populations for this relatively novel product have not been explored. The purpose is to investigate whether location of school (rural-urban) is associated with e-cigarette use and dual use (defined as the use of both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes) among high school students. Cross-sectional survey obtained using a stratified, 3-stage cluster sample design. United States. A nationally representative sample of US high school students (N = 11 053) who completed the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS); slightly more than half were urban (54%). The NYTS measures tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, and use behavior and demographics of students in the United States. Weighted logistic regression assessed the relationships of urban-rural location with current e-cigarette use and dual use, adjusting for demographic factors, perceived risk, and social norms. There were clear differences in patterns of adolescent e-cigarette and cigarette use in rural versus urban areas. Social norms and perceptions may play a role in understanding these differences. Urban youth current cigarette smokers were nearly twice as likely as rural cigarette smokers to also use e-cigarettes. Reasons for urban-rural differences need to be taken into account when designing prevention programs and policy changes.

What We're Missing: A Descriptive Analysis of Part-Day Absenteeism in Secondary School. CEPA Working Paper No. 16-16

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitney, Camille R.; Liu, Jing

2016-01-01

For schools and teachers to help students develop knowledge and skills, students need to show up to class. Yet absenteeism is high, especially in high schools. This study uses a rich dataset tracking class attendance by day for over 50,000 middle and high school students from an urban district in Academic Years 2007-'08 through 2012-'13. Our…

Creating an Adolescent Health Promotion Internet Site. A Community Partnership between University Nursing Students and an Inner-City High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huyhn, Kim; Kosmyna, Bonnie; Lea, Holly; Munch, Krista R.; Reynolds, Heather S.; Specht, Corey; Tinker, Elizabeth C.; Yee, Anne Jezzamine; French, Laura R.

2000-01-01

Nursing students collaborated with urban high school students to identify adolescent health needs and to build and maintain a health information Web site. Student empowerment and ownership of the project were the keys to its sustainability. (SK)

Teachers' Perspectives of Children's Mental Health Service Needs in Urban Elementary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, James Herbert; Horvath, Violet E.; Wei, Hsi-Sheng; Van Dorn, Richard A.; Jonson-Reid, Melissa

2007-01-01

This study uses a phenomenological approach to investigate elementary school teachers' perspectives on children's mental health service needs. Focus groups were conducted at two elementary schools with differing levels of available social services in a moderate-sized urban midwestern school district. Data collection centered on six prominent…

The EPIC Leadership Development Program Evaluation Report. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New Leaders for New Schools (NJ1), 2011

2011-01-01

New Leaders for New Schools created the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) initiative in 2006 to learn from educators driving achievement gains in high-need urban schools. EPIC identifies school leaders and teachers whose students are making significant achievement gains and financially rewards these educators in exchange for sharing…

Urban schools' teachers enacting project-based science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tal, Tali; Krajcik, Joseph S.; Blumenfeld, Phyllis C.

2006-09-01

What teaching practices foster inquiry and promote students to learn challenging subject matter in urban schools? Inquiry-based instruction and successful inquiry learning and teaching in project-based science (PBS) were described in previous studies (Brown & Campione, [1990]; Crawford, [1999]; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, Bass, & Fredricks, [1998]; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, & Solloway, [1994]; Minstrell & van Zee, [2000]). In this article, we describe the characteristics of inquiry teaching practices that promote student learning in urban schools. Teaching is a major factor that affects both achievement of and attitude of students toward science (Tamir, [1998]). Our involvement in reform in a large urban district includes the development of suitable learning materials and providing continuous and practiced-based professional development (Fishman & Davis, in press; van Es, Reiser, Matese, & Gomez, [2002]). Urban schools face particular challenges when enacting inquiry-based teaching practices like those espoused in PBS. In this article, we describe two case studies of urban teachers whose students achieved high gains on pre- and posttests and who demonstrated a great deal of preparedness and commitment to their students. Teachers' attempts to help their students to perform well are described and analyzed. The teachers we discuss work in a school district that strives to bring about reform in mathematics and science through systemic reform. The Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS) collaborates with the Detroit Public Schools to bring about reform in middle-school science. Through this collaboration, diverse populations of urban-school students learn science through inquiry-oriented projects and the use of various educational learning technologies. For inquiry-based science to succeed in urban schools, teachers must play an important role in enacting the curriculum while addressing the unique needs of students. The aim of this article is to describe patterns of good science teaching in urban school.

A Study of an Inter-Institutional Partnership between an Urban Community College and an Urban Public School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaines, Michael L.

2012-01-01

This study examined the unique partnership between Midwest Community College and Urban Public Schools' Urban Career Technical High School. The Urban Technical High School (UTHS) is designed to provide students interested in Tech Prep education a clear pathway from high school to college. Through collaboration, services were provided to assist high…

Concussion Knowledge and Reporting Behavior Differences between High School Athletes at Urban and Suburban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, Jessica; Covassin, Tracey; Nogle, Sally; Gould, Daniel; Kovan, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

Background: We determined differences in knowledge of concussion and reporting behaviors of high school athletes attending urban and suburban high schools, and whether a relationship exists between underreporting and access to an athletic trainer in urban schools. Methods: High school athletes (N = 715) from 14 high schools completed a validated…

Teachers' Views of School-Based Professional Learning in Six High-Performing, High-Poverty, Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reinhorn, Stefanie Karchmer

2015-01-01

Policy makers, practitioners and scholars agree that teachers need sustained job-embedded professional learning experiences to help students meet the demands of new accountability systems, higher education, and the workforce (Smylie, Miretzky, & Konkol, 2004; Valli & Buese, 2007). Research shows that job-embedded learning for teachers can…

Project Coach: A Case Study of a College-Community Partnerships as a Venture in Social Entrepreneurship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Intrator, Sam M.; Siegel, Donald

2010-01-01

Project Coach is an after school program developed and directed by the authors. The program, which is set in a high-need urban community in Springfield, Massachusetts, teaches high school and middle school students to be sport coaches and then to run youth sport leagues for elementary-aged youth in underserved neighborhoods in their own community.…

Teen pregnancy and the achievement gap among urban minority youth.

PubMed

Basch, Charles E

2011-10-01

To outline the prevalence and disparities of teen pregnancy among school-aged urban minority youth, causal pathways through which nonmarital teen births adversely affects academic achievement, and proven or promising approaches for schools to address this problem. Literature review. In 2006, the birth rate among 15- to 17-year-old non-Hispanic Blacks (36.1 per 1000) was more than three times as high, and the birth rate among Hispanics (47.9 per 1000) was more than four times as high as the birth rate among non-Hispanic Whites (11.8 per 1000). Compared with women who delay childbearing until age 30, teen mothers' education is estimated to be approximately 2 years shorter. Teen mothers are 10-12% less likely to complete high school and have 14-29% lower odds of attending college. School-based programs have the potential to help teens acquire the knowledge and skills needed to postpone sex, practice safer sex, avoid unintended pregnancy, and if pregnant, to complete high school and pursue postsecondary education. Most students in US middle and high schools receive some kind of sex education. Federal policies and legislation have increased use of the abstinence-only-until-marriage approach, which is disappointing considering the lack of evidence that this approach is effective. Nonmarital teen births are highly and disproportionately prevalent among school-aged urban minority youth, have a negative impact on educational attainment, and effective practices are available for schools to address this problem. Teen pregnancy exerts an important influence on educational attainment among urban minority youth. Decisions about what will be taught should be informed by empirical data documenting the effectiveness of alternative approaches. © 2011, American School Health Association.

School Attendance Patterns, Unmet Educational Needs, and Truancy: A Chronological Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spencer, Andrea M.

2009-01-01

This study examines chronological patterns of attendance and academic performance of urban students who are identified as truants in Grade 8. A chronological review of 42 student records, from school entry through Grade 8, identified high frequencies of absenteeism and academic performance issues beginning at school entry and, in many cases,…

The Impact of Mentoring Programs on Teachers in Urban Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wider, Beyonka Shantel

2012-01-01

Retaining teachers is a pressing issue facing many urban middle schools in the southern US. Urban middle schools continually face increased teacher turnover rates in spite of state mandated induction and mentoring programs. Drawing from Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, the purpose of the qualitative case study was to examine urban middle…

Preparing Teachers for Children in Poverty: The Nashville District Picks up the Mantle for Qualified Instruction in High-Needs Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holt, Camille B.; Garcia, Pedro

2005-01-01

The U.S. Department of Education's "1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey" indicated that teacher shortages are 50 percent higher in urban schools than in suburban schools. Almost a third of the teachers leave the profession during the first three years and nearly half leave after five years. In schools serving low-income communities,…

Leveraging After-School Programs to Minimize Risks for Internalizing Symptoms Among Urban Youth: Weaving Together Music Education and Social Development.

PubMed

Hedemann, Erin R; Frazier, Stacy L

2017-09-01

This study examined a university-community partnership, focusing on mental health promotion within an after-school music program. We pursued two goals: (a) supporting staff around student engagement and behavior management; (b) integrating social-emotional activities into the curriculum. We assessed youth's mental health needs and examined feasibility of social-emotional activities delivered. One-hundred sixty-two youth participated in activities, while a subset of youth (n = 61) and their parents provided information on mental health need. Rates of anxiety and depression symptoms were high, and youth reported high satisfaction with the activities. Results suggest promise of this model for mental health promotion for urban youth.

"Doing" School: Examining the Role of Ethnic Identity and School Engagement in Academic Performance and Goal Attainment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Lisa R.

The relationships among identity, school engagement, and goal attainment for African American adolescents in urban public high schools were studied with 63 ninth graders. In bi-weekly workshops, information was obtained about student dreams and goals, self-concepts, and knowledge of what they needed to do to attain their goals. To explore…

The High School "Space Race": Implications of a School-Choice Market Environment for a Michigan Metropolitan Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Militello, Matthew; Metzger, Scott Alan; Bowers, Alex J.

2008-01-01

This article examines the implications of competition between school districts in a mid-Michigan metropolitan area. Over the 10-year period after Michigan's major school-funding reform in 1994, many urban and suburban districts found themselves competing for per-pupil state funding. Suburban districts need extra students to make up budgetary…

Peeling Back the Layers of Policy and School Reform: Revealing the Structural and Social Complexities within

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodside-Jiron, Haley; Gehsmann, Kristin M.

2009-01-01

This article explores the complex process of school change over a six-year period in one high-poverty, urban elementary school in a northeastern city of the United States. The school included in this instrumental case study was identified by its State Department of Education as "being in need of improvement" in March 2000. Findings…

The School Climate-Student Achievement Connection: If We Want Achievement Gains, We Need to Begin by Improving the Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shindler, John; Jones, Albert; Williams, A. Dee; Taylor, Clint; Cardenas, Hermenia

2016-01-01

This study examined the relationship between school climate and student achievement ratings in urban school districts in five states (N = 230). Many educators view school climate and student achievement as separate considerations. However the results of this study suggest that climate and student achievement were highly related. In fact, the…

Healthy Minds in Healthy Bodies: Adolescent Clinics and Middle Schools in Collaboration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes, Augustina H.; Fowler, Michelle

1999-01-01

Explores the development of a collaboration between a clinic and an urban middle school in a high-poverty, language minority community in Texas. Considers the need for an adolescent clinic and issues of community support, funding, clinic objectives, and problems. (JPB)

A Measure of Toxicity: The Challenge of Employee Fit in Organizational Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mize, Nicolas G.

2016-01-01

Principal Vanessa Sanchez assumed leadership of a high-need, high-poverty urban school with a mandate from the district superintendent to change the school culture and to build an instructional team aligned to the principal's theory of change. The central dilemma of the case is how to lead organizational change while managing interpersonal…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Relevance Strategic Designs: 8. High Tech High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Teacher with a Heart: Reflections on Leonard Covello and Community. Between Teacher and Text [Series].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perrone, Vito

Leonard Covello's memoir, "The Heart Is the Teacher" (1958), contained the history of an urban community school, Benjamin Franklin Community High School in East Harlem (New York). The school was concerned with academics and the special needs of immigrant children. The first section reflects on Covello's work and his community. The second…

Hip-Hop, the "Obama Effect," and Urban Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emdin, Christopher; Lee, Okhee

2012-01-01

Background/Context: With the ever increasing diversity of schools, and the persistent need to develop teaching strategies for the students who attend today's urban schools, hip-hop culture has been proposed to be a means through which urban youth can find success in school. As a result, studies of the role of hip-hop in urban education have grown…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Core Academic Strategic Designs: 2. Noble Street Charter High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Personalization Strategic Designs: 9. MetWest High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Implementation of Teacher Consultation and Coaching in Urban Schools: A Mixed Method Study

PubMed Central

Cappella, Elise; Jackson, Daisy R.; Kim, Ha Yeon; Bilal, Caroline; Holland, Sibyl; Atkins, Marc S.

2015-01-01

Guided by implementation science scholarship and school mental health research, the current study uses qualitative and quantitative data to illuminate the barriers, opportunities, and processes underlying the implementation of a teacher consultation and coaching model (BRIDGE) in urban elementary schools. Data come from five public elementary schools, 12 school mental health staff (BRIDGE consultants), and 18 teachers participating in a classroom-randomized trial of BRIDGE. Findings from directed content analysis of teacher focus group and interview data suggest that aspects of the BRIDGE intervention model, school organization and classroom contexts, and teachers/consultants and their relationship were relevant as implementation facilitators or barriers. In addition, case study analysis of intervention materials and fidelity tools from classrooms with moderate-to-high dosage and adherence suggest variation in consultation and coaching by initial level of observed classroom need. Results illuminate the need for implementation research to extend beyond simple indicators of fidelity to the multiple systems and variation in processes at play across levels of the implementation context. PMID:27293490

A School and Work Program in An Adult Manpower Setting for Potential Dropouts Needing Educational Redirection. Evaluation of State Urban Education Programs in New York City 1968-69.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flicker, Bernard

The objectives of this High School Redirection Project were to redirect potential dropouts to continue full-time education and training with an educational-vocational plan, to provide high school dropouts with job skills that will enable them to enter the labor market on the highest possible level while continuing to upgrade their skills on a…

Language of poverty strategies: Implemented in the urban elementary science classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeanpierre, Bobby Jo

2000-08-01

This research study reports the results of school-based staff development models used at three urban elementary schools that had liaison teachers assisting classroom teachers in implementing instructional strategies in science teaching from "Language of Poverty," a curriculum framework designed to address the academic needs of disadvantaged students. The case study of two urban elementary schools and six classroom teachers, and survey and interview data results of a third school, uncovered insights into several areas of science teaching in urban settings. One conclusion is that in spite of substantial allocation of resources and assistance, teachers did not translate instructional strategies from "Language of Poverty" curriculum into their classroom practices in a way that would foster urban disadvantaged students' understanding of "big science concepts." A second conclusion is that the school-based staff development models were limited in their ability to address the diverse professional needs of all of its staff. Third, as it relates to students, discipline issues occurred in these urban classrooms across ethnicity and gender. And in addition to teachers being knowledgeable of relevant social and cultural group norms' application of this knowledge in an appropriate and consistent manner is needed to effectively address discipline concerns.

Evaluation Report: The EPIC Leadership Development Model and Pilot Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New Leaders (NJ1), 2011

2011-01-01

New Leaders created the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) initiative in 2006 to learn from educators driving achievement gains in high-need urban schools. EPIC identifies school leaders and teachers whose students are making significant achievement gains and financially rewards these educators in exchange for sharing and documenting…

Successful Teaching Strategies for Urban African American High School Males

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blue, Adonis

2017-01-01

The continued dismal performance of African American students calls for the establishment of better strategies and techniques. The available studies reveal very little regarding the initiatives pursued by middle and elementary school teacher in addressing the academic needs of African American students, however, this literature has not yet defined…

LABORATORY FOR CHANGE--THE MADISON AREA PROJECT. SUMMARY REPORT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HALL, SHIRLEY W.

THE PROJECT HAD ITS BEGINNING AT ONE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. ATTENTION WAS TURNED TO THE VARIETY OF URBAN PROBLEMS WHICH CAUSE EDUCATIONAL DISADVANTAGEMENT. TEACHER PREPARATION, DESEGREGATION, PRESCHOOL, TRAINING, CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, STUDENT MOTIVATION, AND SCHOOL DROPOUTS WERE IDENTIFIED AS SOME OF THE MAJOR AREAS IN NEED OF GREATER ATTENTION.…

The New Urban High School: A Practitioner's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Big Picture Co., Cambridge, MA.

In October 1996, the Big Picture Company set out to find six urban high schools that use school-to-work strategies as a lever for whole-school reform. In the schools finally selected for the New Urban High Schools Project, and in others examined for the study, "school-to-work" is a misnomer, because the majority of students are entering…

Transforming a High School Media Center into a Library Learning Commons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiara, Nancy A.

2014-01-01

This study outlines a planned action based research project focused on studying the transformation of an urban high school media center to a learning commons model. This study includes a descriptive account as well as the impact of steps taken to match the media center to the needs of the 21st century learner. The research focuses on shifting…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Relevance Strategic Designs: 6. Perspectives Charter School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

REASSESSMENT OF THE SCHOOL LOCATION PROBLEM--A MULTI-FUNCTIONAL ROLE FOR THE SCHOOL IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DOST, JEANNE

RISING PRESSURES OF COMPETITION FOR LAND IN URBAN AREAS SUGGEST THE NEED FOR NOVEL APPROACHES TO PLANNING PUBLIC LAND USE FOR FOSTERING HIGHER LEVELS OF LIVING DESIRABILITY OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN BOTH ECONOMIC AND NON-ECONOMIC DISCIPLINES SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR A BROADER CONCEPT OF THE URBAN SCHOOL LOCATION PROBLEM.…

School Connectedness for Students in Low-Income Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasir, Na'ilah Suad; Jones, Amina; McLaughlin, Milbrey Wallin

2011-01-01

Background/Context: In this article, we explore school connectedness for students in a high-poverty urban school. Current approaches to measuring connection conflate behavior and attitudinal measures of connection and rarely explore school connection in urban school settings. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: We examine…

Talking Back at School: Using the Literacy Classroom as a Site for Resistance to the School-to-Prison Pipeline and Recognition of Students Labeled "At-Risk"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Jennifer L.; Beese, Jane A.

2017-01-01

Teaching writing to students of high need in an urban school is simultaneously pedagogical, curricular, and political. Students labeled "at-risk" for school failure often have lowered expectations placed upon them from without that impact how they feel within. Compounding this problem of perception is the real issue of heightened…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Core Academic Strategic Designs: 3. University Park Campus School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Not just a walk in the park: efficacy to effectiveness for after school programs in communities of concentrated urban poverty.

PubMed

Frazier, Stacy L; Mehta, Tara G; Atkins, Marc S; Hur, Kwan; Rusch, Dana

2013-09-01

This study examined a model for mental health consultation, training and support designed to enhance the benefits of publicly-funded recreational after-school programs in communities of concentrated urban poverty for children's academic, social, and behavioral functioning. We assessed children's mental health needs and examined the feasibility and impact of intervention on program quality and children's psychosocial outcomes in three after-school sites (n = 15 staff, 89 children), compared to three demographically-matched sites that received no intervention (n = 12 staff, 38 children). Findings revealed high staff satisfaction and feasibility of intervention, and modest improvements in observed program quality and staff-reported children's outcomes. Data are considered with a public health lens of mental health promotion for children in urban poverty.

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Relevance Strategic Designs: 4. Boston Arts Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Relevance Strategic Designs: 7. TechBoston Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

The Professional Development Needs of School-Based Leadership in Preparation for a District-Wide One-to-One Initiative in a Large Urban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Brandon Dean

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the professional development needs of school-based leadership in preparation for a district-wide one-to-one initiative in a large urban school district. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to answer the three research questions that drove the study. Research for this study was…

Violence in Rural, Suburban, and Urban Schools in Pennsylvania.

PubMed

Flynn, Kalen; McDonald, Catherine C; D'Alonzo, Bernadette A; Tam, Vicky; Wiebe, Douglas J

2018-01-01

School violence is a public health issue with direct and collateral consequences that has academic and social impacts for youth. School violence is often considered a uniquely urban problem, yet more research is needed to understand how violence in rural and suburban schools may be similar or different from urban counterparts. Using school violence data from a state with urban, suburban, and rural counties, we explored the landscape of school violence in Pennsylvania (PA) through mapping, descriptive statistics, and factor analysis. Results show school violence is not solely an urban problem. Schools in all county types and across grade levels deal with violence to varying degrees, and the majority of schools across county types experience low levels of violence. Types of violence experienced by PA schools loaded onto three factors, suggesting that targeted interventions may be better suited to addressing school violence.

Preparing Urban Teachers: Uncovering Communities. A Community Curriculum for Interns and New Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shakespear, Eileen; Beardsley, Linda; Newton, Anne

The Urban Teacher Training Collaborative (UTTC) is a school-university, school-based, Master of Arts in Teaching Program developed by Tufts University and three small Boston Public Schools. The program reflects partners' understanding of the needs of urban students and teachers. It presents an innovative model for teacher training similar to the…

A Post-Modern Teacher Educator: A Phenomenological Study of Teacher Educators with Significant Experience in High-Needs, High-Minority Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Derrick Eugene

2016-01-01

Four decades of university-based teacher education reform has failed to yield favorable outcomes in teacher effectiveness in P-12 schools. A rising tide of reform and criticism from governmental agencies and neo-liberal reformers has resulted in one-dimensional, structural approaches to impacting teacher effectiveness, based on the assumption that…

Keystone State of Confusion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuart, Reginald

2009-01-01

When high school seniors begin searching for the best school to fit their higher education goals, they may need a road map, tour guide and interpreter to help them sort through Pennsylvania's higher education universe. For sure there are seemingly endless choices--public, private, large, small, urban and rural. The Keystone State boasts nearly 200…

Increasing the Capacity of College Counseling through Video Game Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathis, Jonathan D.

2010-01-01

This article discusses game design concepts suggested to foster engagement while considering the needs of underserved high school students preparing for the college admission process. The contextual nature of college counseling efforts in urban secondary school settings provides a backdrop for consideration of the manner in which game design and…

The Urban Primary School. Education in an Urbanised Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maguire, Meg; Wooldridge, Tim; Pratt-Adams, Simon

2006-01-01

This book offers an in-depth understanding of the unique challenges and contributions of urban primary schools. The authors set urban education in the wider social context of structural disadvantage, poverty, oppression and exclusion, and reassert some critical urban educational concerns. Recognizing that practice needs to be informed by theory,…

Education That Is Multicultural for Urban Schools: Rationale and Recommendation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, Carl A.

Diverse school populations, desegregation and integration, minority-majority group splits, institutional racism, and the singularity of school norms are significant factors which affect respect for individual differences within urban schools. These facts illustrate the need for adoption of education that is multicultural to effect systematic…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Core Academic Strategic Designs: 1. Academy of the Pacific Rim

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools. Relevance Strategic Designs: 5. Life Academy of Health and Bioscience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Regis Anne; Ireland, Nicole; City, Elizabeth; Derderian, Julie; Miles, Karen Hawley

2008-01-01

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Maritime Tactile Education for Urban Secondary Education Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sulzer, Arthur Henry, IV

2012-01-01

Urban high-school students' low average level of academic achievement is a national problem. A lack of academic progress is a factor that contributes to students failing to graduate. In response to these urban high school student problems, a growing number of urban charter high schools have opened as an alternative to the traditional public high…

Perspectives from Pre-Service Mathematics and Science Teachers in an Urban Residency Program: Characteristics of Effective Mentors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garza, Rubén; Harter, Rod A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of our study was to examine mathematics and science pre-service teachers' perceptions of their mentoring experiences during their 1st year in the Teaching Residency Program for Critical Shortage Areas, an initiative designed to recruit, prepare, and retain teachers for high-need urban schools. Results from this mixed-methods study…

Inside Urban Charter Schools: Promising Practices and Strategies in Five High-Performing Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merseth, Katherine K.

2009-01-01

"Inside Urban Charter Schools" offers an unprecedentedly intimate glimpse into the world of charter schools by profiling five high-performing urban charter schools serving predominantly low-income, minority youth in Massachusetts. Interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations conducted over the course of two years flesh out rich…

2011 Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey: American Indian Students in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montana Office of Public Instruction, 2011

2011-01-01

This report presents the 2011 Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey high school student frequency distributions for American Indian students in urban schools. These frequency distributions are based upon surveys with 808 high school American Indian students in urban schools during February of 2011. Frequency distributions may not total 808 due to…

Research into Factors Contributing to Discipline Use and Disproportionality in Major Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mcloughlin, Caven S.; Noltemeyer, Amity L.

2010-01-01

Compared to other school typologies, major urban high poverty schools more frequently use exclusionary discipline and apply these techniques disproportionately to African American students. We explored school demographic variables predicting these two outcomes using data from 440 major urban, high poverty schools. Results suggest a different set…

Learner-Centered Mentoring: Building from Student Teachers' Individual Needs and Experiences as Novice Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kolman, Joni S.; Roegman, Rachel; Goodwin, A. Lin

2017-01-01

This exploratory study documents the practices of a group of mentor teachers (MTs) in high-need schools within a high-accountability district. These MTs support teacher candidates, called residents, in an urban teacher residency program. The primary research question--what are the mentoring practices of a group of strong MTs?--led the authors not…

Four Rs for Urban High School Reform: Re-Envisioning, Reculturation, Restructuring, and Remoralization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hemmings, Annette

2012-01-01

A framework for urban public high school reform is presented for managing site-based change through re-envisioning, reculturation, restructuring, and remoralization. The four Rs for reform framework is elucidated through a qualitative study of a low-performing urban public high school that was transformed into a new more successful school. The…

Poor nutritional status of schoolchildren in urban and peri-urban areas of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Malnutrition is still highly prevalent in developing countries. Schoolchildren may also be at high nutritional risk, not only under-five children. However, their nutritional status is poorly documented, particularly in urban areas. The paucity of information hinders the development of relevant nutrition programs for schoolchildren. The aim of this study carried out in Ouagadougou was to assess the nutritional status of schoolchildren attending public and private schools. Methods The study was carried out to provide baseline data for the implementation and evaluation of the Nutrition Friendly School Initiative of WHO. Six intervention schools and six matched control schools were selected and a sample of 649 schoolchildren (48% boys) aged 7-14 years old from 8 public and 4 private schools were studied. Anthropometric and haemoglobin measurements, along with thyroid palpation, were performed. Serum retinol was measured in a random sub-sample of children (N = 173). WHO criteria were used to assess nutritional status. Chi square and independent t-test were used for proportions and mean comparisons between groups. Results Mean age of the children (48% boys) was 11.5 ± 1.2 years. Micronutrient malnutrition was highly prevalent, with 38.7% low serum retinol and 40.4% anaemia. The prevalence of stunting was 8.8% and that of thinness, 13.7%. The prevalence of anaemia (p = 0.001) and vitamin A deficiency (p < 0.001) was significantly higher in public than private schools. Goitre was not detected. Overweight/obesity was low (2.3%) and affected significantly more children in private schools (p = 0.009) and younger children (7-9 y) (p < 0.05). Thinness and stunting were significantly higher in peri-urban compared to urban schools (p < 0.05 and p = 0.004 respectively). Almost 15% of the children presented at least two nutritional deficiencies. Conclusion This study shows that malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are also widely prevalent in schoolchildren in cities, and it underlines the need for nutrition interventions to target them. PMID:21504619

Poor nutritional status of schoolchildren in urban and peri-urban areas of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).

PubMed

Daboné, Charles; Delisle, Hélène F; Receveur, Olivier

2011-04-19

Malnutrition is still highly prevalent in developing countries. Schoolchildren may also be at high nutritional risk, not only under-five children. However, their nutritional status is poorly documented, particularly in urban areas. The paucity of information hinders the development of relevant nutrition programs for schoolchildren. The aim of this study carried out in Ouagadougou was to assess the nutritional status of schoolchildren attending public and private schools. The study was carried out to provide baseline data for the implementation and evaluation of the Nutrition Friendly School Initiative of WHO. Six intervention schools and six matched control schools were selected and a sample of 649 schoolchildren (48% boys) aged 7-14 years old from 8 public and 4 private schools were studied. Anthropometric and haemoglobin measurements, along with thyroid palpation, were performed. Serum retinol was measured in a random sub-sample of children (N = 173). WHO criteria were used to assess nutritional status. Chi square and independent t-test were used for proportions and mean comparisons between groups. Mean age of the children (48% boys) was 11.5 ± 1.2 years. Micronutrient malnutrition was highly prevalent, with 38.7% low serum retinol and 40.4% anaemia. The prevalence of stunting was 8.8% and that of thinness, 13.7%. The prevalence of anaemia (p = 0.001) and vitamin A deficiency (p < 0.001) was significantly higher in public than private schools. Goitre was not detected. Overweight/obesity was low (2.3%) and affected significantly more children in private schools (p = 0.009) and younger children (7-9 y) (p < 0.05). Thinness and stunting were significantly higher in peri-urban compared to urban schools (p < 0.05 and p = 0.004 respectively). Almost 15% of the children presented at least two nutritional deficiencies. This study shows that malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are also widely prevalent in schoolchildren in cities, and it underlines the need for nutrition interventions to target them.

Teaching Talent: A Visionary Framework for Human Capital in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curtis, Rachel E., Ed.; Wurtzel, Judy, Ed.

2010-01-01

About 80 percent of education spending is devoted to personnel, yet the capacity of schools and districts to recruit, develop, and retain top talent is stunningly low compared with other knowledge sectors. This problem is most profoundly felt in urban school systems, which creates tremendous inequity for the students who most need a high-quality…

Flowers, Fruits, & Fingers: Preservice Teachers Write about Difficult Topics for a Child Audience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Brian; May, Laura A.; Williams, Rhina Fernandes

2012-01-01

The authors of this article work in a university-based teacher preparation program designed to prepare teachers to serve in urban, historically underserved schools. Entrance to the program is competitive. Preservice teachers are selected, in part, for their rich life experiences and interest in working in high-needs schools. Even with this…

Transforming School Conditions: Building Bridges to the Education System that Students and Teachers Deserve

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daughtrey, Alesha

2010-01-01

In this report the TeacherSolutions Teacher Working Conditions team--a group of 14 accomplished teachers who work in mostly high-needs schools and districts, both urban and rural, draw on current research and Center for Teaching Quality case studies to identify essential, research-based principles that must undergird sustainable and effective…

Connecting Caring and Action through Responsive Teaching: How One Team Accomplished Success in a Struggling Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strahan, David B.; Layell, Krystal

2006-01-01

In "Turning Points 2000," Jackson and Davis noted that "changes in middle grades practices have least often occurred where they are needed most: in high-poverty urban and rural communities where unacceptably poor student achievement is rampant". Even so, in many struggling schools, some teams have achieved success. Their…

"Partnership" High Schools: The Search for New Ways to Cooperate. Industry and Education, Study No. 2/Partnerships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Institute for Educational Development, New York, NY.

Industry-school partnerships are needed to help students, especially urban youth, become acquainted with the realities of preparing for employment and with the processes of finding a job, staying employed, and moving on through training to improved productivity and earning power. This report suggests considerations for organizing such partnerships…

High-Poverty Urban High School Students' Plans for Higher Education: Weaving Their Own Safety Nets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cilesiz, Sebnem; Drotos, Stephanie M.

2016-01-01

This qualitative study investigates high-poverty urban high school students' views of and plans regarding higher education, using Bourdieu's theory of reproduction in education as theoretical framework. Interview data from 76 students from six high-poverty urban schools in a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States were analyzed using…

University-Urban High School Partnership: Math and Science Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ndunda, mutindi; Van Sickle, Meta; Perry, Lindsay; Capelloni, Alison

2017-01-01

This study focused on science and math professional learning communities (PLCs) that were implemented through a university-urban high school partnership. These PLCs were part of mandated school-wide, content-based PLCs implemented as part of the reform efforts initiated in an urban school to address the school's failure to meet Adequate Yearly…

Characteristics of Students in Traditional versus Alternative High Schools: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Enrollment in One Urban District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perzigian, Aaron B.; Afacan, Kemal; Justin, Whitney; Wilkerson, Kimber L.

2017-01-01

Urban school districts are comprised of many diverse high school environments including comprehensive neighborhood schools as well as a variety of smaller alternative models that focus on innovative practices, behavior remediation, or academic recovery. In terms of enrollment distribution, urban school districts are increasingly offering…

In-school Snacking, Breakfast Consumption, and Sleeping Patterns of Normal and Overweight Iranian High School Girls: A Study in Urban and Rural Areas in Guilan, Iran

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maddah, Mohsen; Rashidi, Arash; Mohammadpour, Behnoush; Vafa, Reza; Karandish, Majid

2009-01-01

Objective: To investigate the relationship of snacking during school hours, sleep time, and breakfast consumption by weight status of Iranian high school girls in urban and rural areas in Guilan Province, Iran. Design: Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire and measure of body weight and height. Setting: High schools in urban and…

Achieving Flourishing City Schools and Communities--Corporate Reform, Neoliberal Urbanism, and the Right to the City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Means, Alexander

2014-01-01

This essay critiques the ideological assertions of corporate school reform and discusses how these logics perpetuate failure in urban education. Drawing on theories of neoliberal urbanism, the right to the city, and the commons, the essay argues that educational researchers and advocates need to reframe the values of urban education in line with a…

Program for At-Risk Students Helps College, Too

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Scott

2012-01-01

The author introduces a new program that brings city kids who really need college to a private rural campus that really needs kids. Under the program, called Pipelines Into Partnership, a handful of urban high schools and community organizations--the groups that know their kids beyond the black and white of their transcripts--determine which…

Urban-Rural Differences in School Nurses' Asthma Training Needs and Access to Asthma Resources.

PubMed

Carpenter, Delesha M; Estrada, Robin Dawson; Roberts, Courtney A; Elio, Alice; Prendergast, Melissa; Durbin, Kathy; Jones, Graceann Clyburn; North, Steve

Few studies have examined school nurses preferences' for asthma training. Our purpose was to: 1) assess school nurses' perceived asthma training needs, 2) describe nurses' access to asthma educational resources, and 3) identify urban-rural differences in training needs and access to resources in southern states. A convenience sample of school nurses (n=162) from seven counties (two urban and five rural) in North Carolina and South Carolina completed an online, anonymous survey. Chi-square tests were used to examine urban-rural differences. Although most nurses (64%) had received asthma training within the last five years, urban nurses were more likely to have had asthma training than rural nurses (χ 2 =10.84, p=0.001). A majority of nurses (87%) indicated they would like to receive additional asthma training. Approximately half (45%) of nurses reported access to age-appropriate asthma education materials, but only 16% reported that their schools implemented asthma education programs. Urban nurses were more likely than rural nurses to have access to asthma education programs (χ 2 =4.10, p=0.04) and age-appropriate asthma education materials (χ 2 =8.86, p=0.003). Few schools are implementing asthma education programs. Rural nurses may be disadvantaged in terms of receiving asthma training and having access to asthma education programs and materials. Schools are an ideal setting for delivering age-appropriate asthma education. By providing school nurses with access to age-appropriate asthma education resources and additional asthma training, we can help them overcome several of the barriers that impede their ability to deliver asthma care to their students. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring How African American Males from an Urban Community Navigate the Interracial and Intra-Racial Dimensions of Their Experiences at an Urban Jesuit High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Robert W., III

2012-01-01

African American males from urban communities have been attending Jesuit high schools in urban spaces for many years, yet little to no literature exists that explores their experiences while attending these elite private schools. This qualitative study of 10 African American males from an urban community attending a similarly positioned Jesuit…

Learner Factors in a High-Poverty Urban Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olivares-Cuhat, Gabriela

2011-01-01

The purpose of this pilot study is to gain more insight into learner factors prominent in high-poverty urban schools and to suggest pedagogical approaches appropriate to this environment. To this end, three surveys were administered to students attending a high-poverty, urban middle school in order to measure their learning style preferences,…

Supporting New Educators to Teach for Social Justice: The Critical Inquiry Project Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Picower, Bree

2007-01-01

Urban public schools and their teachers are under siege. From increased standardization, privatization and testing to a growing number of students whose needs are not being met by schools, urban public school teachers face a daunting task. Without a space in which to critically examine their daily experiences within schools, many well-intentioned…

What Parents Expect of Urban Alternative Schools and How These Schools Address Parents' Expectations to Make Needed Changes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, Shirley Kaye

2010-01-01

Several studies have examined parent expectations of schools in general (Gewertz, 2008; Carney-Hall, 2008; Keller, 2008; Stelmach, 2005; Boal, 2004; Lawson 2003; Wherry, 2003; Cheney, 2002; Bomotti, 1996; Epstein & Hollifield, 1996). Other studies have more specifically addressed parents' expectations of urban schools and their reasons for…

"Districts Matter": Cultivating the Principals Urban Schools Need. Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitgang, Lee

2013-01-01

An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

Urban Excellence Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New Leaders (NJ1), 2011

2011-01-01

A principal's job, first and foremost, is to diagnose their school's needs and match them to effective principal actions and school practices that drive student success. Successful principals use their diagnosis to build an action plan that pushes their school--and student achievement--to the next level. New Leaders developed the Urban Excellence…

Meeting the Needs of Low Performing Urban Schools. A Policy and Practice Brief.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Hal A.

This brief is designed to promote collaborative leadership in the work of transforming low performing urban schools into successful schools. The brief is organized into several topics, which include framing the challenge (concentrated disadvantage, concentration effects, and savage inequalities); encouraging educators and partners to promote the…

School services pattern in urban and rural areas: A comparatives study (Case study: Elementary school in Malang City and Malang Regency)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setyono, D. A.; Cahyo, D. D.

2017-06-01

Availability of public facilities are important to support community needs and activities, such as educational facilities (school). Those facilities was needed to endorse the development program implementation which are conducted both of local and national government especially to boost the human resources qualities. This study aims to measures service rates of elementary school in the Malang City and Malang Regency based on supply aspect especially on availability of school unit and also configures the spatial pattern of the school services. Theses study conducted based on the disparity of facility services hypotheses especially on school service provision between urban and rural areas, which are Malang City considered as urban areas and Malang Regency as rural areas. According to the analysis results, rate of elementary school services in the Malang City defined by CGC method about 272% while in Malang the Regency are slightly higher at 319%. The pattern of school services in Malang City relatively similar between its districts, except Klojen District as the growth center of Malang City has the highest rate of services. Meanwhile in the Malang Regency has unique pattern which are high service rates located in the Kepanjen District areas as the growth center of Malang Regency and also several districts that located surrounding the Malang City areas which has impact of city developments. Another district has the lowest service rates due to physical limitations, such as those districts/villages located in the forest areas, coastal areas, or mountainous areas. It is means that students in Malang Regency can access elementary school freely as students in Malang City, they are not only can choose the school in their residential areas but also they can access school everywhere especially from their neighboring areas. It also noticed that there are significant differences of elementary school services between urban center areas and suburban or peripheral areas so that appropriate policy measures are needed to provide equal and balance of educational facilities development throughout each areas. The policy should be arranged appropriately especially in Malang Regency in accordance to the special characteristics of each areas in aims to promote adequate school services and reach all areas equally.

Building Research-Practice Partnerships as a District-Led Initiative: A High-Leverage Strategy for System Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muñoz, Marco A.

2016-01-01

Research-Practice Partnerships (RPP) can enable and support an evidence-based school culture for decision-making in districts across the nation. Based on our experiences in a large urban district, a key element for a successful RPP is to understand that school districts have their own research needs/agenda typically articulated in strategic plans.…

Informal Science Education for Girls: Careers in Science and Effective Program Elements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fadigan, Kathleen A.; Hammrich, Penny L.

2005-01-01

Addressing the need for continued support of after-school and summer science enrichment programs for urban girls and at-risk youth, this paper describes the educational and career paths of a sample of young women who participated in the Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) program during high school. This study also attempts to determine how the…

One Reading Specialist's Response to High-Stakes Testing Pressures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Assaf, Lori

2006-01-01

Pressures to help students pass high-stakes tests affect teachers' reading instruction, their responsiveness to students' learning needs, and their professional effectiveness. This article reports on how one reading specialist responded to testing pressures in her urban elementary school. She believed that what was "right" for her…

Mentoring "Inside" and "Outside" the Action of Teaching: A Professional Framework for Mentoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardiner, Wendy

2017-01-01

This study seeks to contribute to the research on mentored induction by investigating the practices mentors employ in their work with new teachers in two high-need, high-poverty urban elementary schools. Informed by Schwille's (2008) temporal framework of "educative" mentoring practices occurring "inside" and…

Potholes on the Road to College: High School Effects in Shaping Urban Students' Participation in College Application, Four-Year College Enrollment, and College Match

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roderick, Melissa; Coca, Vanessa; Nagaoka, Jenny

2011-01-01

This article examines the extent to which indicators of the college-going climate of urban high schools are associated with students' application to, enrollment in, and choice among four-year colleges. The investigators examine two mechanisms by which high schools may shape college enrollment among low-income students in an urban school system:…

Profiles of Schools in Change: Four Urban High Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wermuth, Thomas R.; And Others

1997-01-01

This report highlights four urban comprehensive secondary schools that are developing, implementing, and evaluating reform initiatives that include vocational and technical education as a key component of these efforts. Efforts of these four high schools are described: Bryan High School, Omaha, Nebraska; Humboldt Secondary Complex, St. Paul,…

Teachers in Continuation High Schools--Attributes of New Teachers and Veteran Teachers in Urban Continuation High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obiamalu, Reginald

2013-01-01

The purpose of study was to examine the attributes of teachers of urban continuation high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District. The research questions were: 1. What are the attributes of veteran teachers and new teachers as prepared to teach at-risk students in alternative high schools? and 2. How do alternative high school teachers…

Success in One High-Poverty, Urban Elementary School: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holman, Shavonna Leigh

2011-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the efforts implemented in a high-poverty, urban elementary school in order to increase academic achievement. The central research question was: (1) How do teachers and administrators in a high-poverty, urban school describe the strategies they use to achieve academic success? The sub-questions…

The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning.

PubMed

Mehta, Tara G; Atkins, Marc S; Frazier, Stacy L

2013-09-01

This study examined the factor structure of the Organizational Health Inventory-Elementary version (OHI-E; Hoy, Tarter, & Kottkamp, 1991) in a sample of 203 teachers working in 19 high-poverty, urban schools and the association of organizational school health with teacher efficacy, teacher stress, and job satisfaction. Results indicated a similar factor structure of the OHI-E as compared with the population of schools in the original sample (Hoy et al., 1991), and that specific components of organizational health, such as a positive learning environment, are associated with teacher efficacy, stress, and satisfaction. Overall, teachers' relations with their peers, their school leadership, and their students appear especially critical in high-poverty, urban schools. Recommendations for research and practice related to improving high-poverty, urban schools are presented.

The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning

PubMed Central

Mehta, Tara G.; Atkins, Marc S.; Frazier, Stacy L.

2013-01-01

This study examined the factor structure of the Organizational Health Inventory-Elementary version (OHI-E; Hoy, Tarter, & Kottkamp, 1991) in a sample of 203 teachers working in 19 high-poverty, urban schools and the association of organizational school health with teacher efficacy, teacher stress, and job satisfaction. Results indicated a similar factor structure of the OHI-E as compared with the population of schools in the original sample (Hoy et al., 1991), and that specific components of organizational health, such as a positive learning environment, are associated with teacher efficacy, stress, and satisfaction. Overall, teachers’ relations with their peers, their school leadership, and their students appear especially critical in high-poverty, urban schools. Recommendations for research and practice related to improving high-poverty, urban schools are presented. PMID:23935763

Urban High School Teachers' Beliefs Concerning Essential Science Teaching Dispositions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miranda, Rommel

2012-01-01

This qualitative study addresses the link between urban high school science teachers' beliefs about essential teaching dispositions and student learning outcomes. The findings suggest that in order to help students to do well in science in urban school settings, science teachers should possess essential teaching dispositions which include…

Conversion of a Large, Urban High School to Small Schools: Leadership Challenges and Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nehring, James; Lohmeier, Jill H.; Colombo, Michaela

2009-01-01

This article reports findings from a study of the experiences of 11 school principals who are leading the conversion of a large, comprehensive, urban high school into six thematic small schools. Specifically, this study addresses the question, What do high school principals identify as the leadership challenges and opportunities embedded in the…

"Teachers Know You Can Do More": Understanding How School Cultures of Success Affect Urban High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Louie F.

2008-01-01

Urban high school reform is one of the most significant challenges facing education today. In response to this challenge, reformers have put significant energy toward restructuring the large high school primarily through creating smaller school settings. Although the research literature often draws connections between school size and student…

High Pressure Reform: Examining Urban Schools' Response to Multiple School Choice Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holme, Jennifer Jellison; Carkhum, Rian; Rangel, Virginia Snodgrass

2013-01-01

Over the past several decades, policymakers have sought to address the problem of school failure by exposing traditional public schools to competitive market forces. In this analysis, we examine how two traditional public schools in a "high pressure/high choice" urban school cluster in Texas responded to a number of overlapping choice…

The Success of Urban Schools in Oxnard, California: An In-Depth Look at Developmental and Relational Assets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akhavan, Nancy; Emery, Ryan; Shea, Ginger; Taha-Resnick, Adria

2017-01-01

The study is a mixed-methods investigation of how urban schools are succeeding. The study surveyed 28 former students from urban schools in Oxnard, California. The qualitative responses represent themes that align to a high level of school connectedness and social-emotional learning (SEL) as key indicators of a successful urban school district.…

Tailoring Professional Development to Improve Literacy Instruction in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De La Garza, Tammy Oberg

2011-01-01

To address the need for improving instructional practice in literacy, this paper examines whole school, teacher uptake of a professional development initiative over a four-year project. The study takes place in an urban, PK-6 school in a predominantly Mexican-American community. Measuring and analyzing teacher enactment of a professional…

Reconfiguring Urban Leadership: Taking a Perspective on Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riley, Kathryn A.

2009-01-01

This article maps the key features of the community contexts in which a range of challenging urban schools are located, highlighting the community-related issues facing school leaders. Whilst recognising the growing demands on school leaders and the need to reconfigure leadership, the author also identifies steps which they can take to strengthen…

A Five-Year School Building and Future Sites Program 1966-1970.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1965

Five-year school building and site needs and related financial requirements are summarized for Milwaukee's schools. Educational policies concerning the school building program are stated, and consideration is given to factors affecting school board needs such as birth rate, public housing projects, urban renewal, highways, and expressways. School…

To Follow, Reject, or Flip the Script: Managing Instructional Tension in an Era of High-Stakes Accountability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stillman, Jamy; Anderson, Lauren

2011-01-01

Considerable research indicates that high-stakes accountability policies have the capacity to influence language arts instruction, particularly in urban, high-needs schools where pressure to increase test scores tends to be most acute. This article utilizes Cultural Historical Activity Theory to critically examine the constraints and affordances…

Reclaiming Students' Voices: Fourth Graders' Discussion of the Great Migration in a Climate of Paced Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, K. Dara

2013-01-01

In this study, a researcher investigated how teachers can negotiate their practice to engage high-needs students whose life experiences are not reflected in the curriculum, without compromising administrative demands for standardized curriculum and pacing. A fourth-grade teacher in a high-achieving, high-poverty urban primary school in Detroit…

The Effect of the Flipped Classroom on Urban High School Students' Motivation and Academic Achievement in a High School Science Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, Keshia L.

2017-01-01

This study investigated the effect of the flipped classroom on urban high school students' motivation and academic achievement in a high school science course. In this quantitative study, the sample population was comprised of North Star High School 12th grade students enrolled in human anatomy and physiology. A quasi-experimental,…

Does Small High School Reform Lift Urban Districts? Evidence from New York City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stiefel, Leanna; Schwartz, Amy Ellen; Wiswall, Matthew

2015-01-01

Research finds that small high schools deliver better outcomes than large high schools for urban students. An important outstanding question is whether this better performance is gained at the expense of losses elsewhere: Does small school reform lift the whole district? We explore New York City's small high school reform in which hundreds of new…

Math and Science Academic Success in Three Large, Diverse, Urban High Schools: A Teachers' Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKenzie, Kathryn Bell; Skrla, Linda; Scheurich, James Joseph; Rice, Delores; Hawes, Daniel P.

2011-01-01

Large, traditional urban high schools are among the most difficult education environments in the United States. These schools, which serve a high percentage of the Black and Latino students in the United States, often have low academic performance, high dropout rates, high teacher and school leader turnover, and inexperienced teachers. They often…

Urban High School Students in STEM Programs: An Explanatory Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oparaocha, Didacus O.

2017-01-01

Inequality of resources in urban schools is a structural barrier to college preparation, access to social capital, college success. Per the literature, a number of issues prevent urban STEM high school students from participating in this innovative learning experience. Studies have shown that STEM experiential learning can influence attitudes,…

Comparing the Effectiveness of Two Models of College Summit Programs in an Urban School Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Wanda

2013-01-01

The inclusion of college preparation programs promote and forecast academic success in postsecondary studies among individual at-risk, African American urban high school students. Past research has shown ongoing, college acceptance, performance, and graduation gaps between at-risk, African American urban high school students when compared to…

Exploring the Development of Student Self-Esteem and Resilience in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akin, Imani; Radford, Leondra

2018-01-01

This brief study serves as an introduction into exploring the existence of resilience and self-esteem in urban high school learning environments. Data collection stems from interviews and surveys of graduates of urban high schools, who transitioned into college or careers. Findings from this qualitative phenomenological research contains…

Learning-Focused Leadership in Urban High Schools: Response to Demanding Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knapp, Michael S.; Feldman, Susan; Yeh, Theresa Ling

2013-01-01

This article traces how the work of instructional leadership in the urban high school embodies a response to particular pressures in the school's environment. Based on evidence from multiple-case study research in four urban districts, the article demonstrates how supervisory and nonsupervisory leaders fashioned responses to the district (and…

Preparing Mathematics and Science Teachers through a Residency Program: Perceptions and Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garza, Rubén; Werner, Patrice

2014-01-01

The critical challenge of recruiting, preparing, and retaining high-quality mathematics and science teachers for high-need urban schools is complex. Therefore, identifying factors that support and impede a teaching residency program's implementation may have the potential to build an effective initiative that will benefit all stakeholders. The…

How African American and Hispanic High School Students in an Urban Charter High School May Benefit from the Early College High School Model of Receiving College Credits?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitchford-Nicholas, Gloria Jean

2015-01-01

The preparedness of students to enter college is an ongoing issue of national concern. The purpose of the study was to conduct a mixed method descriptive case study to answer the question: "How African-American and Hispanic High School Students in an Urban Charter High School may benefit from the Early College High School Model of receiving…

Urban High School Classroom Management: A Humanistic Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matus, Don E.

This paper identifies conditions in the lives of poor urban high school students that may cause classroom management problems. Urban student teachers are urged to look at these conditions from a humanistic perspective to help them understand their students and deal effectively with those problems. Specific urban secondary classroom management…

A Nostrum of School Reform? Turning around Reconstituted Urban Texas High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, Madlene P.; Heilig, Julian Vasquez; Pazey, Barbara L.

2014-01-01

A mainstay in NCLB and the Obama administration education plan is turning around low-performing schools. This study utilized surveys and interviews with school leaders from four turnaround urban high schools in Texas to understand student outcomes before and after school restructuring and reconstitution. Although some organizational changes were…

Variation in access to sugar-sweetened beverages in vending machines across rural, town and urban high schools

PubMed Central

Adachi-Mejia, A.M.; Longacre, M.R.; Skatrud-Mickelson, M.; Li, Z.; Purvis, L.A.; Titus, L.J.; Beach, M.L.; Dalton, M.A.

2013-01-01

SUMMARY Objectives The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans include reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Among the many possible routes of access for youth, school vending machines provide ready availability of sugar-sweetened beverages. The purpose of this study was to determine variation in high school student access to sugar-sweetened beverages through vending machines by geographic location – urban, town or rural – and to offer an approach for analysing school vending machine content. Study design Cross-sectional observational study. Methods Between October 2007 and May 2008, trained coders recorded beverage vending machine content and machine-front advertising in 113 machines across 26 schools in New Hampshire and Vermont, USA. Results Compared with town schools, urban schools were significantly less likely to offer sugar-sweetened beverages (P=0.002). Rural schools also offered more sugar-sweetened beverages than urban schools, but this difference was not significant. Advertisements for sugar-sweetened beverages were highly prevalent in town schools. Conclusions High school students have ready access to sugar-sweetened beverages through their school vending machines. Town schools offer the highest risk of exposure; school vending machines located in towns offer up to twice as much access to sugar-sweetened beverages in both content and advertising compared with urban locations. Variation by geographic region suggests that healthier environments are possible and some schools can lead as inspirational role models. PMID:23498924

Partnerships for Career-Centered High School Reform in an Urban School System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacIver, Martha Abele; Legters, Nettie

2001-01-01

A case study of a large urban school district analyzed partnerships that brought together career-centered high school reforms. The initiative regularly convened partners and generated important conversations about educational options. Environmental conditions limited change efforts, including tensions between the school system and employment…

Where Will Urban High School Teachers for the 21st Century Come From?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Follo, Eric; Hoerr, Bill; Vorheis-Sargent, Ann

2002-01-01

Describes urban teacher supply problem in Oakland County, Michigan. Reviews literature on urban teacher supply problem nationally. Describes Michigan's alternative teacher-certification program and Oakland University's partnership with the Pontiac School District to prepare teachers for teaching in urban schools. (Contains 50 references.) (PKP)

Why Do I Stay? A Case Study of a Secondary English Teacher in an Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Ye; Cooper, Jewell E.; Tangredi, Christopher

2015-01-01

Recruiting and retaining quality teachers in urban schools remains a significant challenge (Freedman & Appleman, 2008, 2009; Lee, Eckrich, Lackey, & Showalter, 2010). With a quarter of the teaching force leaving their classrooms after one year and almost half leaving within five years, teachers in high poverty, urban schools are even more…

A study of primary school teachers’ conceptual understanding on states of matter and their changes based on their job locations (case study at Ambon island in Moluccas-Indonesia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banawi, A.; Sopandi, W.; Kadarohman, A.; Solehuddin, M.

2018-05-01

The research aims to describe primary school teachers’ conceptual understandings about states of matter and their changes. The method was descriptive which involved 15 primary school teachers from three different school locations. They were from urban school (CS1), sub-urban school (CS2), and rular school (CS3) at Ambon Island on 2016/2017 academic year. The research instrument was a multiple-choice test combined with both essay and confidence level of their answers. The test was used to measure teachers’ understanding levels about states of matter and their changes. They were macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic levels. Teachers’ understanding levels were classified into following categorization, they were understand, partly understand, misconception, and do not understand. The results show that primary school teachers’ conceptual understanding is varied based on their job locations and primary school teachers’ level understanding. Generally, primary school teachers’ conceptual understandings at sub-urban location (CS2) are better than those of both of urban (CS1) and rular locations (CS3). The results suggest that teachers need improvement to make better primary school teachers’ conceptual understanding. It can be on the job training and in service training activities. We also need a further research in order to investigate the program effectiveness.

Experiences That Predict Early Career Teacher Commitment to and Retention in High-Poverty Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whipp, Joan L.; Geronime, Lara

2017-01-01

Correlation analysis was used to analyze what experiences before and during teacher preparation for 72 graduates of an urban teacher education program were associated with urban commitment, first job location, and retention in urban schools for 3 or more years. Binary logistic regression was then used to analyze whether urban K-12 schooling,…

S.720. A Bill To Provide Financial Assistance to Eligible Local Educational Agencies To Improve Urban Education, and for Other Purposes. 102d Congress, 1st Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.

This document comprises a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate to provide Federal aid to urban schools determined to be most in need of financial assistance. The proposed legislation, which, if enacted is to be called the "Urban Schools of America (USA) Act of 1991," also allocates funds for research in urban education. The purpose of the…

Shoes, Dues, and Other Barriers to College Attainment: Perspectives of Students Attending High-Poverty Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drotos, Stephanie M.; Cilesiz, Sebnem

2016-01-01

Facilitating economically disadvantaged students' access to higher education is an important goal of educational policy. However, some practices toward this goal are based on theories and assumptions not informed by the students' conditions or needs. The purpose of this study was to understand the challenges faced by students from high poverty,…

The Condition of America's Schools: A National Disgrace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crampton, Faith E.; Thompson, David C.

2002-01-01

Investigates state unmet funding needs for school infrastructure. Finds an estimated total of $266.1 billion in unmet funding needs. Provides state-by-state estimates of unmet funding that range from $220.1 million in Vermont to $47.6 billion in New York. Compares urban and rural infrastructure needs. Includes recommendations for school business…

Teacher Work Context and Parent Involvement in Urban High Schools of Choice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauch, Patricia A.; Goldring, Ellen B.

2000-01-01

Uses findings from previous studies of teacher work context to hypothesize that some features of the school workplace may contribute to greater parent involvement in urban high schools, especially home-school communication and parent volunteering. Discusses the roles of communal school organization and a context of caring. (SLD)

Understanding Urban Development In Canada. "Understanding Economics" Series No. 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plunkett, T. J.

This booklet for Canadian secondary school students examines urbanization and its relationship to other factors of the economy. Five sections analyze urbanization, the pattern of urban development, community needs, the management of urban growth, and urban governance. Part I traces the growth of the Canadian population, noting that 10% of the…

Easier Said than Done: Intervention Sustainability in an Urban After-School Program

PubMed Central

Frazier, Stacy L.; Mehta, Tara; Atkins, Marc S.; Weisbach, Jessica

2011-01-01

Although sustainability is frequently described as a project goal in community-based programs, concentrated efforts to sustain interventions beyond the conclusion of research funding have only recently emerged as a focus of implementation research. The current paper describes a study of behavioral consultation to after-school program staff in low-SES, urban communities. Following consultation, staff use of four recommended tools and strategies was examined, emphasizing facilitators and barriers to sustainability. Results indicated high perceived utility and intention to use intervention components, but low sustainability at two follow-up time points within 1 year after the initial consultation concluded. Findings suggest that ongoing implementation support in community settings may be necessary to ensure the sustainability of interventions and meet the mental health needs of participating high-risk youth. PMID:21416160

Community Violence, School-Related Protective Factors, and Psychosocial Outcomes in Urban Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ludwig, Kristy A.; Warren, Jared S.

2009-01-01

This study examined the relationship of two putative school-based protective factors--student identification with school and perceived teacher support--to psychosocial outcomes in a sample of urban youth exposed to community violence. Participants were 175 high school students ages 14-19 in grades 9-12 from a large urban school district. Results…

Experiences of violence and deficits in academic achievement among urban primary school children in Jamaica.

PubMed

Baker-Henningham, Helen; Meeks-Gardner, Julie; Chang, Susan; Walker, Susan

2009-05-01

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between children's experiences of three different types of violence and academic achievement among primary school children in Kingston, Jamaica. A cross-sectional study of 1300 children in grade 5 [mean (S.D.) age: 11 (0.5) years] from 29 government primary schools in urban areas of Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, was conducted. Academic achievement (mathematics, reading, and spelling) was assessed using the Wide Range Achievement Test. Children's experiences of three types of violence - exposure to aggression among peers at school, physical punishment at school, and exposure to community violence - were assessed by self-report using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Fifty-eight percent of the children experienced moderate or high levels of all three types of violence. Boys had poorer academic achievement and experienced higher levels of aggression among peers and physical punishment at school than girls. Children's experiences of the three types of violence were independently associated with all three indices of academic achievement. There was a dose-response relationship between children's experiences of violence and academic achievement with children experiencing higher levels of violence having the poorest academic achievement and children experiencing moderate levels having poorer achievement than those experiencing little or none. Exposure to three different types of violence was independently associated with poor school achievement among children attending government, urban schools in Jamaica. Programs are needed in schools to reduce the levels of aggression among students and the use of physical punishment by teachers and to provide support for children exposed to community violence. Children in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean experience significant amounts of violence in their homes, communities, and schools. In this study, we demonstrate a dose-response relationship between primary school children's experiences of three different types of violence and their academic achievement. The study points to the need for validated violence prevention programs to be introduced in Jamaican primary schools. Such programs need to train teachers in appropriate classroom management and discipline strategies and to promote children's social and emotional competence and prevent aggression.

Want to Improve Teaching? Create Collaborative, Supportive Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allensworth, Elaine

2012-01-01

Teachers tend to leave schools where they feel ineffective. At the same time, it's harder to be effective in schools with the lowest levels of student performance, schools that are most in need of effective teaching. There is a pressing need to improve the quality of instruction in urban schools to reduce long-standing inequities in educational…

"It's My Safe Space": Student Voice, Teacher Education, and the Relational Space of an Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Jesse K.; Kane, Ruth G.; Morshead, Christopher E.

2017-01-01

White Canadian teacher candidates are brought into direct dialogue with urban high school students through a yearlong immersion in a high school with a "demonized" image in the broader community. Interviews with students reveal experiences of school as "my safe space" and the predominance of a student culture not characterized…

Effects of Optometry School Recruitment Efforts on Urban and Suburban High School Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Andrew D.; Shepard, Jodi; Orleans, Elizabeth; Chae, Eunmi; Ng-Sarver, Joy

1999-01-01

In two Oakland (California) high schools, one urban and one suburban, an audiovisual presentation designed to enhance student interest in optometry as a career was given. Results of the presentation, measured by a questionnaire, suggest that few high school students are considering pursuing an optometry doctoral degree, but an on-site presentation…

Variation in access to sugar-sweetened beverages in vending machines across rural, town and urban high schools.

PubMed

Adachi-Mejia, A M; Longacre, M R; Skatrud-Mickelson, M; Li, Z; Purvis, L A; Titus, L J; Beach, M L; Dalton, M A

2013-05-01

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans include reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Among the many possible routes of access for youth, school vending machines provide ready availability of sugar-sweetened beverages. The purpose of this study was to determine variation in high school student access to sugar-sweetened beverages through vending machines by geographic location - urban, town or rural - and to offer an approach for analysing school vending machine content. Cross-sectional observational study. Between October 2007 and May 2008, trained coders recorded beverage vending machine content and machine-front advertising in 113 machines across 26 schools in New Hampshire and Vermont, USA. Compared with town schools, urban schools were significantly less likely to offer sugar-sweetened beverages (P = 0.002). Rural schools also offered more sugar-sweetened beverages than urban schools, but this difference was not significant. Advertisements for sugar-sweetened beverages were highly prevalent in town schools. High school students have ready access to sugar-sweetened beverages through their school vending machines. Town schools offer the highest risk of exposure; school vending machines located in towns offer up to twice as much access to sugar-sweetened beverages in both content and advertising compared with urban locations. Variation by geographic region suggests that healthier environments are possible and some schools can lead as inspirational role models. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Correlational Study of Teacher Efficacy and Culturally Responsive Teaching Techniques in a Southeastern Urban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Callaway, Roberta F.

2017-01-01

This study was conducted in the fall of 2015 in a large, urban school district located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. There are 33 elementary schools, one kindergarten through eighth grade school, eight middle schools, and five high schools in the district; three of the five high schools in the district participated. The district…

Case Studies of Urban Schools: Portrayals of Schools in Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wermuth, Thomas R.; Maddy-Bernstein, Carolyn; Grayson, Thomas E.

A purposeful sample of four comprehensive urban high schools involved in educational restructuring initiatives was analyzed to determine how each site has implemented educational restructuring efforts and how vocational education fits into those restructuring efforts. The four sites studied were as follows: Bryan High School in Omaha, Nebraska;…

School Uniforms in Urban Public High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Draa, Virginia Ann Bendel

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the implementation of a mandatory uniform policy in urban public high schools improved school performance measures at the building level for rates of attendance, graduation, academic proficiency, and student conduct as measured by rates of suspensions and expulsions. Sixty-four secondary…

Boarding Schools and Capital Benefits: Implications for Urban School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bass, Lisa R.

2014-01-01

The author discusses the boarding school model as a schooling alternative to improve life chances for disadvantaged youth, particularly African American youth, by positively meeting their social and educational needs. Bourdieu, Coleman, and other social scientists purported that these needs can be better met by exposing students to social and…

Availability of healthy snack foods and beverages in stores near high-income urban, low-income urban, and rural elementary and middle schools in Oregon.

PubMed

Findholt, Nancy E; Izumi, Betty T; Nguyen, Thuan; Pickus, Hayley; Chen, Zunqiu

2014-08-01

Food stores near schools are an important source of snacks for children. However, few studies have assessed availability of healthy snacks in these settings. The aim of this study was to assess availability of healthy snack foods and beverages in stores near schools and examine how availability of healthy items varied by poverty level of the school and rural-urban location. Food stores were selected based on their proximity to elementary/middle schools in three categories: high-income urban, low-income urban, and rural. Audits were conducted within the stores to assess the presence or absence of 48 items in single-serving sizes, including healthy beverages, healthy snacks, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables. Overall, availability of healthy snack foods and beverages was low in all stores. However, there was significant cross-site variability in availability of several snack and fruit items, with stores near high-income urban schools having higher availability, compared to stores near low-income urban and/or rural schools. Stores near rural schools generally had the lowest availability, although several fruits were found more often in rural stores than in urban stores. There were no significant differences in availability of healthy beverages and fresh vegetables across sites. Availability of healthy snack foods and beverages was limited in stores near schools, but these limitations were more severe in stores proximal to rural and low-income schools. Given that children frequent these stores to purchase snacks, efforts to increase the availability of healthy products, especially in stores near rural and low-income schools, should be a priority.

Multiculturalism, Stereotypes, and Critical Thinking: Breaking Down Barriers among Urban and Rural High School Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Robert T.; Towe, Princess

Four teachers, two from a rural high school and two from an urban one, spent a year trying to get students to examine similarities and differences between the two schools. The exchange program involved students from Malcolm X Shabazz High School of Newark, New Jersey and a group from rural New Jersey's Hunterdon Central High. Small groups of…

Do Low-Cost Private School Leavers in the Informal Settlement Have a Good Chance of Admission to a Government Secondary school? A Study from Kibera in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohba, Asayo

2013-01-01

There are growing numbers of low-cost private schools in urban informal settlements in developing countries. It has been argued that these institutions may constitute alternatives for government schools, as they are able to meet the educational needs of children in urban informal settlements. This study explores the question of whether low-cost…

Threatened and Placed at Risk: High Achieving African American Males in Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGee, Ebony O.

2013-01-01

This study investigated the risk and protective factors of 11 high-achieving African American males attending 4 urban charter high schools in a Midwestern city to determine what factors account for their resilience and success in mathematics courses, and in high school more generally. This research was guided by a Phenomenological Variant of…

Toward the "School as Sanctuary" Concept in Multicultural Urban Education: Implications for Small High School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antrop-Gonzalez, Rene

2006-01-01

This article describes the "school as sanctuary" concept through the voices of students enrolled in a small urban high school that curricularly privileges the linguistic, cultural, and sociopolitical realities of its communities. Moreover, this particular school was founded by students and teachers over 30 years ago as a direct response to…

Urban Youth and Schooling: The Effect of School Climate on Student Disengagement and Dropout.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellerin, Lisa A.

This study investigated the effects of schools' academic and disciplinary climates on student disengagement and dropping out, noting whether these effects varied by race/ethnic group. Data came from the High School Effectiveness Study (HSES), which allows contextual analysis of urban youth in their high schools, and the Common Core of Data, from…

Dynamic Leadership Succession: Strengthening Urban Principal Succession Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters-Hawkins, April L.; Reed, Latish C.; Kingsberry, Francemise

2018-01-01

The Dynamic Leadership Succession model is used to analyze a leadership succession case in an urban school district. The qualitative findings show that the district did not forecast school leadership needs well; however, the principal sought to develop and mentor teacher leaders as her assistant principals. Second, sustaining efforts within the…

The Family Liaison Position in High-Poverty, Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dretzke, Beverly J.; Rickers, Susan R.

2016-01-01

This study examined the roles and responsibilities of family liaisons working in urban schools with enrollments characterized by high poverty, high mobility, and ethnic diversity. Results indicated that the major responsibilities of the liaisons were creating a trusting and welcoming environment, facilitating parent involvement in the school,…

Urban Agrarians.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Kerry A.

1996-01-01

Chicago's High School for Agricultural Sciences is a popular and successful urban school devoted to agriculture. This agriculturally focused high school features a tough academic curriculum and hands-on learning designed to prepare the predominantly Black and Hispanic student body for college and careers in agriculture. (SM)

The First-Year Urban High School Teacher: Holding the Torch, Lighting the Fire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinberg, Paul J.; Weinberg, Carl

2008-01-01

The book tracks co-author Paul Weinberg during his first year of teaching as he is introduced to the daily tribulations of an urban Los Angeles high school. Paul's father Carl Weinberg, who fifty years earlier himself began his career in education an urban secondary school teacher, shares his experiences side-by-side with those of his son.…

Prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight in Bangladesh: findings from a countrywide epidemiological study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Obesity has been declared an epidemic in many high income countries. In low income countries, the coexistence of obesity and underweight makes the situation more grievous. The priority is to explore the overall pictures of body weight status in low income countries and countries that are in transitional phase. Through this country wide cross sectional study we would like to capture the current body weight status among the school aged children, both in urban and rural areas in Bangladesh. Methods We conducted a countrywide cross sectional study, from June to September 2009. By random sampling, we selected 10,135 students from 6 to 15 years from both the urban and rural schools. We categorized the students into overweight, obese and underweight by using the values for age and sex at +1SD, +2SD and −2 SD of Z scores of BMI respectively. Results We observed among 6 to 15 year olds from both the urban and rural areas 3.5% were obese, 9.5% were overweight and 17.6% were underweight. The proportion of obese and overweight students were greater among the students from urban schools (5.6%, 10.6%) compared to the students from rural schools (1.2%, 8.6%) (RD = 4.3, 95% CI = 3.6, 5.0; RD = 2.0, 95% CI = 0.1, 3.1). The proportion of underweight students were lower in the urban schools (16.1%) compared to the rural schools (19.2%) (RD = −3.1; 95% CI = −4.6, −1.6) Conclusions The rate of obesity and overweight is alarming among school aged children in Bangladesh. Overweight and underweight are coexisting which needs special attention to minimize the dual burden. PMID:24690395

Impact of elementary school-located influenza vaccinations: A stepped wedge trial across a community.

PubMed

Szilagyi, Peter G; Schaffer, Stanley; Rand, Cynthia M; Goldstein, Nicolas P N; Hightower, A Dirk; Younge, Mary; Eagan, Ashley; Blumkin, Aaron; Albertin, Christina S; DiBitetto, Kristine; Concannon, Cathleen; Vincelli, Phyllis; Yoo, Byung-Kwang; Humiston, Sharon G

2018-05-11

Influenza vaccination rates among children are low and novel strategies are needed to raise coverage. We measured the impact of school-located influenza vaccination (SLIV) on coverage, examined whether SLIV substitutes for practice-based influenza vaccination ("substitution"), and estimated whether a second year of experience with SLIV increases its impact. We implemented a stepped wedge study design with schools as clusters. In Year 1, we randomly allocated schools to SLIV or control. In Year 2, all schools performed SLIV. We used emails (suburban schools) or backpack fliers (both urban and suburban schools) to notify parents, and offered web-based (suburban) or paper-based vaccination (urban) consent forms. Local health department nurses administered SLIV vaccinations and billed insurers. We analyzed state immunization registry data to measure influenza vaccination rates. 42 schools (38,078 children) participated over 2 years. Overall vaccination rates were 5 and 7 percentage points higher among SLIV- school children versus control-school children in suburban (aOR 1.36, 95% CI 1.25-1.49 in Years 1-2 SLIV vs. Year 1 control schools) and urban schools (aOR 1.22, 95% CI 1.10-1.36), respectively, adjusting for prior year's vaccination and other covariates. While no substitution occurred among children attending suburban schools, some substitution occurred among children attending urban schools, although overall vaccination rates were still higher in urban schools due to SLIV. Compared to an initial year of SLIV, more children were vaccinated in a second year of SLIV at urban (8.3% vs. 6.8%, aOR 1.24, 95% CI 1.04-1.47) but not suburban schools (3.5% vs. 2.7%, aOR 1.24, 95% CI 0.98-1.57). In this stepped wedge trial, SLIV increased overall influenza vaccination rates in suburban and urban schools. Some substitution for primary care vaccination occurred in urban settings. A second year of SLIV expanded its reach slightly in urban schools. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental Threats to College Counseling Strategies in Urban High Schools: Implications for Student Preparation for College Transitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Lori Diane

2012-01-01

Preparing high school students to skillfully and successfully navigate the pathway to college is a growing concern among researchers and policymakers. This issue has raised important questions about what urban school districts can do to build capacity among their high schools to guide students and families toward successful college transitions.…

The (Im)possible Pursuit of the College Degree: Exploring the Experiences of a Small Urban High School's Alumni

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera-McCutchen, Rosa L.

2016-01-01

Bridges Institute is a small public urban high school founded in 1994 as part of the restructuring of a failing comprehensive high school. Part of a network of "critical" small schools in New York City, Bridges aims to interrupt the educational neglect of their students through carefully designed student-centered instruction and…

Academic achievement and career choice in science: Perceptions of African American urban high school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Sheila Kay

2007-12-01

Low test scores in science and fewer career choices in science among African American high school students than their White counterparts has resulted in lower interest during high school and an underrepresentation of African Americans in science and engineering fields. Reasons for this underachievement are not known. This qualitative study used a grounded theory methodology to examine what influence parental involvement, ethnic identity, and early mentoring had on the academic achievement in science and career choice in science of African American urban high school 10th grade students. Using semi-structured open-ended questions in individual interviews and focus groups, twenty participants responded to questions about African American urban high school student achievement in science and their career choice in science. The median age of participants was 15 years; 85% had passed either high school biology or physical science. The findings of the study revealed influences and interactions of selected factors on African American urban high school achievement in science. Sensing potential emerged as the overarching theme with six subthemes; A Taste of Knowledge, Sounds I Hear, Aromatic Barriers, What Others See, The Touch of Others, and The Sixth Sense. These themes correlate to the natural senses of the human body. A disconnect between what science is, their own individual learning and success, and what their participation in science could mean for them and the future of the larger society. Insight into appropriate intervention strategies to improve African American urban high school achievement in science was gained.

What Teachers Know and Do: The Relationship between Teachers' Perceived Needs of Students and Their Practice in Urban, All-Male Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beitlers, Anne

2014-01-01

Teachers in urban schools are often criticized for their inability to improve achievement of their students. Underachievement is especially a concern for low-income Black and Latino boys. Single-sex schools have opened to support them, but limited data is available to evaluate their effectiveness and little is known about the teaching practices…

A Proposal to Assess the Needs of Students in Ten School Districts. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Navara, James L.

State Fair Community College, Sedalia, Missouri, surveyed the needs of students in grades 9-12 in 10 non-urban Missouri school districts. The project was designed to gather data for use by area schools, the area vocational-technical school, and the career education staff that has been working with these schools. The report reproduces the survey…

Effects of help-seeking in a blended high school Biology class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deguzman, Paolo

Distance learning provides an opportunity for students to learn valuable information through technology and interactive media. Distance learning additionally offers educational institutions the flexibility of synchronous and asynchronous instruction while increasing enrollment and lowering cost. However, distance education has not been well documented within the context of urban high schools. Distance learning may allow high school students to understand material at an individualized pace for either enrichment or remediation. A successful high school student who participates in distance learning should exhibit high self regulatory skills. However, most urban high school students have not been exposed to distance learning and should be introduced to proper self regulatory strategies that should increase the likelihood of understanding the material. To help facilitate a move into distance learning, a blended distance learning model, the combination of distance learning and traditional learning, will be used. According to O'Neil's (in preparation) revised problem solving model, self regulation is a component of problem solving. Within the Blended Biology course, urban high school students will be trained in help-seeking strategies to further their understanding of genetics and Punnett Square problem solving. This study investigated the effects of help-seeking in a blended high school Biology course. The main study consisted of a help-seeking group (n=55) and a control group (n=53). Both the help-seeking group and the control group were taught by one teacher for two weeks. The help-seeking group had access to Blended Biology with Help-Seeking while the control group only had access to Blended Biology. The main study used a pretest and posttest to measure Genetics Content Understanding, Punnett Square Problem Solving, Adaptive Help-Seeking, Maladaptive Help-Seeking, and Self Regulation. The analysis showed no significant difference in any of the measures in terms of help seeking. However, blended distance learning appeared to work as posttest means increased significantly from the pretest means. Future studies should consider the method of communication for help-seeking and help-giving within a high school distance learning context. Further studies should consider developing instruments to measure the difference in knowing when help is needed versus active choice.

Teacher Networks in Philadelphia: Landscape, Engagement, and Value

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiff, Daniel; Herzog, Liza; Farley-Ripple, Elizabeth; Iannuccilli, Lauren Thum

2015-01-01

Teacher collaboration has become an increasingly important lever for school improvement efforts. This is especially true in high need urban districts, which struggle with capacity building in the face of significant teacher turnover, major shifts in curriculum and instruction, and scarce resources. This paper employs a mixed methods approach to…

Shared Reading to Build Vocabulary and Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kesler, Ted

2010-01-01

The author presents four approaches to shared reading that he used with first through third graders in a high-needs, urban elementary school with a large population of students from immigrant homes. Using sociocultural and cognitive constructivist principles, the author shows how these approaches built students' academic vocabulary and…

Improving Climate and Achievement in a Troubled Urban High School through the Talent Development Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McPartland, James; Balfanz, Robert; Jordan, Will; Legters, Nettie

1998-01-01

A case study of a large nonselective urban high school in Baltimore (Maryland) describes the design and implementation of a comprehensive package of school reforms, the Talent Development Model with Career Academies. Qualitative and quantitative evidence is provided on significant improvements in school climate, student attendance, promotion…

School Attendance Revisited: A Study of Urban African American Students' GPA and Coping Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steward, Robbie J.; Steward, Astin Devine; Blair, Jonathan

This study investigated the degree to which at-risk, urban, African American high school students' coping strategies and grade point average (GPA) would predict attendance. Data were collected from 100 high school freshmen using the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences. Students' GPAs were identified through school records.…

Advancing Adolescent Literacy in Urban Schools. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snipes, Jason; Horwitz, Amanda

2008-01-01

The lack of sufficient literacy skills is a major factor contributing to poor performance in high school and post-secondary education. Many students, particularly those in urban schools, lack the foundational literacy skills necessary to read and comprehend the academic texts appropriate for high school and beyond. This brief provides a synthesis…

Highly qualified does not equal high quality: A study of urban stakeholders' perceptions of quality in science teaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miranda, Rommel Joseph

By employing qualitative methods, this study sought to determine the perceptions that urban stakeholders hold about what characteristics should distinguish a high school science teacher whom they would consider to demonstrate high quality in science teaching. A maximum variation sample of six science teachers, three school administrators, six parents and six students from a large urban public school district were interviewed using semi-structured, in-depth interview techniques. From these data, a list of observable characteristics which urban stakeholders hold as evidence of high quality in science teaching was generated. Observational techniques were utilized to determine the extent to which six urban high school science teachers, who meet the NCLB Act criteria for being "highly qualified", actually possessed the characteristics which these stakeholders hold as evidence of high quality in science teaching. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyze the data set. The findings suggest that urban stakeholders perceive that a high school science teacher who demonstrates high quality in science teaching should be knowledgeable about their subject matter, their student population, and should be resourceful; should possess an academic background in science and professional experience in science teaching; should exhibit professionalism, a passion for science and teaching, and a dedication to teaching and student learning; should be skillful in planning and preparing science lessons and in organizing the classroom, in presenting the subject matter to students, in conducting a variety of hands-on activities, and in managing a classroom; and should assess whether students complete class goals and objectives, and provide feedback about grades for students promptly. The findings further reveal that some of the urban high school science teachers who were deemed to be "highly qualified", as defined by the NCLB Act, engaged in practices that threatened quality in science teaching and often failed to display the characteristics which urban stakeholders hold as evidence of high quality in science teaching. Thus, the criteria for "highly qualified" prescribed by policy makers and politicians do not necessarily translate into effective science teaching in urban settings. These findings emphasize the importance of stakeholder involvement in the design of educational reform initiatives.

Fast food restaurant locations according to socioeconomic disadvantage, urban-regional locality, and schools within Victoria, Australia.

PubMed

Thornton, Lukar E; Lamb, Karen E; Ball, Kylie

2016-12-01

Features of the built environment provide opportunities to engage in both healthy and unhealthy behaviours. Access to a high number of fast food restaurants may encourage greater consumption of fast food products. The distribution of fast food restaurants at a state-level has not previously been reported in Australia. Using the location of 537 fast food restaurants from four major chains (McDonald׳s, KFC, Hungry Jacks, and Red Rooster), this study examined fast food restaurant locations across the state of Victoria relative to area-level disadvantage, urban-regional locality (classified as Major Cities, Inner Regional, or Outer Regional), and around schools. Findings revealed greater locational access to fast food restaurants in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas (compared to areas with lower levels of disadvantage), nearby to secondary schools (compared to primary schools), and nearby to primary and secondary schools within the most disadvantaged areas of the major city region (compared to primary and secondary schools in areas with lower levels of disadvantage). Adjusted models showed no significant difference in location according to urban-regional locality. Knowledge of the distribution of fast food restaurants in Australia will assist local authorities to target potential policy mechanisms, such as planning regulations, where they are most needed.

Attrition and Retention of Special Education Teachers in an Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhodes, Wendy

2012-01-01

Attrition is a problem among special education teachers in an urban high school in a southern part of the United States. A high school special education department served as the local setting. The department was unique due to a high teacher attrition rate and high percentage of teachers with less than five years of teaching experience. The purpose…

Beyond Socioeconomic Status: The Impact of Principal Leadership in Urban and High-Poverty Turnaround Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adejumo, Mojisola

2017-01-01

The quest to transform failing urban and high-poverty schools in America has been a slippery uphill battle since the banner of war was raised against the many schools serving impoverished children. As battle rages, a few are schools leading their students, teachers, parents, and community to victory by turning their once-failing schools into…

A Pilot Study of a Kindergarten Summer School Reading Program in High-Poverty Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denton, Carolyn A.; Solari, Emily J.; Ciancio, Dennis J.; Hecht, Steven A.; Swank, Paul R.

2010-01-01

This pilot study examined an implementation of a kindergarten summer school reading program in 4 high-poverty urban schools. The program targeted both basic reading skills and oral language development. Students were randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 25) or a typical practice comparison group (n = 28) within each school; however,…

Leading Learning-Focused Teacher Leadership in Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portin, Bradley S.; Russell, Felice Atesoglu; Samuelson, Catherine; Knapp, Michael S.

2013-01-01

Drawing on findings from a national study of learning-focused leadership in challenging urban settings, this article examines the work of teacher leadership in urban high schools. In this context, a recently emerging cadre of nonsupervisory teacher leaders, working in collaboration with supervisory leaders, exercises a form of "distributed…

College Readiness for All: The Challenge for Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roderick, Melissa; Nagaoka, Jenny; Coca, Vanessa

2009-01-01

Melissa Roderick, Jenny Nagaoka, and Vanessa Coca focus on the importance of improving college access and readiness for low-income and minority students in urban high schools. They stress the aspirations-attainment gap: although the college aspirations of all U.S. high school students, regardless of race, ethnicity, and family income, have…

Scaffolding versus Routine Support for Latina/o Youth in an Urban School: Tensions in Building toward Disciplinary Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Athanases, Steven Z.; de Oliveira, Luciana C.

2014-01-01

Scaffolding is widely referenced in educational literature and practice, in literacy education in particular, but often in reductive ways. Scaffolding is key for diverse youth in high-need settings, but few studies examine complexities and tensions of scaffolding in practice. This study asked how, if at all, teachers at a California high school…

Generating Academic Urgency through Improved Classroom Management: A Case Study of a University and Urban Charter High School Partnership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morales, Erik E.

2017-01-01

This case study documents a university and secondary school partnership designed to improve classroom management and student time on task at an urban charter high school. The initiative utilized the expertise and knowledge of college of education faculty to identify and ameliorate the high school's observed barriers to students' time on task, and…

The challenges of staffing urban schools with effective teachers.

PubMed

Jacob, Brian A

2007-01-01

Brian Jacob examines challenges faced by urban districts in staffing their schools with effective teachers. He emphasizes that the problem is far from uniform. Teacher shortages are more severe in certain subjects and grades than others, and differ dramatically from one school to another. The Chicago public schools, for example, regularly receive roughly ten applicants for each teaching position. But many applicants are interested in specific schools, and district officials struggle to find candidates for highly impoverished schools. Urban districts' difficulty in attracting and hiring teachers, says Jacob, means that urban teachers are less highly qualified than their suburban counterparts with respect to characteristics such as experience, educational background, and teaching certification. But they may not thus be less effective teachers. Jacob cites recent studies that have found that many teacher characteristics bear surprisingly little relationship to student outcomes. Policies to enhance teacher quality must thus be evaluated in terms of their effect on student achievement, not in terms of conventional teacher characteristics. Jacob then discusses how supply and demand contribute to urban teacher shortages. Supply factors involve wages, working conditions, and geographic proximity between teacher candidates and schools. Urban districts have tried various strategies to increase the supply of teacher candidates (including salary increases and targeted bonuses) and to improve retention rates (including mentoring programs). But there is little rigorous research evidence on the effectiveness of these strategies. Demand also has a role in urban teacher shortages. Administrators in urban schools may not recognize or value high-quality teachers. Human resource departments restrict district officials from making job offers until late in the hiring season, after many candidates have accepted positions elsewhere. Jacob argues that urban districts must improve hiring practices and also reevaluate policies for teacher tenure so that ineffective teachers can be dismissed.

Transforming an Urban Public School District: Tracking the Progress of New Haven Public Schools' Educational Reforms and the New Haven Promise Scholarship Program. Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Gabriella C.; Bozick, Robert; Daugherty, Lindsay; Scherer, Ethan; Singh, Reema; Suarez, Monica; Ryan, Sarah; Schweig, Jonathan

2014-01-01

New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) is an urban school district in Connecticut serving approximately 21,000 students in 46 schools, with nine high schools. Concerned that only about one-half of its students were meeting state proficiency standards in reading and math tests or graduating within four years of starting high school, NHPS and the City of…

How Service Learning Addresses the Mental Health Needs of Students in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilczenski, Felicia L.; Cook, Amy L.

2009-01-01

Service learning promotes social-emotional and academic development through active engagement in community activities. It empowers students to think beyond themselves and to develop a commitment to serve others. In so doing, service learning builds connections with school and community that are critically important in urban settings. This paper…

School Readiness amongst Urban Canadian Families: Risk Profiles and Family Mediation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Browne, Dillon T.; Wade, Mark; Prime, Heather; Jenkins, Jennifer M.

2018-01-01

There is an ongoing need for literature that identifies the effects of broad contextual risk on school readiness outcomes via family mediating mechanisms. This is especially true amongst diverse and urban samples characterized by variability in immigration history. To address this limitation, family profiles of sociodemographic and contextual risk…

Central-City Schooling: Money Can Make a Difference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silard, John; And Others

Urban school systems are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the extensive educational needs of their students, many of whom are from poverty backgrounds. By all statistical measures, the cities have far more than their share of economically disadvantaged pupils. Because of urban poverty, many of these students are not prepared to learn,…

Leading School Improvement: African American Women Principals in Urban Educational Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mack, Yejide S.

2010-01-01

African American women administrators working in urban educational settings have been found to be effective leaders of school improvement. Underutilized women and people of color are the untapped value that organizations of all types need to enhance creativity, change efforts, teamwork, and financial benefits (Northouse, 2001). During the last…

Resiliency to Success: Supporting Novice Urban Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huisman, Sarah; Singer, Nancy Robb; Catapano, Susan

2010-01-01

Each year, the National Center for Educational Statistics, through the US Department of Education Institute of Educational Sciences, publishes information about the need for millions of new teachers in the USA. Many of these positions are in urban schools. What makes new teachers beat the odds and remain in challenging schools? This study…

R.E.A.C.H.: An After-School Approach to Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marttinen, Risto; Fredrick, Ray N., III.

2017-01-01

After-school physical activity programs are great opportunities to increase daily physical activity for adolescent youth in urban environments who often do not get the recommended amounts of physical activity needed for health benefits. Black and Hispanic youth in urban environments are particularly under-resourced in not just facilities but…

Success in These Schools? Visual Counternarratives of Young Men of Color and Urban High Schools They Attend

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harper, Shaun R.

2015-01-01

The overwhelming majority of published scholarship on urban high schools in the United States focuses on problems of inadequacy, instability, underperformance, and violence. Similarly, across all schooling contexts, most of what has been written about young men of color continually reinforces deficit narratives about their educational possibility.…

Improving the Connection between Healthcare Employers and Schools to Increase Work-Based Learning Opportunities for Urban High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loera, Gustavo

2016-01-01

This study advances an experiential learning framework for educators to: (1) identify workforce-building strategies from key healthcare industry informants, (2) strengthen school-industry partnerships, and (3) shape urban high school students' career readiness experiences through curriculum and real life on-the-job training opportunities. Data was…

The Atlanta Urban Debate League: Exploring the Making of a Critical Literacy Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cridland-Hughes, Susan

2016-01-01

The Atlanta Urban Debate League was established in 1985 as an after school program focused on providing debate outreach to high school students in the Atlanta public schools. Still in operation today, volunteers work with current students in public middle and high schools in Atlanta, supporting students as they practice reading, writing, speaking…

Moving down the Track: Changing School Practices during the Second Year of "Diplomas Now"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sepanik, Susan; Corrin, William; Roy, David; Gray, Aracelis; Fernandez, Felix; Briggs, Ashley; Wang, Kathleen K.

2015-01-01

Too many students in high-poverty, urban communities drop out of high school, and too few graduate prepared for college and careers. Three national organizations--Talent Development Secondary, City Year, and Communities In Schools--have formed "Diplomas Now" in an effort to transform urban secondary schools so fewer students drop out and…

Teaching Educational Philosophy: A Response to the Problem of First-Year Urban Teacher Transfer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellsasser, Christopher Ward

2008-01-01

Our least-served students are taught by our least-experienced teachers. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, teachers in high-poverty public schools are twice as likely to transfer to another school as their colleagues in low-poverty public schools. Consequently, many students in high-poverty, urban public schools spend…

Professional Development Urban Schools: What Do Teachers Say?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Tanya R.; Allen, Mishaleen

2015-01-01

This quantitative causal-comparative study compared perceptions of professional development opportunities between high-achieving and low-achieving elementary-middle school teachers in an urban school district using the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI). A total of 271 teachers participated including 134 (n = 134) teachers from high-achieving…

First Year Site Visits to Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative Schools. A Report on the Milwaukee Public Schools Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huinker, DeAnn; Pearson, Gretchen; Posnanski, Tracy; Coan, Cheryl; Porter, Corrie

The Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI) program is an effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that targets large urban school systems with the goal of sustainable implementation of high-quality, standards-based teaching for the purpose of attaining system-wide increases in students' learning of challenging mathematics and science.…

Survey Results for First Wave Schools of the Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative. Report on Milwaukee Public Schools Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huinker, DeAnn; Coan, Cheryl; Mueller, Leah

The Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI) program is an effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that targets large urban school systems with the goal of sustainable implementation of high-quality, standards-based teaching for the purpose of attaining system-wide increases in students' learning of challenging mathematics and science.…

Nutrient Intake Is Insufficient among Senegalese Urban School Children and Adolescents: Results from Two 24 h Recalls in State Primary Schools in Dakar

PubMed Central

Fiorentino, Marion; Landais, Edwige; Bastard, Guillaume; Carriquiry, Alicia; Wieringa, Frank T.; Berger, Jacques

2016-01-01

Due to rapid urbanization and high food prices and in the absence of nutrition programs, school children from urban areas in West Africa often have insufficient and inadequate diet leading to nutrient deficiencies that affect their health and schooling performance. Acute malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are prevalent in children from primary state schools of Dakar (Senegal). The objectives of the present study were to assess the overall diet of these children, to report insufficient/excessive energy and nutrient intakes and to investigate association between insufficient nutrient intake and micronutrient deficiencies. Children attending urban state primary schools in the Dakar area were selected through a two-stage random cluster sampling (30 schools × 20 children). Dietary intake data were obtained from two 24 h recalls and blood samples were collected from 545 children (aged 5–17 years, 45% < 10 years, 53% girls) and adjusted for intra-individual variability to estimate nutrient usual intakes. Energy intake was insufficient and unbalanced with insufficient contribution of protein and excessive contribution of fat to global energy intake in one third of the children. Proportions of children with insufficient intake were: 100% for calcium, 100% for folic acid, 79% for vitamin A, 69% for zinc, 53% for vitamin C and 46% for iron. Insufficient iron and protein intake were risk factors for iron deficiency (odds ratio, OR 1.5, 2.2). Insufficient zinc intake and energy intake from protein were risk factors for zinc deficiency (OR 1.8, 3.0, 1.7, 2.9). Insufficient iron and vitamin C intake, and insufficient energy intake from protein were risk factors for marginal vitamin A status (OR 1.8, 1.8, 3.3). To address nutritional deficiencies associated with a diet deficient in energy, protein and micronutrients, nutrition education or school feeding programs are needed in urban primary schools of Senegal. PMID:27775598

Nutrient Intake Is Insufficient among Senegalese Urban School Children and Adolescents: Results from Two 24 h Recalls in State Primary Schools in Dakar.

PubMed

Fiorentino, Marion; Landais, Edwige; Bastard, Guillaume; Carriquiry, Alicia; Wieringa, Frank T; Berger, Jacques

2016-10-20

Due to rapid urbanization and high food prices and in the absence of nutrition programs, school children from urban areas in West Africa often have insufficient and inadequate diet leading to nutrient deficiencies that affect their health and schooling performance. Acute malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are prevalent in children from primary state schools of Dakar (Senegal). The objectives of the present study were to assess the overall diet of these children, to report insufficient/excessive energy and nutrient intakes and to investigate association between insufficient nutrient intake and micronutrient deficiencies. Children attending urban state primary schools in the Dakar area were selected through a two-stage random cluster sampling (30 schools × 20 children). Dietary intake data were obtained from two 24 h recalls and blood samples were collected from 545 children (aged 5-17 years, 45% < 10 years, 53% girls) and adjusted for intra-individual variability to estimate nutrient usual intakes. Energy intake was insufficient and unbalanced with insufficient contribution of protein and excessive contribution of fat to global energy intake in one third of the children. Proportions of children with insufficient intake were: 100% for calcium, 100% for folic acid, 79% for vitamin A, 69% for zinc, 53% for vitamin C and 46% for iron. Insufficient iron and protein intake were risk factors for iron deficiency (odds ratio, OR 1.5, 2.2). Insufficient zinc intake and energy intake from protein were risk factors for zinc deficiency (OR 1.8, 3.0, 1.7, 2.9). Insufficient iron and vitamin C intake, and insufficient energy intake from protein were risk factors for marginal vitamin A status (OR 1.8, 1.8, 3.3). To address nutritional deficiencies associated with a diet deficient in energy, protein and micronutrients, nutrition education or school feeding programs are needed in urban primary schools of Senegal.

Gaseous pollutants on rural and urban nursery schools in Northern Portugal.

PubMed

Nunes, R A O; Branco, P T B S; Alvim-Ferraz, M C M; Martins, F G; Sousa, S I V

2016-01-01

Indoor air quality in nursery schools is different from other schools and this has been largely ignored, particularly in rural areas. Urban and rural nursery schools have different environmental characteristics whose knowledge needs improvement. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate continuously the concentrations of CO2, CO, NO2, O3, CH2O and total VOC in three rural nursery schools and one urban, being the only one comparing urban and rural nurseries with continuous measurements, thus considering occupation and non-occupation periods. Regarding CO2, urban nursery recorded higher concentrations (739-2328 mg m(-3)) than rural nurseries (653-1078 mg m(-3)). The influence of outdoor air was the main source of CO, NO2 and O3 indoor concentrations. CO and NO2 concentrations were higher in the urban nursery and O3 concentrations were higher in rural ones. CH2O and TVOC concentrations seemed to be related to internal sources, such as furniture and flooring finishing and cleaning products. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Embarking on College and Career: Interim Evaluation of Urban Alliance. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theodos, Brett; Pergamit, Michael R.; Hanson, Devlin; Edelstein, Sara; Daniels, Rebecca

2016-01-01

Urban Alliance serves at-risk youth through its high school internship program, which provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors from distressed communities. The program aims to help youth move on to higher education or employment after graduation. The Urban Institute is conducting a six-year, randomized controlled…

Factors Affecting the Retention of First-Career and Second-Career Science Teachers in Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rak, Rosemary C.

2013-01-01

The turnover of high school science teachers is an especially troubling problem in urban schools with economically disadvantaged students. Because high teacher turnover rates impede effective instruction, the persistence of teacher attrition is a serious concern. Using an online survey and interviews in a sequential mixed-methods approach, this…

The Salience of Ethnicity at a Multiethnic Urban High School from the Students' Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Semons, Maryann

The articulation or suppression of ethnicity among high school students depends on the individual's estimation of the relevancy of ethnicity, an estimation linked to structural factors in society. Data for this ethnographic study were derived from extensive observations of students by a participant-observer at a multiethnic urban high school. The…

The Impact of Childhood ADHD on Dropping out of High School in Urban Adolescents/Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trampush, Joey W.; Miller, Carlin J.; Newcorn, Jeffrey H.; Halperin, Jeffrey M.

2009-01-01

Objective: To examine cognitive and psychosocial factors associated with high school dropout in urban adolescents with and without childhood ADHD. Method: In a longitudinal study, 49 adolescents/young adults with childhood ADHD and 44 controls who either dropped out or graduated from high school are included. Risk factors examined as potential…

Engaging Students in the Research Process: Comparing Approaches Used with Diverse Learners in Two Urban High School Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, Salika A.; Jefferson, Tiffany; Osborn, Nancy

2017-01-01

This paper describes instructional choices used by two high school teachers to engage students in the research process. Working with diverse learners in large urban high schools, the teachers used different approaches to support students' through the research process. The teachers' intentional teaching helped to engage students through structured…

Prevalence of and Differences in Salad Bar Implementation in Rural Versus Urban Arizona Schools.

PubMed

Blumenschine, Michelle; Adams, Marc; Bruening, Meg

2018-03-01

Rural children consume more calories per day on average than urban children, and they are less likely to consume fruit. Self-service salad bars have been proposed as an effective approach to better meet the National School Lunch Program's fruit and vegetable recommendations. No studies have examined how rural and urban schools differ in the implementation of school salad bars. To compare the prevalence of school-lunch salad bars and differences in implementation between urban and rural Arizona schools. Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional web-based survey. School nutrition managers (N=596) in the state of Arizona. National Center for Education Statistics locale codes defined rural and urban classifications. Barriers to salad bar implementation were examined among schools that have never had, once had, and currently have a school salad bar. Promotional practices were examined among schools that once had and currently have a school salad bar. Generalized estimating equation models were used to compare urban and rural differences in presence and implementation of salad bars, adjusting for school-level demographics and the clustering of schools within districts. After adjustment, the prevalence of salad bars did not differ between urban and rural schools (46.9%±4.3% vs 46.8%±8.5%, respectively). Rural schools without salad bars more often reported perceived food waste and cost of produce as barriers to implementing salad bars, and funding was a necessary resource for offering a salad bar in the future, as compared with urban schools (P<0.05). No other geographic differences were observed in reported salad bar promotion, challenges, or resources among schools that currently have or once had a salad bar. After adjustment, salad bar prevalence, implementation practices, and concerns are similar across geographic settings. Future research is needed to investigate methods to address cost and food waste concerns in rural areas. Copyright © 2018 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Urban Town and Gown: Increasing Minority Participation in the Geosciences Through a College-High School Partnership in Hartford, CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

OConnell, S.; OConnell, S.; OConnell, S.; Osborn, J. L.; Osborn, J. L.

2001-12-01

Urban public schools are often poor and have a tremendous need for educational assistance. In many cities the population is dominated by ethnic minorities. Hartford, CT, is one of these cities. Only about 50% of the students entering high school graduate and approximately 50% of those go on to higher education. Of those students taking the SAT's the average verbal and math scores are below 400. Despite these statistics, many students do succeed and therein lies an opportunity for earth scientists. As individuals and as institutions we can partner with schools and students to involve them in and excite them about the earth sciences. In 1995 Trinity College, located in Hartford, CT, undertook a \\$175 m.d. neighborhood revitalization project with funds from the college, neighboring institutions, foundations, and city, state and federal governments. Central to the revitalization is the "Learning Corridor," an educational complex that includes a magnet Montessori School, a Math and Science Middle School, and a Math and Science Magnet High School (GHAMAS). GHAMAS has a three-fold mission: teaching math and science to high school students, professional development for all math and science teachers from participating school districts, and community outreach. The Learning Corridor is adjacent to the Trinity College campus and Trinity faculty work with GHAMAS faculty to fulfill all three missions. Trinity faculty teach several high school classes. During the summer 3 Trinity and 1 GHAMAS faculty participated as a group in a week long-long NSF-sponsored Environmental Science workshop. This fall over ten teacher workshops were co-taught by Trinity and GHAMAS faculty. Recent NSF funding will allow us to develop a collaborative education and research program focused on the Connecticut River.

The diffusion of youth-led participatory research in urban schools: the role of the prevention support system in implementation and sustainability.

PubMed

Ozer, Emily J; Cantor, Jeremy P; Cruz, Gary W; Fox, Brian; Hubbard, Elizabeth; Moret, Lauren

2008-06-01

This article discusses the dissemination of a process of youth-led participatory research in urban secondary schools within the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) developed in collaboration with the CDC and its university partners (Wandersman et al. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41(3-4) 2008). The focus here is on the development of the Prevention Support System with respect to general and innovation-specific capacity building. The specific process under study involves youth-led needs assessment and research to inform the planning of prevention programs and policies to address students' health and developmental needs. The article first briefly describes the youth-led research process, its potential benefits, and a case example in two urban secondary schools. It then describes challenges and responses in providing support for the diffusion of this model in 6 secondary schools. The settings are urban public schools with a majority of students of color from diverse ethnic groups: Asian-American, Latino, and African-American. This project constitutes a collaborative partnership with a university school of public health and community-based organizations (CBOs) to build capacity for long-term, sustainable implementation of this innovative process within the local school system. The perspectives of the university-based researcher and the CBO partners on the development and effectiveness of the Prevention Support System are presented.

School-Police Partnership Effectiveness in Urban Schools: An Analysis of New York City's Impact Schools Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brady, Kevin P.; Balmer, Sharon; Phenix, Deinya

2007-01-01

Despite nationwide decreases in school crime and violence, a relatively high and increasing number of students report feeling unsafe at school. In response, some school officials are implementing school-police partnerships, especially in urban areas, as an effort to deter criminal activity and violence in schools. This article examines the initial…

Preparation for Meaningful Work and Life: Urban High School Youth's Reflections on Work-Based Learning 1 Year Post-Graduation.

PubMed

Kenny, Maureen E; Catraio, Christine; Bempechat, Janine; Minor, Kelly; Olle, Chad; Blustein, David L; Seltzer, Joanne

2016-01-01

The challenges confronted by low-income high school students throughout school and across the transition to higher education and employment are well-documented in the US and many other nations. Adopting a positive youth development perspective (Lerner et al., 2005), this study reports findings from interviews with 18 low-income, racially and ethnically diverse graduates of an urban Catholic high school in the US. The interviews were designed to shed light on the post-high school experiences of urban high school graduates and to understand how students construct meaning about the value of school and work-based learning (WBL) in their preparation for meaningful work and life. The interviews highlight the perceived value of the academic and non-cognitive preparation students experienced through high school and WBL in relation to the challenges they encountered along the pathway to post-high school success and decent work. Overall, the findings suggest the potential of WBL for low-income youth in facilitating access to resources that build academic and psychological/non-cognitive assets, while also illustrating the role of structural and contextual factors in shaping post-high school transitions and access to meaningful work and life opportunities.

An Examination of Job Satisfaction among Urban High School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cui-Callahan, Natalia A.

2012-01-01

The workload of public educators has become increasingly complex in recent years. New and veteran teachers are facing a variety of internal and external challenges within the classroom environment. Internal challenges include, but are not limited to students with limited English skills, inclusion of students with special needs in the regular…

Preparing Turnaround Leaders for High Needs Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lochmiller, Chad R.; Chesnut, Colleen E.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the program structure and design considerations of a 25-day, full-time apprenticeship in a university-based principal preparation program. Design/Methodology/ Approach: The study used a qualitative case study design that drew upon interviews and focus groups with program participants as well as…

A Comprehensive Partnership Approach Increasing High School Graduation Rates and College Enrollment of Urban Economically Disadvantaged Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Yvette; Sinatra, Richard; Eschenauer, Robert

2015-01-01

Described is a 4-year model of a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) offered to 294 academically and economically disadvantaged students and their parents during in- and out-of-school time activities through partnerships forged with school personnel and community-based agencies. In an urban high school where…

Student Achievement in High Performing, Suburban Middle Schools and Low Performing, Urban Middle Schools: Plausible Explanations for the Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Kathleen M.; Anfara, Vincent A., Jr.; Roney, Kathleen

2004-01-01

Utilizing a qualitative, multisite case study design and the theoretical framework of Hoy and Hannum (1997), the design and execution of this research investigates plausible explanations for the difference in student achievement between high performing (HPS) suburban middle schools and low performing (LPS) urban middle schools. Aside from the…

Not Driven by High-Stakes Tests: Exploring Science Assessment and College Readiness of Students from an Urban Portfolio Community High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleshman, Robin Earle

2017-01-01

This case study seeks to explore three research questions: (1) What science teaching and learning processes, perspectives, and cultures exist within the science classroom of an urban portfolio community high school? (2) In what ways does the portfolio-based approach prepare high school students of color for college level science coursework,…

Examination of Urban High School Dropouts with High Self-Efficacy: A Phenomenological Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayles, Ronald

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of urban students in Central Alabama with high self-efficacy who have dropped out of school to pursue a GED. This study: (a) provided a platform that gave voice to students to share their lived experience as they made the decision to drop out of high school, (b) identified the character…

Afterschool Participation and School Engagement: A Case Study of an Urban East Coast Public Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeFigueiredo, Rafaela

2013-01-01

Students attending schools in urban areas with high concentrations of poverty are at risk for academic failure. Besides being more likely to live in poverty, urban students in comparison to suburban students are more likely to be English language learners and to be exposed to violence and other health and safety risks linked to negative school and…

"People Hide, but I'm Here. I Count:" Examining Undocumented Youth Identity Formation in an Urban Community-School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Sophia

2017-01-01

This article sheds light on the educational trajectories of undocumented youth who engage in forms of organizing through a community-school partnership in an urban public school in Chicago. Drawing on data from an ethnographic study in an urban public high school, readers learn that undocumented youth gain a positive sense of identity and…

An Investigation of the Relationship between Culture (As Defined by the Correlates of Effective Schools) and Achievement in Two Demographically Comparable Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krizan, Margaret M. Best

2012-01-01

Research investigating the level of student achievement in two demographically comparable urban high schools was examined as to the presence of or the absence of the Correlates of Effective Schools. The purpose of the study was to determine: Do the Correlates of an Effective School as identified by Lezotte distinguish a higher achieving high…

``It depends on what science teacher you got'': urban science self-efficacy from teacher and student voices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolshakova, Virginia L. J.; Johnson, Carla C.; Czerniak, Charlene M.

2011-12-01

In the United States today, urban schools serve the majority of high-poverty and high minority populations including large numbers of Hispanic students. While many Hispanic students perform below grade level in middle school science, the science teaching community as a whole is lacking elements of diversity as teachers struggle to meet the needs of all learners. Researchers have recognized that science teacher effectiveness, one consequence of self-efficacy among teachers, is associated with future science achievement and science-related careers of their students. This qualitative study explores how three science teachers' effectiveness in the classroom impacts students' science self-efficacy beliefs at one urban middle school. Hispanic students were the focus of this investigation due to demographics and history of underperformance within this district. Teachers' perspectives, as well as outside observer evaluations of instructional strategies and classroom climates were triangulated to explore dynamics that influence students' interests and motivation to learn science using a framework to link teachers' sense of efficacy (focusing on student outcomes). Findings suggest the impact teacher effectiveness can have on student outcomes, including strengthened student science self-efficacy and increased science achievement. Building awareness and support in teachers' sense of efficacy, as well as developing respectful and supportive relationships between educator/facilitator and pupil during the transition to middle school may construct permanence and accomplishment for all in science.

Sexual coercion and health-risk behaviors among urban Chinese high school students

PubMed Central

Song, Yi; Ji, Cheng-Ye; Agardh, Anette

2014-01-01

Objective To determine the association between health-risk behaviors and a history of sexual coercion among urban Chinese high school students. Design A cross-sectional study was performed among 109,754 high school students who participated in the 2005 Chinese Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Data were analyzed for 5,215 students who had experienced sexual intercourse (1,483 girls, 3,732 boys). Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between sexual coercion and the related covariates, and data were stratified by gender. Results Of those students who had had sexual intercourse, 40.9% of the females and 29.6% of the males experienced sexual coercion (p<0.01). When analyses controlled for demographic characteristics, in the study sample, that is, students who had sexual intercourse, drug use (odds ratios [OR], 2.44), attempted suicide (OR, 2.30), physical abuse (OR, 1.74), binge drinking (OR, 1.62), verbal abuse (OR, 1.29), experience of being drunk (OR, 0.68), and smoking of cigarettes (OR, 0.52) were related to a history of sexual coercion. Patterns of health-risk behaviors also differed among female and male students who had experienced sexual coercion. Conclusions Sexual coercion is associated with health-risk behaviors. Initiatives to reduce the harm associated with sexual coercion among high school students are needed. PMID:24836445

Teaching Urban High School Students Global Climate Change Information and Graph Interpretation Skills Using Evidence from the Scientific Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rule, Audrey C.; Meyer, Mary A.

2009-01-01

Curriculum materials designed to provide students with practice interpreting plotted evidence of global climate change were developed using graphs from the scientific literature and tested with one hundred urban high school students from a high-poverty school in a major northern city in the US. The graph interpretation lessons followed a…

Teacher Collaboration in Urban Secondary Schools. ERIC/CUE Digest, Number 93.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inger, Morton

In most schools, especially urban high schools, teachers are colleagues in name only. Some schools, however, do foster substantial collegial relationships among teachers; and when schools are organized to support such teacher collaboration, the benefits are substantial. To make teacher collaboration possible and effective, two fundamental…

PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF STUNTING AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN RURAL AND URBAN COMMUNITIES IN OBAFEMI OWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

PubMed Central

Adenuga, W.U.; Obembe, T.A.; Odebunmi, K.O.; Asuzu, M.C.

2017-01-01

Background: Studies on stunting in children have largely focused on the underfive, establishing it as a strong predictor of mortality in these children. Few studies have documented the prevalence or determinants of stunting among school children in southwestern Nigeria. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of stunting among selected primary school children in rural and urban communities of Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, Ogun State. Method: A cross-sectional study of rural and urban primary school children was conducted. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on respondents' and parents' socio-demographic characteristics. Stunting was defined as height-for-age less than two standard deviations from the median height-for-age of the standard World Health Organization reference population. Using EPI-INFO version 6.03, children were classified as stunted if z-scores of height-for-age were less than 2 standard deviations below the National Centre for Health statistics (NCHS)/WHO median. Height and weight were taken using a stadiometer and weighing scale respectively. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 16.0 while predictors were determined using logistic regression at 95% level of significance. Results: A total of 1,160 primary school children were studied with 52.2% from rural schools. Males constituted 57.1% and 51.8% in the rural and urban school respectively. Prevalence of stunting among rural school children was 46.2%, and was significantly higher (p≤0.001) than among urban children at 33.8%. Younger children <10 years (OR: 0.088; 95CI: 0.052 - 0.150) and children between 11-12 years (OR: 0.534; 95CI: 0.322 - 0.886) were at a significantly lower risk of stunting both in rural schools compared to children >13 years. Conclusion: The prevalence of stunting was high especially among pupils from schools in the rural communities. This underscores the need for urgent feasible and effective nutrition programs for primary school children especially those in rural schools within the study area. PMID:28970765

Project Proficiency: Assessing the Independent Effects of High School Reform in an Urban District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baete, Glenn S.; Hochbein, Craig

2014-01-01

The authors sought to determine if an urban school district's effort to fundamentally change teaching, assessment, and intervention practices increased student achievement and decreased achievement variation among classrooms in 11 high schools. They examined Grade 11 mathematics achievement data from the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Kentucky Core…

Comprehensive Reform for Urban High Schools: A Talent Development Approach. Sociology of Education Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Legters, Nettie E.; Balfanz, Robert; Jordan, Will J.; McPartland, James M.

This book offers an alternative to current reform efforts, the talent development approach, detailing organizational, curricular, and instructional strategies that provide practitioners with a blueprint for whole school reform. The book presents the story of what happened in urban high schools when this approach was implemented. There are eight…

Defining Belief in Self: Intelligent Young Men in an Urban High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hebert, Thomas P.

2000-01-01

A study of six talented males in an urban high school found they had a strong belief in self that was influenced by the following factors: relationships with supportive adults; involvement in extracurricular activities, sports, special programs, and summer school experiences; and family support. (Contains extensive references.) (Author/CR)

Successful Leadership in Three High-Poverty Urban Elementary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobson, Stephen L.; Brooks, Sharon; Giles, Corrie; Johnson, Lauri; Ylimaki, Rose

2007-01-01

This study examined the beliefs and practices of three principals during whose tenure their high-poverty urban elementary schools experienced improved student achievement. A two-stage, multiple case-study methodology was employed. First, New York State Education Department (NYSED) school report card data were analyzed to identify case-study sites.…

The Rise of American Urbanized Suburban High Schools: Teachers' Perceptions of Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Artiles, Dagoberto

2013-01-01

In the United States a high school diploma offers a pathway to the growing professional occupations creating the American middle class. The continuous influx of minority families into suburban school districts eventually urbanized districts. As a result, multiple districts struggle in the process of educating a shifted population. Studies have…

Documenting Militarism: Challenges of Researching Highly Contested Practices within Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abajian, Suzie M.

2016-01-01

This paper provides a discussion of the challenges and possibilities of conducting critical research on highly contested practices, such as militarism and military recruitment, in schools serving vulnerable and nondominant communities. The discussion is grounded in data collected from a year-long qualitative case study of an urban school in…

A Dynamical View of High School Attendance: An Assessment of Short-term and Long-term Dependencies in Five Urban Schools.

PubMed

Koopmans, Matthijs

2015-01-01

While school attendance is a critical mediator to academic achievement, its time dependent characteristics are rarely investigated. To remedy situation, this paper reports on the analysis of daily attendance rates in five urban high schools over a seven-year period. Traditional time series analyses were conducted to estimate short-range and cyclical dependencies in the data. An Autoregressive Fractional Integrated Moving Average (ARFIMA) approach was used to address long-range correlational patterns, and detect signs of self-organized criticality. The analysis reveals a strong cyclical pattern (weekly) in all five schools, and evidence for self-organized criticality in one of the five. These findings illustrate the insufficiency of traditional statistical summary measures to characterize the distribution of daily attendance, and they suggest that daily attendance is not necessarily the stable and predictable feature of school effectiveness it is conventionally assumed to be. While educational practitioners can probably attest to the many of the irregularities in attendance patterns as well as some of their sources, a systematic description of these temporal aspects needs to be included in our assessment of daily attendance behavior to inform policy decisions, if only to better align formal research in this area with existing local knowledge about those patterns.

Second Year Site Visits to Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative Schools. Report for the Milwaukee Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huinker, DeAnn; Coan, Cheryl

The Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI) program is an effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that targets large urban school systems with the goal of sustainable implementation of high-quality, standards-based teaching for the purpose of attaining system-wide increases in students' learning of challenging mathematics and science.…

Retaining Effective Urban Teachers in the Age of Accountability: How Do Successful Urban Schools Address Staffing Challenges?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Cove Johnstone

2010-01-01

Many urban schools struggle to retain their best teachers because of challenging work environments, poor salaries, and ineffective school leadership. The additional requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation for teachers to be highly qualified and the increased academic requirements of raising students to a proficient level in reading…

Charting a Path to Graduation. The Effect of Project GRAD on Elementary School Student Outcomes in Four Urban School Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snipes, Jason C.; Holton, Glee Ivory; Doolittle, Fred

2006-01-01

In the past decade, school districts around the country have sought to improve struggling urban high schools, where high dropout rates, poor student achievement, and low rates of graduation and college-going remain all too prevalent. In a field crowded with reform initiatives, Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD) stands out as…

Effect of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Graduation, College Acceptance and Dropout Rates for Students Attending an Urban Public High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colbert, Robert D.

2013-01-01

High school graduation rates nationally have declined in recent years, despite public and private efforts. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether practice of the Quiet Time/Transcendental Meditation® program at a medium-size urban school results in higher school graduation rates compared to students who do not receive training…

A Qualitative Study of Three Urban Catholic High Schools: Investigating Parent and Principal Expectations and Realizations of Parental Involvement and the Parent-School Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holyk-Casey, Karen

2012-01-01

This qualitative study investigated parents' and principals' expectations of their roles in the parent-school relationship and how they defined, encouraged, and realized parental involvement within an urban Catholic high school setting. Through pattern analysis and axial coding of the data collected from parents and principal interviews,…

School Mental Health Education in Beijing: A Survey of Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caldarella, Paul; Chan, Peter; Christensen, Lynnette; Lin, Xiuyun; Liu, Yan

2013-01-01

Background: With over 222 million youth below the age of 15 in China, the need for psychological services in schools is receiving increasing attention. School mental health education has been developing over the past 20 years to meet this need, and evidence shows it is being implemented, particularly in urban areas. However, no empirical studies…

Can Community and School-Based Supports Improve the Achievement of First-Generation Immigrant Children Attending High-Poverty Schools?

PubMed

Dearing, Eric; Walsh, Mary E; Sibley, Erin; Lee-St John, Terry; Foley, Claire; Raczek, Anastacia E

2016-05-01

Using a quasi-experimental design, the effects of a student support intervention were estimated for the math and reading achievement of first-generation immigrant children (n = 667, M = 11.05 years of age) attending high-poverty, urban elementary schools. The intervention was designed to help schools identify developmental strengths and barriers to learning and, in turn, connect children to community and school supports aligned with their strengths and needs. By exploiting within-school changes in the implementation of the intervention, the present study revealed statistically and practically significant treatment effects indicating improvements in math and reading achievement at the end of elementary school. In addition, the intervention appears to considerably narrow achievement gaps between English language learners and immigrant children proficient in English. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

A Descriptive Analysis of School Connectedness: The Views of School Personnel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biag, Manuelito

2016-01-01

Few studies have investigated school connectedness from the perspectives of the adults working in the school. Using qualitative methods, the present study examined three dimensions of school connectedness in one urban, low-income middle school. Analyses revealed that school personnel cared for students' needs, sometimes at the expense of holding…

Preparing Urban High School Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Kenneth

This is a brief personal review of the Rutgers University urban internship program which is operated in conjunction with the New Jersey Urban Education Corps. The purpose of the program is to prepare liberal arts graduates to be secondary school teachers in urban areas. The recruiting of the interns took place mostly at black colleges and…

Race and Politics Rip into the Urban Superintendency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rist, Marilee C.

1990-01-01

Heightened racial and ethnic-group politics and increasingly rocky board-superintendent relations are making the urban superintendency increasingly untenable. The politics of urban school governance can stymie even the best candidates. To survive, big-city superintendents need a thick hide, sensitivity to diversity, charisma, self-confidence,…

Cultural Brokers and Student Teachers: A Partnership We Need for Teacher Education in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Paula J.

2017-01-01

Paula Lane, who has supervised student teachers at a university in the suburban wine country of northern California for the past 12 years, describes a field experience with a group of new student teachers in an urban school. Like the majority of teacher candidates in education programs, the pre-service teacher education students were White and…

Creative Musical Play: An Innovative Approach to Early Childhood Music Education in an Urban Community School of Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

John, Bina Ann; Cameron, Linda; Bartel, Lee

2016-01-01

Music is a distinct form of communication that manifests naturally when children are engaged in musical play regardless of their cultural backgrounds. In an ethnically diverse, urban community music school, where the majority of children represent non-western populations, the need for creativity-focused approaches that do not assume a western…

Working Together in Urban Schools: How a University Teacher Education Program and Teach for America Partner to Support Alternatively Certified Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heineke, Amy J.; Carter, Heather; Desimone, Melissa; Cameron, Quanna

2010-01-01

The College of Teacher Education and Leadership (CTEL) at Arizona State University (ASU) embraced the opportunity to partner with Teach For America (TFA) to tailor existing teacher preparation programs to meet the unique needs of alternatively certified teachers in urban schools. Rather than harp on the distinctions between ideologies and…

Teacher Quality as a Predictor of Student Achievement in Urban Schools: A National Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salinas, Roselia A.; Kritsonis, William Allan; Herrington, David

2006-01-01

Research indicates that an increasing demand for teacher accountability and student achievement is at the forefront with the mandate of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. These challenges will be crucial in urban and rural schools where the need for classroom teachers in critical teaching areas such as bilingual education, special…

Closing the Gap Early: Implementing a Literacy Intervention for At-Risk Kindergartners in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacDonald, Colleen; Figueredo, Lauren

2010-01-01

A history of poverty and low academic achievement in four urban schools pointed to the need to implement an early intervention focused on oral language and emergent literacy. The Kindergarten Early Literacy Tutoring (KELT) Program was designed to target senior (5 year old) kindergarten students most at-risk. The intervention consisted of an extra…

Maggie and Me: A Black Professor and a White Urban School Teacher Connect Autoethnography to Critical Race Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Sherick A.

2008-01-01

The author's former College of Education encouraged faculty to implement pedagogy that responded fully to the needs of citizens in diverse situations, including the urban, metropolitan community they served. Such a vision requires, by default, a sincere effort to change or "reform" schools. Research endeavors involving the social and historical…

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative Project: Report to the Ford Foundation on the 1986-87 School Year. Program Report 88-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webb, Norman L.; And Others

In 1984 the Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) project was initiated to improve mathematics education in inner-city schools and to identify new models for meeting the ongoing professional needs of teachers. UMCs are located in Cleveland, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Durham, Pittsburgh, San Diego, St. Louis,…

[Relationships between mental health and psychosocial factors with single-child high school students in an urban city of Korea].

PubMed

Lee, Young-Sun; Kim, Kwang-Hwan; Cho, Young-Chae

2006-09-01

This study was performed to determine the mental health of high school students, and specifically that of children with no siblings in urban areas, and we aimed at revealing the various potential influences of different psycho-social factors. The participants were, 514 high school students who were the 1st- to 3rd-graders in Daejon City; they were, given self-administered questionnaires that required no signature during the period of March through June 2005. The analyzed items included the general character of the subjects, the symptoms of stress and depression for mental health, self-esteem as a psychological component, anxiety, dependent behavioral traits and, social support of family members and friends. The study results suggested that the group of urban high school children with no siblings had a higher tendency for stress and depression than did the urban high school children with siblings. The mental health and psychosocial factors were found to be influenced by friends, a sense of satisfaction at school and home life, and emotional support as well. In conclusion, emotional support by the family members can improve mental health by reducing anxiety, stress and depression.

Financial Literacy Skills of Students in Urban and Rural High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valentine, Gregory P.; Khayum, Mohammed

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the affect of various demographic and economic socialization factors on the results of a personal finance literacy quiz administered to rural and urban high school students in Indiana. Urban students had an average score of 50% on the quiz and rural students had a an average score of 51%. Planning to…

"In It for the Long Haul": How Teacher Education Can Contribute to Teacher Retention in High-Poverty, Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freedman, Sarah Warshauer; Appleman, Deborah

2009-01-01

This study explores a constellation of factors that contribute to the retention of teachers in high-poverty, urban schools. It focuses on one cohort of the University of California at Berkeley's Multicultural Urban Secondary English Credential and MA Program, analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to track the careers of 26 novice teachers…

Urban Students' Perceptions of the School Environment's Influence on School Violence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Sarah Lindstrom; Burke, Jessica Griffin; Gielen, Andrea Carlson

2012-01-01

This article provides information about aspects of the school environment students perceive to influence the occurrence of school violence. Concept mapping, a mixed-methods methodology, was used with two groups of urban, primarily African American high school students (N = 27) to create conceptual frameworks of their understanding of the school…

Special Education Is Broken

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rader, Lacie

2010-01-01

The author describes her experience as special education teacher at Berkeley High School (BHS), an urban school with over three thousand students, and how she began to question the way the school defines disability. The diversity of any large urban school has its benefits, but the size itself will always be the downfall when the school focuses on…

Alternative Certification: Can the Problems of Urban Education Be Resolved by Traditional Teacher Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haberman, Martin

1992-01-01

To adequately prepare effective teachers for urban schools, traditional university-based programs of teacher education need to make serious structural and content changes. This article offers 16 assertions about specific changes that are needed and maintains that, in many alternative certification programs, most of the 16 assertions are…

Examining causes of the urban (inner city) asthma epidemic: Implementing new management strategies

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Asthma in the inner city contributes to high morbidity and mortality, and, in school children, reduced school attendance and alteration in academic performance. There is a need to improve asthma care in the inner city by reducing asthma exacerbations. Methods are currently available to predict and prevent seasonal exacerbations of asthma. In addition, new medications are being developed that will be effective in improving pulmonary function and reducing asthma exacerbations. School-centered asthma programs can also be helpful to assist children and clinicians in applying asthma treatment plans and assuring optimal adherence to these plans. PMID:26831839

Preparation for Meaningful Work and Life: Urban High School Youth’s Reflections on Work-Based Learning 1 Year Post-Graduation

PubMed Central

Kenny, Maureen E.; Catraio, Christine; Bempechat, Janine; Minor, Kelly; Olle, Chad; Blustein, David L.; Seltzer, Joanne

2016-01-01

The challenges confronted by low-income high school students throughout school and across the transition to higher education and employment are well-documented in the US and many other nations. Adopting a positive youth development perspective (Lerner et al., 2005), this study reports findings from interviews with 18 low-income, racially and ethnically diverse graduates of an urban Catholic high school in the US. The interviews were designed to shed light on the post-high school experiences of urban high school graduates and to understand how students construct meaning about the value of school and work-based learning (WBL) in their preparation for meaningful work and life. The interviews highlight the perceived value of the academic and non-cognitive preparation students experienced through high school and WBL in relation to the challenges they encountered along the pathway to post-high school success and decent work. Overall, the findings suggest the potential of WBL for low-income youth in facilitating access to resources that build academic and psychological/non-cognitive assets, while also illustrating the role of structural and contextual factors in shaping post-high school transitions and access to meaningful work and life opportunities. PMID:26955365

Laboring to Connect: The Challenges of Student-Teacher Intersubjectivity at an Urban Charter High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soto, Christopher S.

2011-01-01

In this dissertation, I examine the mediating role of emotion during lived interactions between students and teachers at an urban charter high school. While the importance of student-teacher connectivity for positive school engagement has been well documented, research that attempts to describe the mechanism of that link is scarce. This…

Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory to Understand Community Partnerships: A Historical Case Study of One Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Jack

2011-01-01

Although the value of school-community partnerships is unquestioned, the reasons for success and failure are not sufficiently understood. This mixed-methods case study examines 60 years of partnering at one urban high school, using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory to better understand the effect on student development as measured by…

Laying Tracks to Graduation: The First Year of Implementing Diplomas Now

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corrin, William; Sepanik, Susan; Gray, Aracelis; Fernandez, Felix; Briggs, Ashley; Wang, Kathleen K.

2014-01-01

Too many students in high-poverty, urban communities drop out of high school, and too few graduate prepared for college and careers. Three national organizations--Talent Development Secondary, City Year, and Communities In Schools--have formed Diplomas Now in an effort to transform urban secondary schools so fewer students drop out and more…

Is Increased Access Enough? Advanced Placement Courses, Quality, and Success in Low-Income Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hallett, Ronald E.; Venegas, Kristan M.

2011-01-01

This article combines descriptive statistics and interviews with college-bound high school students to explore the connection between increased access and academic quality of Advanced Placement (AP) courses in low-income urban high schools. Results suggest that although moderately more opportunities to take AP courses exist than in previous years,…

Identifying Principal and Teacher Descriptions of the Continuation High School Teacher's "Special Fitness to Perform"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vargas, Nestor Albert

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to generate principal and teacher descriptions of what constitutes a teacher's "special fitness to perform" in a public urban continuation high school with a concentration of at-risk students. The sample included 6 continuation principals and 15 continuation teachers from a large urban school district in…

Disclosure Experiences of Urban, Ethnically Diverse LGBT High School Students: Implications for School Personnel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varjas, Kris; Kiperman, Sarah; Meyers, Joel

2016-01-01

Disclosure of sexual orientation and/or gender identity is a milestone event for lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) youth and can have both positive and negative mental health consequences. Twenty-nine urban, ethnically diverse LGBT high school students participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews. Qualitative results revealed two…

Dress Codes Blues: An Exploration of Urban Students' Reactions to a Public High School Uniform Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DaCosta, Kneia

2006-01-01

This qualitative investigation explores the responses of 22 U.S. urban public high school students when confronted with their newly imposed school uniform policy. Specifically, the study assessed students' appraisals of the policy along with compliance and academic performance. Guided by ecological human development perspectives and grounded in…

The Impact of Collective Bargaining on Teacher Transfer Rates in Urban High-Poverty Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, F. Howard

2006-01-01

Data in this report reveals that collectively bargaining agreements are not the source of the teacher quality problem in urban school districts. The data shows that collective bargaining agreements are associated with reduced teacher transfer activity, especially in high-poverty schools, and less reliance on first-year teachers to staff…

A Structural Analysis of Success and Failure of Asian Americans: A Case of Korean Americans in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lew, Jamie

2007-01-01

In this article, the author examines how variability of socioeconomic backgrounds affects parental strategies and academic achievement among Korean American youths. The study compares experiences of high- and low-achieving Korean American high school students in New York City urban schools: 1) academically achieving students attending a…

Scale & Care: Charter Schools & New Urbanism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garber, Michael P.; Anderson, R. John; DiGiovanni, Thomas G.

The Charter School movement combined with New Urbanist designers have uncovered the importance of scale in creating school environments that are more responsive to the needs of children. This paper examines the possibilities for mutual benefit for school and community by integrating school-building into the new urbanist tool kit. The discussion…

Technology's Impact on Student Engagement in Urban Schools: Administrators', Teachers', and Students' Perspectives in Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDowell, Fredrick H., Jr.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how the use of technology may increase student engagement and learning in urban schools, as perceived by administrators, teachers, and students. Engagement Theory informed the design of the study and interpretation of findings and the literature review provides a context for pursuing this…

The Big Picture: Focusing Urban Teacher Education on the Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gimbert, Belinda; Desai, Shiv; Kerka, Sandra

2010-01-01

New teachers don't last long in urban schools. From 30% to 50% of them leave these schools within their first five years, and teacher education institutions are trying a number of strategies to change this. To combat the high attrition rate among new teachers in urban schools, the authors suggest that teacher education programs should take a…

Urban science education: examining current issues through a historical lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLaughlin, Cheryl A.

2014-12-01

This paper reviews and synthesizes urban science education studies published between 2000 and 2013 with a view to identifying current challenges faced by both teachers and students in urban classrooms. Additionally, this paper considers the historical events that have shaped the conditions, bureaucracies, and interactions of urban institutions. When the findings from these urban science education studies were consolidated with the historical overview provided, it was revealed that the basic design and regulatory policies of urban schools have not substantively changed since their establishment in the nineteenth century. Teachers in urban science classrooms continue to face issues of inequality, poverty, and social injustice as they struggle to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Furthermore, persistent concerns of conflicting Discourses, cultural dissonance, and oppression create formidable barriers to science learning. Despite the many modifications in structure and organization, urban students are still subjugated and marginalized in systems that emphasize control and order over high-quality science education.

Predicting High School Truancy among Students in the Appalachian South

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunt, Melissa K.; Hopko, Derek R.

2009-01-01

Truancy is a considerable problem among adolescents. Considering the historical emphasis on studying truancy in urban regions, a concerted effort is needed to extend this research into rural areas to examine cultural generalizability of findings. The purpose of this study was to assess variables associated with truancy in a rural sample (N = 367)…

Using Mentoring and Professional Development Approaches to Educate Urban Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser-Abder, Pamela

2005-01-01

Due to the dearth of qualified professional teachers, policymakers and professional development programs need to focus on improving the quality of high school mathematics teaching in order to diffuse this crisis. In the middle of this crisis, the demand for new teachers is predicted to rise significantly in the next ten years. Based on the…

Transitioning to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics: A Mixed Methods Study of Elementary Teachers' Experiences and Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swars, Susan Lee; Chestnutt, Cliff

2016-01-01

This mixed methods study explored elementary teachers' (n = 73) experiences with and perspectives on the recently implemented Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-Mathematics) at a high-needs, urban school. Analysis of the survey, questionnaire, and interview data reveals the findings cluster around: familiarity with and preparation…

The Benjamin Franklin High School Urban League Street Academies Program. Evaluation of ESEA Title I Projects in New York City, 1967-68.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerriero, Michael A.

This New York City school district educational project sought to locate actual dropouts and identify potential dropouts from Benjamin Franklin High School, and to involve them in the Urban Street Academy Program as a means of resolving their school problems and helping them continue their education. The objectives of the Academy were (1)…

Urban-rural differences in the gene expression profiles of Ghanaian children.

PubMed

Amoah, A S; Obeng, B B; May, L; Kruize, Y C; Larbi, I A; Kabesch, M; Wilson, M D; Hartgers, F C; Boakye, D A; Yazdanbakhsh, M

2014-01-01

Recent studies indicate that urbanization is having a pronounced effect on disease patterns in developing countries. To understand the immunological basis of this, we examined mRNA expression in whole blood of genes involved in immune activation and regulation in 151 children aged 5-13 years attending rural, urban low socioeconomic status (SES) and urban high-SES schools in Ghana. Samples were also collected to detect helminth and malaria infections. Marked differences in gene expression were observed between the rural and urban areas as well as within the urban area. The expression of both interleukin (IL)-10 and programmed cell death protein 1 increased significantly across the schools from urban high SES to urban low SES to rural (P-trend <0.001). Although IL-10 gene expression was significantly elevated in the rural compared with the urban schools (P<0.001), this was not associated with parasitic infection. Significant differences in the expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their signaling genes were seen between the two urban schools. Genetic differences could not fully account for the gene expression profiles in the different groups as shown by analysis of IL-10, TLR-2 and TLR-4 gene polymorphisms. Immune gene expression patterns are strongly influenced by environmental determinants and may underlie the effects of urbanization seen on health outcomes.

Citizen Participation in Urban Development. Volume 2. Cases and Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spiegel, Hans B.C., Ed.

The successor to a volume on concepts and issues in urban citizen participation, this work documents selected patterns of participation, issues that trigger participation (school decentralization, housing needs, a proposed highway, and other crisis situations), and outside assistance as embodied in urban planning advocates, community development…

The Meaning High-Achieving African-American Males in an Urban High School Ascribe to Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, LaTasha; Davis, Julius

2013-01-01

Many researchers, educators, administrators, policymakers and members of the general public doubt the prevalence of high-achieving African-American males in urban high schools capable of excelling in mathematics. As part of a larger study, the current study explored the educational experiences of four high-achieving African-American males…

Dating violence among urban, minority, middle school youth and associated sexual risk behaviors and substance use.

PubMed

Lormand, Donna K; Markham, Christine M; Peskin, Melissa F; Byrd, Theresa L; Addy, Robert C; Baumler, Elizabeth; Tortolero, Susan R

2013-06-01

Whereas dating violence among high school students has been linked with sexual risk-taking and substance use, this association has been understudied among early adolescents. We estimated the prevalence of physical and nonphysical dating violence in a sample of middle school students and examined associations between dating violence, sexual, and substance use behaviors. Logistic regression models for clustered data from 7th grade students attending 10 Texas urban middle schools were used to examine cross-sectional associations between dating violence victimization and risk behaviors. The sample (N = 950) was 48.5% African American, 36.0% Hispanic, 55.7% female, mean age 13.1 years (SD 0.64). About 1 in 5 reported physical dating violence victimization, 48.1% reported nonphysical victimization, and 52.6% reported any victimization. Adjusted logistic regression analyses indicated that physical, nonphysical, and any victimization was associated with ever having sex, ever using alcohol, and ever using drugs. Over 50% of sampled middle school students had experienced dating violence, which may be associated with early sexual initiation and substance use. Middle school interventions that prevent dating violence are needed. © 2013, American School Health Association.

Physical activity patterns of children in Toronto: the relative role of neighbourhood type and socio-economic status.

PubMed

Stone, Michelle R; Faulkner, Guy E; Mitra, Raktim; Buliung, Ron

2012-07-23

A child's opportunity for physical activity and the safety of engaging in activity are influenced by built environment (BE) elements. This study examined the relationship of neighbourhood type and socio-economic status (SES) with activity using a sampling frame that purposely located schools in varying neighbourhoods to ensure that there was variability in BE characteristics and SES. Participants (1,027 Grade 5 & 6 students, Toronto, ON) were drawn from 16 schools that varied by neighbourhood type (pre-1946 "old/urban BE" with grid-based street layout versus post-1946 "new/inner-suburban BE" with looping street layout) and socio-economic status (low and high SES). Physical activity was recorded by accelerometry for seven days. Only children living within 1.6 km of school were included in the analyses (n=713; boys=339, girls=374). Generalized linear mixed models examined sex-specific differences in physical activity across four geographic stratifications: old BE, low-SES (OL); old BE, high-SES (OH); new BE, low-SES (NL); and new BE, high-SES (NH). Children who attended schools in more affluent neighbourhoods (urban and inner-suburban) had more positive physical activity profiles. Across school days, boys were more active in inner-suburban neighbourhoods whereas urban and inner-suburban girls' activity levels were similar. On the weekend, the influence of the neighbourhood environment was stronger, especially for girls and also for boys with respect to total activity and the accumulation of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. These findings focus attention on the need to consider the broader social and temporal contexts of specific geographic locations when planning and implementing built environment interventions to increase physical activity among children.

Perceived Ease of Access to Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Substances in Rural and Urban US Students

PubMed Central

Warren, Jacob C.; Smalley, K. Bryant; Barefoot, K. Nikki

2015-01-01

Introduction Ease of access to substances has been shown to have a direct and significant relationship with substance use for school-aged children. Previous research involving rural samples of middle and high school students reveals that perceived ease of access to substances is a significant predictor of recent use among rural adolescents; however, it is unclear if perceived access to substances varies between rural and urban areas. The purpose of the current study was to examine rural-urban differences in perceived ease of access to alcohol, smoking and chewing tobacco, marijuana, and seven other substances in order to better inform and promote future substance use prevention and programming efforts in rural areas. Methods Data were analyzed from the 2013 Georgia Student Health Survey II, administered in all public and interested private/charter schools in the state of Georgia. A total of 513,909 students (18.2% rural) indicated their perceived ease of access to 11 substances on a 4-point Likert-type scale. Rural-urban differences were investigated using chi-square analysis. Results In general, it appeared the rural-urban differences fell along legal/illicit lines. For middle school students, a significant difference in perceived ease of access was found for each substance, with rural students reporting greater access to smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, and steroids, and urban students reporting greater access to alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, ecstasy, methamphetamine, hallucinogens, and prescription drugs. Rural high school students reported higher access to alcohol, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, and steroids, with urban students reporting higher access to marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, ecstasy, and hallucinogens. Perceptions of ease of access more than doubled for each substance in both geographies between middle and high school. Conclusions In summary, the current study found multiple and fairly consistent differences between rural and urban students’ perceived ease of access to a variety of substances, with rural students reporting higher levels of access to legal substances and urban students reporting higher levels of access predominantly to illicit substances. Most troubling were the high levels of perceived access to substances, however, particularly in high school students, with more than half even of rural students reporting at least somewhat easy access to marijuana, and more than 60% of both rural and urban high school students reporting easy access to alcohol. Future research should investigate ways to decrease the perceptions of access to substances in order to prevent use and abuse. PMID:26518286

Adolescent use of school-based health centers and high school dropout.

PubMed

Kerns, Suzanne E U; Pullmann, Michael D; Walker, Sarah Cusworth; Lyon, Aaron R; Cosgrove, T J; Bruns, Eric J

2011-07-01

To determine the association between use of school-based health centers (SBHCs) and school dropout. Quasi-experimental longitudinal analysis of a retrospective student cohort, with SBHC use as the independent variable. We statistically controlled for dropout risk and used propensity score regression adjustment to control for several factors associated with SBHC use. Integrated database from an urban public school district (academic outcomes) and department of public health (SBHC use). District-enrolled students in their first semester of ninth grade in 2005 (N = 3334), followed up through their anticipated on-time graduation semester of 12th grade in 2009. Students were divided into 4 groups: never used (47%); low use (23%); moderate use (20%); and high users (10%). Time to nongraduation (described as dropout). Low to moderate SBHC use (0.125-2.5 visits per semester) was associated with a 33% reduction in dropout compared with non-SBHC users. The high-use group (>2.5 visits per semester) did not have dropout rates that differed from nonusers. For SBHC users who did drop out, dropout occurred approximately 1 semester later than nonusers. Exploratory analyses revealed that the association between SBHC use and prevention of dropout was greatest for higher-risk students. This study found an association between low to moderate SBHC use and reductions in dropout for high school students in an urban school district, especially for students at higher risk for dropout. This study supports the theory that benefits of SBHCs extend beyond managing physical and mental health needs to include academic outcomes.

A Preventive Intervention Program for Urban African American Youth Attending an Alternative Education Program: Background, Implementation, and Feasibility.

PubMed

Carswell, Steven B; Hanlon, Thomas E; O'Grady, Kevin E; Watts, Amy M; Pothong, Pattarapan

2009-01-01

This paper presents background, implementation, and feasibility findings associated with planning and conducting an after-school intervention program in an alternative education setting designed to prevent the initiation and escalation of violence and substance abuse among urban African American youth at high risk for life-long problem behaviors. Evolving from earlier preventive interventions implemented in clinic and school settings, the program, entitled The Village Model of Care, consisted of structured group mentoring, parental support, and community outreach services administered to alternative education students and their primary caregiver(s) during the school year. Over a two-year intake period, 109 youth participated in the present process evaluation study. Findings from the study not only provided relevant demographic information on the characteristics of youth likely to be included in such programs but also indicated the importance of including the family in the rehabilitation effort and the need for school administrative system support for the underlying alternative education approach. The information presented in this report has a direct bearing on the planning of future prevention efforts conducted in similar settings that are aimed at reducing problem behaviors and promoting positive lifestyles among high-risk youth.

Urban Principal Leadership Skill Proficiency and Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winn, Pam; Erwin, Sue; Gentry, Jim; Cauble, Mary

2009-01-01

Because of the importance of developing highly skilled urban school leaders, statewide assessments of 248 urban Texas public school administrators were analyzed to determine principal confidence levels in leadership skill domains identified by the National Policy Board of Educational Administration (NPBEA). Important findings indicate differences…

Self-Control Themes in the Reflective Writings of At-Risk High School Students' as Indicators of Post-Prevention Behavioral and Academic Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burch, David

2017-01-01

In 2010-2011, urban high schools across New Jersey reported suspension rates that ranged between 10 and 20%. This rate translated into increased dropout rates and low graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influenced suspension rates, dropout rates and graduation rates of an urban New Jersey high school. More…

"I Have to Be Three Steps Ahead": Academically Gifted African American Male Students in an Urban High School on the Tension between an Ethnic and Academic Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Anthony; Anderson, Kenneth A.

2008-01-01

This case study investigation of three Academically Gifted African American male high school seniors in a predominantly African American urban high school examines the interplay between their ethnic and academic identity. Using an embedded micro-ethnographic approach, we explore the extent to which these students value educational attainment, the…

From Voicing Your Opinion to Politicised Voice: A Youth-Led Social Justice Class at an Urban Continuation High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nygreen, Kysa

2010-01-01

This article examines the work of three urban youths as they designed and taught a social justice class at an urban continuation high school in California, USA. Drawing from a two-year ethnographic study of the project, it shows that youth participants constructed a set of imagined binaries to frame teachers, schoolwork and coercion "in…

Urban Sanctuary Schools for Diverse Populations: Examining Curricular Expectations and School Effectiveness for Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liou, Daniel D.; Marsh, Tyson E. J.; Antrop-González, René

2017-01-01

This ethnographic case study problematizes the current high stakes accountability efforts that have led many school leaders to inadvertently maintain a school environment in which deficit perspectives and low academic expectations in the classroom persist. Drawing from an urban sanctuary school framework, this study works to center the voices of…

Urban African American High School Female Adolescents' Perceptions, Attitudes, and Experiences with Professional School Counselors: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owens, Delila; Stewart, Tiffany A.; Bryant, Rhonda M.

2011-01-01

The authors interviewed African American female students in an urban school district about their perceptions, attitudes, and experiences with their professional school counselors. Data analysis indicated seven primary themes perceived by the participants, some of which included their understanding and purpose of professional school counselors and…

Ready to Lead, but How? Teachers' Experiences in High-Poverty Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Susan Moore; Reinhorn, Stefanie K.; Charner-Laird, Megin; Kraft, Matthew A.; Ng, Monica; Papay, John P.

2014-01-01

Background/Context: Many strategies to improve failing urban schools rest on efforts to improve leadership within the school. Effective school-based leadership depends not only on the activities of the principal, but also on teachers' efforts to address school-wide challenges. Research has shown that the principal is pivotal in such ventures,…

Feasibility of Screening Adolescents for Suicide Risk in “Real-World” High School Settings

PubMed Central

Hallfors, Denise; Brodish, Paul H.; Khatapoush, Shereen; Sanchez, Victoria; Cho, Hyunsan; Steckler, Allan

2006-01-01

Objectives. We evaluated the feasibility of a population-based approach to preventing adolescent suicide. Methods. A total of 1323 students in 10 high schools completed the Suicide Risk Screen. Screening results, student follow-up, staff feedback, and school responses were assessed. Results. Overall, 29% of the participants were rated as at risk of suicide. As a result of this overwhelming percentage, school staffs chose to discontinue the screening after 2 semesters. In further analyses, about half of the students identified were deemed at high risk on the basis of high levels of depression, suicidal ideation, or suicidal behavior. Priority rankings evidenced good construct validity on correlates such as drug use, hopelessness, and perceived family support. Conclusions. A simpler, more specific screening instrument than the Suicide Risk Screen would identify approximately 11% of urban high school youths for assessment, offering high school officials an important opportunity to identify young people at the greatest levels of need and to target scarce health resources. Our experiences from this study show that lack of feasibility testing greatly contributes to the gap between science and practice. PMID:16380568

Toward a New Model for Promoting Urban Children's Mental Health: Accessible, Effective, and Sustainable School-Based Mental Health Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkins, Marc S.; Graczyk, Patricia A.; Frazier, Stacy L.; Abdul-Adil, Jaleel

2003-01-01

A program of research related to school-based models for urban children's mental health is described, with a particular focus on improving access to services, promoting children's functioning, and providing for program sustainability. The first study in this series responded to the urgent need to engage more families in mental health services, and…

The Social Dimensions of an Individual Act: Situating Urban Adolescent Students' Reading Growth and Reading Motivation in School Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Francois, Chantal

2011-01-01

Reading underachievement among adolescent students, particularly in urban areas, has been well documented in the literature. This reality points to two problems: Schools possess neither the capacity needed to prepare students for higher education and the workforce, nor the ability to help students view literacy as a tool for critical thinking,…

Aspirations, Barriers, and Community Strengths: A Qualitative Survey of Urban Chicano Youth and Families. Occasional Paper No. 38. Latino Studies Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vera, Elizabeth M.

To initiate a primary prevention program in a Midwestern urban community consisting primarily of Chicanos, needs were assessed by conducting focus group meetings with school administrators, teachers, parents, and children in a public school setting. In each student focus group, 8-10 children were selected from a seventh-grade classroom, an…

Strengthening Educational Technology in K-8 Urban Schools and in Preservice Teacher Education: A Practitioner-Faculty Collaborative Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Karen; Richards, Judith; Lewis, Colleen; Carman, Elizabeth

2005-01-01

If classroom teachers are to meet the need for meaningful integration of technology in educational settings, there must be a restructuring of both teacher preparation programs and current classroom practice. The purpose of this paper is to share the progress of a collaborative partnership between an urban school district and a college of education…

Mandatory Community-Based Learning in U.S. Urban High Schools: Fair Equality of Opportunity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Jeffrey V.; Alsbury, Thomas L.; Fan, Jingjing

2016-01-01

This study explores participant experiences at two contrasting high schools in a large, urban school district in crisis who implemented mandatory community-based learning (CBL) (e.g. community service, work-based internships) as a policy of reform. Rawls' theory of justice as fairness is used to examine capacity of the district formal policy to…

An Urban School Leader's Approach to School Improvement: Toward Contextually Responsive Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Latish C.; Swaminathan, Raji

2016-01-01

This case study examines the leadership practices and actions of an urban high school principal who faced many challenges, but worked diligently to improve student achievement and school climate over a 3-year period. Significant improvements were made by using elements of Distributed Leadership, Professional Learning Communities, and Social…

Vocational Education Offerings in Rural High Schools. Issue Brief.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson, Lisa; Shafer, Linda

A study examined the types of vocational education programs offered in rural, suburban, and urban schools. Data from the 1999 Survey on Vocational Programs in Secondary Schools indicate no significant differences in the distribution of vocational education offerings in urban and suburban schools, so they were combined into a single category of…

Dismantling Rural Stereotypes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryant, James A., Jr.

2010-01-01

The natural beauty that surrounds many rural schools hides the troubling realities that students in these schools frequently live in poverty and the schools struggle to give these students the education they need. James A. Bryant believes that one source of the problem is the fact that so many school reforms are designed with urban schools in…

Urban Middle-Grade Student Mathematics Achievement Growth under Comprehensive School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mac Iver, Martha Abele; Mac Iver, Douglas J.

2009-01-01

Recognizing the need to implement standards-based instructional materials with school-wide coherence led some Philadelphia schools to adopt whole-school reform (WSR) models during the late 1990s. The authors report on the relation between mathematics achievement growth for middle-grade students on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments and…

Barriers to Care of Inner-City Children with Asthma: School Nurse Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forbis, Shalini; Rammel, Jennifer; Huffman, Belinda; Taylor, Roberta

2006-01-01

School nurses spend considerable time caring for the needs of children with asthma and thus can offer valuable insights into barriers to asthma care within the school setting. Investigators conducted focus groups with school nurses in Dayton Public Schools to evaluate barriers to asthma care for children in an urban school system. The school…

The after-school needs and resources of a low-income urban community: surveying youth and parents for community change.

PubMed

Cornelli Sanderson, Rebecca; Richards, Maryse H

2010-06-01

Using a collaborative research approach, this project describes a partnership between community residents and university researchers to develop a comprehensive survey of the after-school needs of a low-income urban community in a large Midwestern city. Surveying parents and children was considered particularly important because the current literature on after-school does not include much input from them, the key stakeholders in programming. By surveying pre- and young adolescent youth (N = 416) and parents (N = 225) in the community, information was gathered to document the need for after-school programming, tap program preferences, and uncover barriers to participation and enrollment. Survey findings revealed significant differences between youth and parent perspectives. Disagreements between youth and parent survey responses suggest that after-school programs in the community should offer a balance of academic, recreational, and social activities, as well as a tutoring or homework component. Further, in order to increase participation and attendance rates, community after-school programs need to address the following barriers to participation: safety, transportation, family responsibilities (e.g., care for siblings, household chores), and access to information about available programs. These findings guided the planning of future after-school programs. The survey results and comparisons between youth and parent data will be presented.

Urban Education in the 80s: The Never Ending Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of Secondary School Principals, Reston, VA.

Contemporary problems in urban education are explored in this collection of papers. The leading article discusses the implications of urban decay and demographic change for school finance and educational accountability. The second paper stresses the need for a basic skills curriculum, well-trained teachers, and the inclusion of parents in…

Assessing and quantifying high risk: comparing risky behaviors by youth in an urban, disadvantaged community with nationally representative youth.

PubMed

Swahn, Monica H; Bossarte, Robert M

2009-01-01

This study examined whether youth who live in an urban, disadvantaged community are significantly more likely than youth representing the nation to engage in a range of health-compromising behaviors. Analyses were based on the Youth Violence Survey conducted in 2004 and administered to students (n=4131) in a high-risk school district. Students in ninth grade (n=1114) were compared with ninth-grade students in the 2003 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n=3674) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health conducted in 1995/1996 (n=3523). Analyses assessed the differences in prevalence of risk and protective factors among ninth-grade students from the three studies using Chi-square tests. The results showed that youth in this urban, disadvantaged community were significantly more likely than their peers across the country to report vandalism, theft, violence, and selling drugs. Youth in this community also reported significantly less support from their homes and schools, and less monitoring by their parents. Moreover, youth in this community were significantly less likely to binge drink or initiate alcohol use prior to age 13 than youth across the U.S. Youth who live in this urban, disadvantaged community reported significantly higher prevalence of some, but not all, risky behaviors than nationally representative U.S. youth. These findings highlight that some caution is justified when defining what might constitute high risk and that demographic and other characteristics need to be carefully considered when targeting certain high-risk behaviors.

Whoever Can Speak, Can Sing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sargeant, Lynn M.

2010-01-01

Despite the rhetoric of failure inherent in the long-lasting debates over school music instruction in Russia, the practice of school singing teaching in Russian schools, especially those serving peasants and the urban lower classes, satisfied to a large degree the needs of the community. However, the limited role for school music and singing…

An Urban Collaborative in Critical Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruckerhoff, Charles E.; Popkewitz, Thomas S.

1991-01-01

Discusses the rationale behind the Cleveland Collaborative for Mathematics Education, which networks urban high school math teachers with college math professors and mathematicians in business. Describes a typical teaching day for one high school teacher and how environmental challenges such as family abuse, student absenteeism, and lack of…

Excerpts from inside the Black Box School District Spending on Professional Development in Education: Lessons from Five Urban Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Karen Hawley; Odden, Allan; Fermanich, Mark; Archibald, Sarah

2005-01-01

As districts struggle to meet the demands of standards-based reform and requirements for "highly qualified" teachers in the face of increasing fiscal constraints, professional development has the potential to be a significant part of a district's improvement strategy. To use dollars effectively, districts need to think about how to best integrate…

Personal Consequences of Compliance and Resistance to Mandated Reforms for Teachers in Low-Performing Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Christopher J. F.; Adler, Martha

2013-01-01

This case study examines the experiences of two fifth grade teachers as they dealt with district mandates while trying to address their high-poverty urban children's learning needs. It reveals their personal struggles that led to both compliance and resistance. In this case, the act of finding the space to engage in the intellectual and creative…

Profiles in Excellence: Montgomery County, Maryland. A Districtwide Coalition to Improve Teaching through National Board Certification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2010

2010-01-01

Over the past decade, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland has focused on improving teacher capacity as a strategy to address achievement gaps and promote "college-ready" standards in what has become an "urban suburb" with significant pockets of high-need students. As part of this focus on quality teaching, the…

The Effect of Poverty on the Achievement of Urban African American Male Students Successfully Completing High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welch, Amy L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of poverty on the achievement of African American male high school students attending the same large Midwest urban school district. Cumulative grade point average (GPA) at the tenth grade level were compared to the level of poverty provided through census data of African American male tenth…

Impacts of a Place-Based Science Curriculum on Student Place Attachment in Hawaiian and Western Cultural Institutions at an Urban High School in Hawai'i

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuwahara, Jennifer L. H.

2013-01-01

This study investigates how students' participation in a place-based science curriculum may influence their place attachment (dependence and identity). Participants attend an urban high school in Hawai'i and are members of different cultural institutions within the school. Students are either enrolled in an environmental science class within the…

Strengthening Community Schools through University Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Officer, Starla D. H.; Grim, Jim; Medina, Monica A.; Bringle, Robert G.; Foreman, Alyssa

2013-01-01

Given the mounting call for academic achievement gains in America's public schools--particularly urban schools labeled "failing"--the need for community engagement to tackle a host of underlying social challenges warrants the resources of the nation's colleges and universities (Harkavy & Hartley, 2009). Because colleges and…

An Overview of Equal Educational Opportunities in Turkey: A Spatial Analysis of Classrooms in Rural and Urban Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gökçe, Nazli; Kaya, Erdogan; Aktas, Semra Günay; Kantar, Yeliz Mert

2017-01-01

The number of students in a class is a primary factor affecting the quality of education. Therefore, this study examines the distribution of the number of students per class in rural and urban primary schools in Turkey, and efforts have been made to specify classroom needs. Statistical data was obtained from the Turkish Institute of Statistics and…

Spatial and temporal variations in traffic-related particulate matter at New York City high schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Molini M.; Chillrud, Steven N.; Correa, Juan C.; Feinberg, Marian; Hazi, Yair; Deepti, K. C.; Prakash, Swati; Ross, James M.; Levy, Diane; Kinney, Patrick L.

Relatively little is known about exposures to traffic-related particulate matter at schools located in dense urban areas. The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of diesel traffic proximity and intensity on ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and black carbon (BC), an indicator of diesel exhaust particles, at New York City (NYC) high schools. Outdoor PM 2.5 and BC were monitored continuously for 4-6 weeks at each of 3 NYC schools and 1 suburban school located 40 km upwind of the city. Traffic count data were obtained using an automated traffic counter or video camera. BC concentrations were 2-3 fold higher at urban schools compared with the suburban school, and among the 3 urban schools, BC concentrations were higher at schools located adjacent to highways. PM 2.5 concentrations were significantly higher at urban schools than at the suburban school, but concentrations did not vary significantly among urban schools. Both hourly average counts of trucks and buses and meteorological factors such as wind direction, wind speed, and humidity were significantly associated with hourly average ambient BC and PM 2.5 concentrations in multivariate regression models. An increase of 443 trucks/buses per hour was associated with a 0.62 μg/m 3 increase in hourly average BC at an NYC school located adjacent to a major interstate highway. Car traffic counts were not associated with BC. The results suggest that local diesel vehicle traffic may be important sources of airborne fine particles in dense urban areas and consequently may contribute to local variations in PM 2.5 concentrations. In urban areas with higher levels of diesel traffic, local, neighborhood-scale monitoring of pollutants such as BC, which compared to PM 2.5, is a more specific indicator of diesel exhaust particles, may more accurately represent population exposures.

How the Cultural Contexts of Urban Teaching Affect Novice Science Educators: Implications for School Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, Marlina

2014-01-01

While the challenge to retain highly competent teachers affects all schools, the crisis is critical in urban districts, which historically suffer from high teacher turnover (Ingersoll, 2004). This high turnover is especially problematic in the content areas of science (Ingersoll & Perda, 2010). Through ethnographic case studies the first year…

How High School Students Envision Their STEM Career Pathways

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Lin; Barnett, Michael

2015-01-01

Given that many urban students exclude Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics careers from their career choices, the present study focuses on urban high school students and adopts the social-cultural approach to understand the following questions: how do students envision their careers? What are the experiences that shape students'…

Urban High School Principals' Promotion of College-and-Career Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malin, Joel R.; Hackmann, Donald

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how two urban principals, in high schools that feature comprehensive college-and-career readiness practices, utilize distributed leadership to facilitate their implementation. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed qualitative methods. Drawing upon semi-structured interview data,…

The Disproportionate Erosion of Local Control: Urban School Boards, High-Stakes Accountability, and Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trujillo, Tina M.

2013-01-01

This case study of an urban school board's experiences under high-stakes accountability demonstrates how the district leaders eschewed democratic governance processes in favor of autocratic behaviors. They possessed narrowly defined goals for teaching and learning that emphasized competitive, individualized means of achievement. Their decision…

School Leadership: Lessons from the Lived Experiences of Urban Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bridwell, Sandra D.

2012-01-01

The detrimental effects of high-stakes testing and accountability mandates are experienced disproportionately in high-poverty urban schools, which African American and Hispanic students are more likely to attend. However, the literature does not fully address how teachers experience the inequitable working and learning conditions in these…

Urban School Formation: Identity Work and Constructing an Origin Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silver, Lauren J.

2015-01-01

In this article, I analyze the formation of Shearwater High School in St. Louis, Missouri and I explore the identity work involved in building the school. Diverging from standardization trends in urban education, the school came to fruition through a creative process, which was in-flux and supported by diverse communities in St. Louis. This…

Boys II Men: A Culturally-Responsive School Counseling Group for Urban High School Boys of Color

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pérez-Gualdrón, Leyla; Yeh, Christine; Russell, LyRyan

2016-01-01

Using a participatory and collaborative approach, we developed, implemented, and evaluated a culturally responsive school counseling group, "Boys II Men," for 11 low-income diverse male students of color at an urban public school. The content of the group focused on five areas: social connections and support, exploring gender roles,…

Ethnographic Depiction of a Multiethnic School: A Comparison to Desegregated Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Semons, Maryann

This report compares the findings of a recent ethnographic study of a multiethnic urban high school to some of the highlights of a series of ten-year-old ethnographic studies on court-ordered desegregated school settings. The study of the multiethnic urban school employed an ethnographic design whereby a participant-observer interviewed students…

Evaluation Findings from High School Reform Efforts in Baltimore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smerdon, Becky; Cohen, Jennifer

2009-01-01

The Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) is one of the first urban districts in the country to undertake large-scale high school reform, phasing in small learning communities by opening new high schools and transforming large, comprehensive high schools into small high schools. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a…

The Future Direction of Regional Educational Laboratories in Contributing to Urban School Improvement. Laboratory Policy Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKenzie, Floretta Dukes

This paper examines the current and future roles of organizations such as education laboratories in serving the changing needs of urban education. Concerns for greater effectiveness in support services stem from the growing need to effectively deal with some of the complex, lingering issues which to data have been only marginally addressed. Urban…

A Gateway to Health Careers for Urban High School Students: Collaborative Front-Line and Allied Workforce Development Program among High Schools, Public Hospitals and Public Colleges. Program Results Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jablow, Paul

2012-01-01

From 2005 to 2011, the Gateway Institute for Pre-College Education partnered with three public entities in New York City--the Department of Education, the City University of New York and the Health and Hospitals Corporation--to introduce, educate, and prepare urban high school students for careers in the health professions. Gateway was launched in…

"Knowing the ledge": participatory action research as legal studies for urban high school youth.

PubMed

Stovall, David; Delgado, Natalia

2009-01-01

Zero-tolerance discipline policies, harsh sentencing laws, and the gentrification of communities of color have devastating effects for the lives of young people. Coupled with the fact that urban schools can devalue their views, values, and understandings of the world, this article examines an effort to challenge deficit theories that permeate discussions on urban youth. Through the setting of a street law class at a high school with a social justice focus, two facilitators (an African American male and a Latina of Puerto Rican descent, one a qualitative sociologist and the other a lawyer, both trained as qualitative researchers) and a group of high school freshmen analyze the processes of the judicial system to analyze their lives through the tenets of participatory action research.

After-School All-Stars: Providing Structured Health and Physical Activity Programs in Urban Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Walter R.

2009-01-01

Physical education time has been reduced or even eliminated in middle and high schools in favor of more time for standardized test preparation, especially in urban schools and inner cities. One way to replace the time lost is by providing it after school as part of a comprehensive program. After-School All-Stars (ASAS) is such a program, networked…

Are Schools Prepared for Emergencies?: A Baseline Assessment of Emergency Preparedness at School Sites in Three Los Angeles County School Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kano, Megumi; Ramirez, Marizen; Ybarra, William J.; Frias, Gus; Bourque, Linda B.

2007-01-01

A survey of emergency preparedness was conducted in three public school districts in urban areas of Los Angeles County. Eighty-three school sites were surveyed using self-administered questionnaires. Although designated respondents generally felt that their schools were well prepared, the survey also revealed the need for improvements in written…

"Kickin' Asthma": School-Based Asthma Education in an Urban Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magzamen, Sheryl; Patel, Bina; Davis, Adam; Edelstein, Joan; Tager, Ira B.

2008-01-01

Background: In urban communities with high prevalence of childhood asthma, school-based educational programs may be the most appropriate approach to deliver interventions to improve asthma morbidity and asthma-related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of "Kickin' Asthma", a school-based asthma…

Exploring Urban Students' Constructions about School, Work, Race, and Ethnicity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blustein, David L.; Murphy, Kerri A.; Kenny, Maureen E.; Jernigan, Maryam; Perez-Gualdron, Leyla; Castaneda, Tani; Koepke, Margaret; Land, Marie; Urbano, Alessandra; Davis, Ophera

2010-01-01

This qualitative study is an exploration of 32 urban high school students' narratives about the connection between school, work, and societal expectations of their future success related to their racial and ethnic background. The sample varied along 2 contextual dimensions: participation in a psychoeducational intervention (Tools for Tomorrow) and…

What's the 411? High School Leaders' Perceptions of Inclusion Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jamison, Arnella L.

2013-01-01

This quantitative, descriptive study explored and described urban and suburban school leaders' perceptions of the definition of "inclusion" and perceptions of their level of involvement in the implementation of inclusion. Additionally, the study determined if there was a significant difference in the urban and suburban school leaders'…

Leagues Revive Debate in City Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, Bess

2008-01-01

This article describes how the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues is reviving debate competitions among high school students in city schools. Starting in Atlanta in 1985 and boosted by seed money from the billionaire George Soros' Open Society Institute, urban educators and their supporters in 2002 formed the National Association for…

The Predictive Value of Selection Criteria in an Urban Magnet School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lohmeier, Jill Hendrickson; Raad, Jennifer

2012-01-01

The predictive value of selection criteria on outcome data from two cohorts of students (Total N = 525) accepted to an urban magnet high school were evaluated. Regression analyses of typical screening variables (suspensions, absences, metropolitan achievement tests, middle school grade point averages [GPAs], Matrix Analogies test scores, and…

Urban Renewal: The Urban School Leader Takes on a New Role

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knapp, Michael S.; Copland, Michael A.; Honig, Meredith I.; Plecki, Margaret L.; Portin, Bradley S.

2010-01-01

A diverse and historically underserved urban student population struggles with academic learning and social adjustment in a context of limited resources. Support for staff efforts or special student needs is also limited, making it harder to attract and retain qualified staff. Given the conditions that educators must contend with in such settings,…

Extracurricular Participation and Course Performance in the Middle Grades: A Study of Low-Income, Urban Youth.

PubMed

Schwartz, Kate; Cappella, Elise; Seidman, Edward

2015-12-01

The transition to middle/junior high school is associated with declines in students' academic performance, especially among low-income, urban youth. Developmental psychologists posit such declines are due to a poor fit between the needs of early adolescents-industry, identity, and autonomy-and the environment of their new schools. Extracurricular participation during these years may act as a buffer for youth, providing a setting for development outside the classroom. The current study examines participation within and across activity settings among low-income, urban youth in New York City over this transition. Using the Adolescent Pathways Project data, this study explores how such participation relates to course performance. We find that a large percentage of youth are minimally or uninvolved in extracurricular activities during these years; that participation varies within youth across time; and that the association between participation and course performance varies by activity setting. Youth who participate frequently in community or athletic settings or have high participation in two or more settings are found to have higher GPAs in the year in which they participate and youth who participate frequently in the religious setting are found to have lower GPAs. High participation in more than two settings may be detrimental.

"Adging up" to "Beef on Sight": A Qualitative Study of the Perceived Causes of Interpersonal Conflict and Violence among African-American Girls in an Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cameron, Mark; Taggar, Carolyn E.

2005-01-01

This qualitative study examined perceptions of the causes and nature of conflicts and violence among African-American girls in an urban high school. In-depth, iterative interviewing was used to explore the perceptions of these girls, male students, teachers, and other school personnel. Ethnographic observation was also used. Conflicts and violence…

The Electrical and Technology Curriculum of an Urban Charter High School and Its Impact for the Female in Academic and Trades Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conway, Thomas Robert

2010-01-01

This study explores the impact of the electrical and technology curriculum of an urban charter high school in Philadelphia for the alumnae of the school. The study found a positive impact that empowered the alumnae to face gender and racial discrimination in their apprenticeship program. It also found a positive impact for alumnae that are not…

What Does it Mean to Be African American? Constructions of Race and Academic Identity in an Urban Public High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasir, Na'ilah Suad; McLaughlin, Milbrey W.; Jones, Amina

2009-01-01

In this article, the authors explore variation in the meanings of racial identity for African American students in a predominantly African American urban high school. They view racial identity as both related to membership in a racial group and as fluid and reconstructed in the local school setting. They draw on both survey data and observational…

Substance use among adolescent high school students in India: A survey of knowledge, attitude, and opinion

PubMed Central

Tsering, Dechenla; Pal, Ranabir; Dasgupta, Aparajita

2010-01-01

Background: Is knowledge regarding the consequences of substance use among adolescents enough to prevent them from initiating and continuing its use, is a question that needs to be clarified further? Objective: To assess the knowledge regarding harm of use and to obtain information about attitudes among high school students. Also, to discover the opinion of substance use held by users. Materials and Methods: This was a population based cross-sectional study conducted in two high schools of West Bengal, India, among 416 students, in classes VIII, IX, and X, with no interventions. Primary outcome measurements were substance use: knowledge regarding harm, attitude, and opinion. Following this proportions and the chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Out of 416 students, 52 (12.5%) used or abused any one of the substances irrespective of time and frequency in lifetime; 26 (15.1 %) were among the urban students and 26 (10.7 %) were among their rural counterparts. More than two-thirds (73.07%) of the respondents expressed a desire to quit substance use and 57.69% had tried to stop. ‘Easy availability’ and ‘relief from tension’ were the most frequent reasons for continuation of substance use. Level of knowledge on harmfulness of substance use among students was very high (urban — -84.6% and rural — 61.5%) and they stated media as the most frequent source of information. Users were successful in influencing their peers into taking up this habit (urban — 15.4% and rural — 26.9%). Conclusions: Inspite of being aware of the harmful effects of substance use, adolescents take up this habit. This requires comprehensive prevention and control programs in schools and the community, targeted toward adolescents and their parents and other family members. Effective measures are required to encourage shaping the attitude of school children toward self-confidence and adequacy, as also to prevent risk behavior among adolescents. PMID:21814448

Mass-casualty events at schools: a national preparedness survey.

PubMed

Graham, James; Shirm, Steve; Liggin, Rebecca; Aitken, Mary E; Dick, Rhonda

2006-01-01

Recent school shootings and terrorist events have demonstrated the need for well-coordinated planning for school-based mass-casualty events. The objective of this study was to document the preparedness of public schools in the United States for the prevention of and the response to a mass-casualty event. A survey was mailed to 3670 school superintendents of public school districts that were chosen at random from a list of school districts from the National Center for Education Statistics of the US Department of Education in January 2004. A second mailing was sent to nonresponders in May 2004. Descriptive statistics were used for survey variables, and the chi2 test was used to compare urban versus rural preparedness. The response rate was 58.2% (2137 usable surveys returned). Most (86.3%) school superintendents reported having a response plan, but fewer (57.2%) have a plan for prevention. Most (95.6%) have an evacuation plan, but almost one third (30%) had never conducted a drill. Almost one quarter (22.1%) have no disaster plan provisions for children with special health care needs, and one quarter reported having no plans for postdisaster counseling. Almost half (42.8%) had never met with local ambulance officials to discuss emergency planning. Urban school districts were better prepared than rural districts on almost all measures in the survey. There are important deficiencies in school emergency/disaster planning. Rural districts are less well prepared than urban districts. Disaster/mass-casualty preparedness of schools should be improved through coordination of school officials and local medical and emergency officials.

(Dis)empowerment: The Implementation of Corrective Mathematics in Philadelphia Empowerment Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connor, Hannah

2011-01-01

The need to improve math education around the country has been well documented, especially in urban school systems like Philadelphia. In Spring 2010, only 56.6% of students in Philadelphia Public schools scored proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment (PSSA). In Philadelphia Empowerment Schools, the 107 lowest…

Beyond Coffee with the Principal: Toward Leadership for Authentic School-Family Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auerbach, Susan

2010-01-01

This article problematizes conventional school-family partnerships, as geared toward narrow school agendas or mandates for collaboration, and documents efforts to lead more authentic partnerships as part of socially just urban schools. Just as meaningful parent involvement needs to go "beyond the bake sale," so, too, must leadership for…

Meeting the Needs of Urban Students: Creative Arts Therapy in Jersey City Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Cindy Lou

2010-01-01

This paper describes the history and development of the Jersey City Public Schools creative arts therapy program. Creative arts therapists contributed examples of their work throughout the district that provide a window into their respective school settings. Examples include technology-based art therapy, an extended school year program,…

Key Elements of a Successful Multi-System Collaboration for School-Based Mental Health: In-Depth Interviews with District and Agency Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Joelle D.; Edwards, Jeffrey D.; Blackman, Kate F.; Wegmann, Kate M.

2013-01-01

The alarming number of youth with unmet mental health needs in the US is a significant social problem. The pilot school-based mental health project described here established an innovative multi-system partnership between an urban school district, a public mental health agency, and a local university to better meet the mental health needs of youth…

[Comprehensive sexual education in Mexico: an analysis of coverage, comprehensiveness and continuity of contents in Mexican public and private schools].

PubMed

Rojas, Rosalba; Castro, Filipa de; Villalobos, Aremis; Allen-Leigh, Betania; Romero, Martin; Braverman-Bronstein, Ariela; Uribe, Patricia

2017-01-01

To analyze coverage of comprehensive sex education (CSE) in high schools in Mexico and describe whether it is comprehensive, homogeneous and has continuity based on student reports of exposure to topics in three dimensions: reproductive and sexual health, self-efficacy and rights and relations. Within a probabilistic, cross-sectional survey with stratified, cluster sampling, a nationally representative sample of 3 824 adolescents attending 45 public and private high-schools in urban and rural areas completed questionnaires on CSE. The proportion of adolescents reporting having received sex education from school personnel varies depending on topics and grade level. Topics most frequently covered are those related to sexual and reproductive health while rights and relations are least frequently dealt with. Most sex education topics are covered during junior high school and much less frequently in elementary or high school. CSE needs to be comprehensive and homogenous in terms of content, ensure inclusion of priority topics, meet national and international recommendations, ensure continuity and adapt contents to student age through all education levels.

How the Leaders of One High-Achieving, Large, Urban High School Communicate with Latino Families about Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kittelson, Andrea

2016-01-01

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to understand the ways in which the leaders of one high-achieving, large, urban high school communicate with Latino families about math with the intent to shine a light on the issue of communication with families as it relates to student achievement and the persistent math achievement gap among…

A Survey of Internet Use by Teachers in Three Urban Connecticut Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hack, Lisa; Smey, Sue

1997-01-01

This study focused on two elementary schools and a high school in urban Connecticut to determine the number of teachers who had Internet access at home, and their proficiency and frequency of Internet use; levels of Internet access in the schools; integration of Internet into the curriculum; and possible future Internet use. Contains 6 tables.…

School Vision of Learning: Urban Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guy, Tiffany A.

2010-01-01

In this paper, the author develops her school vision of learning. She explains the theories she used to help develop the vision. The author then goes into detail on the methods she will use to make her vision for a school that prepares urban students for a successful life after high school. She takes into account all the stakeholders and how they…

Evaluating the Co-Construction of the Family, School, and Community Partnership Program in a Low-Income Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaPoint, Velma; Jackson, Henry L.

2004-01-01

There have been resounding national calls in the past several years to improve the academic achievement and social competence of students in public schools, especially students in low-performing K-12 schools that include low-income students of color in the nation's urban communities. Many educational stakeholders--students, teachers,…

Working in High Schools: Inside Views of the Organization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neufeld, Barbara

To complement a national survey called "High School '77," researchers in 1978-79 conducted indepth field studies of the organization of five high schools. School bureaucracy and procedures and their relationship to instruction, teachers, and school programs were analyzed. The five schools were drawn from village, suburban, urban, and…

Linking Schools of Thought to Schools of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunt, Lucy; Yoshida-Ehrmann, Erin

2016-01-01

Project Linking Learning ("Link") was created to target the needs of gifted students in urban school districts with historically underserved populations. Project Linking Learning implemented a linking curriculum between in-class instruction and an afterschool enrichment program for selected students in second through fifth grade.…

Culturally Responsive Physics Teaching: Content or Conveyance?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, Taquan Seth

2011-12-01

This study, in response to the achievement gap in science and the lack of significant numbers of ethnic minorities in science fields, examined the effects of a Cultural Responsiveness Workshop and intervention on teacher practice, teacher discourse, and student perceptions and connectedness to physics. The sample was comprised of three high school physics teachers---2 teaching five 12th grade sections and one teaching five 9th grade sections of physics---in two separate urban schools in the same section of South Los Angeles. My research design was qualitative and examined eight culturally responsive indicators that, when applied, may increase student engagement and level of connectedness in urban high school physics classrooms: (1) proximity to students, (2) the ways in which they encouraged students, (3) positive reinforcement techniques, (4) modifications for individual learning types, (5) use of children's strengths, (6) scaffolding, (7) displaying an understanding of diverse cultures, and (8) displaying a personal regard for students of diverse cultures. When the study was completed and data was collected, I identified trends in the change in teacher discourse, behaviors, instructional practice, and perceptions of student engagement. My findings, discovered through classroom observations and focus groups, indicated a positive shift in each. Accompanying these shifts were positive shifts in level of student engagement and level of connectedness. There were also the unexpected findings of the need for teachers to receive feedback in a safe collaborative space and the use of culturally responsive teaching as a tool for behavioral management. My study found that there is a definite relationship between the use of the culturally responsive indicators observed, student engagement and student level of connectedness to physics when implemented in urban high school science classrooms.

School-based health centers: accessibility and accountability.

PubMed

Brindis, Claire D; Klein, Jonathan; Schlitt, John; Santelli, John; Juszczak, Linda; Nystrom, Robert J

2003-06-01

To examine the current experience of school-based health centers (SBHCs) in meeting the needs of children and adolescents, changes over time in services provided and program sponsorship, and program adaptations to the changing medical marketplace. Information for the 1998-1999 Census of School-Based Health Centers was collected through a questionnaire mailed to health centers in December 1998. A total of 806 SBHCs operating in schools or on school property responded, representing a 70% response rate. Descriptive statistics and cross-tab analyses were conducted. The number of SBHCs grew from 120 in 1988 to nearly 1200 in 1998, serving an estimated 1.1 million students. No longer primarily in urban high schools, health centers now operate in diverse areas in 45 states, serving students from kindergarten through high school. Sponsorship has shifted from community-based clinics to hospitals, local health departments, and community health centers, which represent 73% of all sponsors. Most use computer-based patient-tracking systems (88%), and 73% bill Medicaid and other third-party insurers for student-patient encounters. SBHCs have demonstrated leadership by implementing medical standards of care and providing accountable sources of health care. Although the SBHC model is responsive to local community needs, centers provide care for only 2% of children enrolled in U.S. schools. A lack of stable financing streams continues to challenge sustainability. As communities seek to meet the needs of this population, they are learning important lessons about providing acceptable, accessible, and comprehensive services and about implementing quality assurance mechanisms.

A Preliminary Investigation into Critical Thinking of Urban Xi'an High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Qing; Wang, Xiang; Yao, Linna

2007-01-01

This paper reports the development of critical thinking of urban high school students in the Chinese city of Xi'an. It presents the assessment of the students' two components of critical thinking: dispositions towards critical thinking and critical thinking skills, using the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and the California…

Preparing Youth for College and Career: A Process Evaluation of Urban Alliance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theodos, Brett; Pergamit, Michael R.; Edelstein, Sara; George, Taz; Freiman, Lesley

2014-01-01

This report presents baseline and process study findings of an evaluation of the Urban Alliance high school internship program, which provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors from distressed communities in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, and Chicago. The report, which focuses on the program's…

Reflective Voices: Understanding University Students' Experiences of Urban High School Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lackman, Jeremy; Chepyator-Thomson, Jepkorir

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand first-year college students' reflections on past physical education (PE) experiences in urban high school settings. Method: Data collection included semi-structured, open-ended, qualitative interviews. Constant comparison method was used for data analysis. Results: Several findings emerged: (a)…

Special Education Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs in a Large Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seebeck, Kelly A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify if special education teachers' self-efficacy beliefs are impacted by student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. Specifically, this study focused on the self-efficacy of high school special education teachers in an urban setting. This was a correlational quantitative design…

Cultivation of Science Identity through Authentic Science in an Urban High School Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, Angela; Feldman, Allan

2017-01-01

This study examined how a contextually based authentic science experience affected the science identities of urban high school students who have been marginalized during their K-12 science education. We examined students' perceptions of the intervention as an authentic science experience, how the experience influenced their science identity, as…

Experience and Educational Philosophies of Mathematics Teachers in an Urban Public High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaskin, Marjorie Elaine

2017-01-01

This qualitative research study identified the experiences and educational philosophies of mathematics teachers in an urban public high school framed by John Dewey's Theory of Experience and demonstrated by 21st century skills. To facilitate this process, the researcher used semi-structured interviews, direct observations, and collected lesson…

Closing the Mathematical Achievement Gap through the Heart to the Brain: A Case Study of Urban High School Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions of How Their Emotional Intelligence Facilitates Instruction and Learning in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuentes, Alfredo

2012-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine urban high school mathematics teachers' perceptions of how they manage their own and their students' emotional intelligence (EI) to facilitate instruction and learning; their reports of how they handle their emotions as urban mathematics teachers; and their reports of how they manage the…

Personal Consequences of Compliance and Resistance to Mandated Reforms for Teachers in Low-Performing Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Christopher J. F.; Adler, Martha

2013-01-01

This case study examines the experiences of two fifth grade teachers as they dealt with district mandates while trying to address their high-poverty urban children's learning needs. It reveals their personal struggles that led to both compliance and resistance. In this case, the act of finding the space to engage in the intellectual and…

Recruiting and Retaining Effective Teachers for Urban Schools: Developing a Strategic Plan for Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Claycomb, Carla; Hawley, Willis D.

This analysis discusses ways to address the persistent challenge of ensuring that students who attend urban schools are taught by highly effective teachers. It presents a four-point strategic plan that includes: (1) increase the quantity and quality of people entering and returning to teaching in urban districts (precollegiate recruitment, higher…

Urban School Chiefs Under Fire.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuban, Larry

This study examines three veteran urban school superintendents who were highly respected by their colleagues but who came under intense pressure from forces outside the school systems in the 1960's. Chapter 1 explores the context of the desegregation controversy and the furor over an independent evaluation that faced Benjamin C. Willis in Chicago.…

School-Business-University Collaborative: A New Paradigm for Urban Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deighan, William P.

This paper describes a new paradigm for urban education, a school, business, and university collaboration in Cleveland (Ohio). Participating in the partnership are John F. Kennedy High School, the East Ohio Gas Company, and the Graduate Program in Administration and Supervision at John Carroll University in University Heights (Ohio). The paper…

Urban District Anchors Culture Shift in Standards-Based Leadership Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anthony, Douglas W.; Shetley, Pamela R.

2017-01-01

With its 208 schools, 130,000 students, and 19,000 employees, Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) in Maryland is one of the country's largest school districts. Serving a high-poverty student population from urban, suburban, and rural communities, the district requires leadership that can enable its learners to combat the conditions of…

Tensions between Catholic Identity and Academic Achievement at an Urban Catholic High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuller, Carrie; Johnson, Lauri

2014-01-01

Through a secondary analysis of a case study on successful school leadership, this study inquired into the lived experiences and understandings of Catholic identity from the perspectives of administrators, faculty, staff, and students at one urban Catholic school in the northeastern United States. Participants generally spoke about Catholic…

Teacher Efficacy and Disciplinary Expectations in Charter Schools: Understanding the Link to Teachers' Career Decisions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres, A. Chris

2016-01-01

Much scholarly work describes a culture of low expectations in low-income, urban schools, the challenges these teachers face managing student behavior, and why these problems so strongly influence teacher turnover. By contrast, some urban charter schools, particularly those associated with high achieving Charter Management Organizations (CMOs),…

Limited Control and Relentless Accountability: Examining Historical Changes in Urban School Principal Pressure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Deborah L.; Peck, Craig; Reitzug, Ulrich C.

2010-01-01

Influential texts have long identified principals as being essential to school success. Accordingly, high expectations and pressures have attended the principalship and affected the professionals who occupy it. This exploration asked three interrelated questions: What pressures have urban school principals typically faced, in the past and today?…

Reframing Parent Involvement: What Should Urban School Leaders Do Differently?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Terri Nicol; Bogotch, Ira

2015-01-01

In this article we critically examine how teachers and administrators in an urban high school identify and consider the challenges to parent involvement without either engaging in or disrupting normative constructions of the term parent involvement. It is in this unintentional misconstruction of the notion of parent involvement that school leaders…

Leading for Democracy in Urban Schools: Toward a Culturally Relevant Progressivism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seher, Rachel

2013-01-01

The article examines the enactment of culturally relevant progressivism on the part of the principal of the Social Justice School, a small urban public high school explicitly committed to democratic education. Drawing upon extensive interviews and field observations conducted over the course of an academic year by a teacher-researcher within the…

Addressing the Inclusion Imperative: An Urban School District's Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMatthews, David Edward; Mawhinney, Hanne

2013-01-01

Over the past forty years, schools across the United States have become more inclusive for students with disabilities. However, in many high-poverty urban school districts, a disproportionate number of minority children with disabilities are segregated from their non-disabled peers. This article presents findings from a qualitative case study of…

Neighborhoods and Schools: Using Charter School Policy to Foster District Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Ann

2010-01-01

This article presents the case of community leaders who used the charter school policy as a way to effect district change for the benefit of a neighborhood in need. The case represents the potential of charter school policy to reshape the political and institutional arrangements of urban school districts, and it reengages the idea of what makes…

Young Women's Scientific Identity Formation in an Urban Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brickhouse, Nancy W.; Potter, Jennifer T.

2001-01-01

Examines the scientific identity formation of two young women of color who attended an urban vocational high school. Describes how the experience of marginalization can make membership in a science school community impossible or undesirable. (Author/MM)

Examining Empowerment, Family-School Partnerships, and Advocacy among Rural and Urban Latino Families of Children with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Meghan M.

2017-01-01

Latino students and their families are the fastest growing minority group in the country, yet it is unclear whether rural (vs. urban) Latino families of students with disabilities have different needs. In this pilot study, 65 Latino family members of students with disabilities (15 rural; 50 urban) responded to a questionnaire about empowerment,…

Closing the Gap: Principal Perspectives on an Innovative School-Based Mental Health Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackman, Kate F.; Powers, Joelle D.; Edwards, Jeffrey D.; Wegmann, Kate M.; Lechner, Ethan; Swick, Danielle C.

2016-01-01

Mental health needs among children in the United States have significant consequences for children and their families, as well as the schools that serve them. This qualitative study evaluated the second year of an innovative school-based mental health project that created a multi-system partnership between an urban school district, a public mental…

Inclusive Classrooms: A Basic Qualitative Study of K-8 Urban Charter School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Regina N.

2017-01-01

The rapid growth of charter schools has been accompanied with numerous questions related to special education such as whether or not charter schools and their unique missions can actually meet the needs of students with disabilities (Karp, 2012). This basic qualitative study explores the practices and procedures used by primary school teachers to…

Removing Non-Academic Barriers in Urban Schools: School-Linked Social Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muñoz, Marco A.; Owens, Deborah; Bartlett, Carol

2015-01-01

Current societal demands have increased the role of schools. The Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSC) seek to link students, families, and communities, using the school as the nexus for much needed services. The FRYSC offer a myriad of interventions aimed at removing non-academic barriers that hinder academic success for students…

Teacher Absenteeism: What Administrators Can Do.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitkiff, Evan

1993-01-01

Teacher absenteeism appears highest in elementary schools, schools with lower student achievement, schools composed of economically disadvantaged and minority students, and urban school districts. Survey of Brooklyn high schools found high teacher absenteeism; in addition, attendance patterns were habitual, teachers holding temporary teaching…

Making Space for Diverse Masculinities: Difference, Intersectionality, and Engagement in an Urban High School. Adolescent Cultures, School and Society, Volume 50

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCready, Lance T.

2010-01-01

What's it like for Black male students who are openly gay or "gender non-conforming" to navigate the social geography of urban schools? In the tradition of critical ethnographies of schooling, Lance T. McCready mobilizes feminist theories of intersectionality to explore the voices of Black gay male students and their teachers in a…

"No Ceiling on Achievement": Breaking the Glass Ceiling or Hitting a Steel Plate in Urban Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firth, Ben; Melia, Victoria; Bergan, Dave; Whitby, Lisa

2014-01-01

This article, written by a team of research-active teachers who are also senior leaders in a large, urban, comprehensive high school in the North of England, reports on their joint teacher inquiry project. This work has school-wide significance, given recent history, progressing from being graded as a "failing" school by the Office for…

"That School Had Become All about Show": Image Making and the Ironies of Constructing a Good Urban School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niesz, Tricia

2010-01-01

The last two decades have seen dramatic change in U.S. schooling as a response to high-stakes accountability and market-based reform movements. Critics cite a number of unfortunate consequences of these movements, especially for students in urban schools. This article explores the troubling ironies related to one strategy for survival in this…

Young women's scientific identity formation in an urban context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brickhouse, Nancy W.; Potter, Jennifer T.

2001-10-01

In this article we examine the scientific identity formation of two young women of color who attend an urban vocational high school. One young woman lives in an urban setting, while the other lives in a suburban setting. We describe how these young women's identities influence and respond to experiences in school science. In particular, we describe how the experience of marginalization can make membership in a school science community impossible or undesirable. We also describe the advantages that accrue to students who fit well with the ideal identities of an urban school. Finally, we describe some of the difficulties students face who aspire to scientific or technological competence yet do not desire to take on aspects of the identities associated with membership in school science communities.

School Bullying in Urban China: Prevalence and Correlation with School Climate.

PubMed

Han, Ziqiang; Zhang, Guirong; Zhang, Haibo

2017-09-25

School violence and bullying in China is under investigated, though it has become a national concern recently. Using updated national representative survey data collected in 2016 from seven provinces across China, covering students from all pre-college school types (primary, middle, high and vocational schools), this paper analyzes the prevalence of school bullying and the correlation with several school attributes. The incidences of reported bullying, bullying others and witnessing bullying are 26.10%, 9.03% and 28.90%, respectively. Primary school students are more likely to be involved in bullying behaviors. Students from elite schools (leading schools) are also more likely to be involved. Relation with teachers, relation with peers and perceived academic achievement are protective factors. Being a boy is the only significant predictor of school bullying among the family and demographic characteristics used. The results highlight the importance of school climate on preventing school violence and bullying, and a whole-school intervention approach is needed for future intervention.

School Bullying in Urban China: Prevalence and Correlation with School Climate

PubMed Central

Han, Ziqiang; Zhang, Guirong; Zhang, Haibo

2017-01-01

School violence and bullying in China is under investigated, though it has become a national concern recently. Using updated national representative survey data collected in 2016 from seven provinces across China, covering students from all pre-college school types (primary, middle, high and vocational schools), this paper analyzes the prevalence of school bullying and the correlation with several school attributes. The incidences of reported bullying, bullying others and witnessing bullying are 26.10%, 9.03% and 28.90%, respectively. Primary school students are more likely to be involved in bullying behaviors. Students from elite schools (leading schools) are also more likely to be involved. Relation with teachers, relation with peers and perceived academic achievement are protective factors. Being a boy is the only significant predictor of school bullying among the family and demographic characteristics used. The results highlight the importance of school climate on preventing school violence and bullying, and a whole-school intervention approach is needed for future intervention. PMID:28946682

Korean American Social Studies Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences of Teaching Profession in Multicultural Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Yoonjung

2018-01-01

This study explores two Korean American social studies teachers' perceptions and experiences of the teaching profession in multicultural, urban public high schools. Drawing upon critical race theory (CRT) and its interconnection to the model minority myth, the most dominant form of racism against Asians as theoretical underpinnings, this study…

Novice, Urban, High School, Special Education Teachers' Reports Regarding Initiating Instructional Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maule, Jay

2017-01-01

The purpose of this exploratory research study was to investigate novice, urban, high school, special education teachers' reports of how they initiate instructional change in an inclusive environment and the instructional change situations they feel ill-equipped to address. This qualitative study was designed to fill a gap in the literature by…

Rural and Urban High School Dropout Rates: Are They Different?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Jeffrey L.; Kostandini, Genti; Mykerezi, Elton

2012-01-01

This study estimates the high school dropout rate in rural and urban areas, the determinants of dropping out, and whether the differences in graduation rates have changed over time. We use geocoded data from two nationally representative panel household surveys (NLSY 97 and NLSY 79) and a novel methodology that corrects for biases in graduation…

Going against the Grain in an Urban Arizona High School: Secondary Preservice Teachers Emerging as Culturally Responsive Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Pablo; Jimenez-Silva, Margarita; Boozer, April; Clark, Ben

2016-01-01

This one year study examines the journey of two preservice urban high-school teachers in Arizona as they enact Culturally Responsive Teaching in a year-long student teaching residency. Factors that influenced their Culturally Responsive Teaching practices are discussed along themes that emerged from interviews and classroom observations.…

An Exploratory Examination of "Pockets of Success" in Creating Urban High Schools of Opportunity for LSES Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaines, Frank

2013-01-01

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine "pockets of success" through the voices of participant stakeholders in low socio-economic status urban high schools and communities to identify opportunities and structures that can improve post-secondary outcomes for students. Examining those pockets of success to rise above the…

Serious Playground: Using "Second Life" to Engage High School Students in Urban Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mallan, Kerry; Foth, Marcus; Greenaway, Ruth; Young, Greg T.

2010-01-01

Virtual world platforms such as "Second Life" have been successfully used in educational contexts to motivate and engage learners. This article reports on an exploratory workshop involving a group of high school students using "Second Life" for an urban planning project. Young people are traditionally an under-represented demographic when it comes…

Using Extrinsic Motivation to Influence Student Attitude and Behavior toward State Assessments at an Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emmett, Joshua

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to discover the influence of a student achievement program implemented at one large urban high school that employed extrinsic motivation to promote student achievement on state assessments. Using organismic integration theory as the theoretical framework, 19 randomly selected students participated…

Urban High School Student Engagement through CincySTEM iTEST Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckett, Gulbahar H.; Hemmings, Annette; Maltbie, Catherine; Wright, Kathy; Sherman, Melissa; Sersion, Brian

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on the notable heightening of underrepresented students' engagement in STEM education through project-based learning CincySTEM iTEST projects. The projects, funded by an iTEST NSF grant, were designed and facilitated by teachers at a new STEM urban public high school serving low-income African-American students. Student…

The Meaning(s) of Teacher Leadership in an Urban High School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scribner, Samantha M. Paredes; Bradley-Levine, Jill

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the meaning of teacher leadership from teachers' perspectives. The authors examine teachers' practice of and talk about legitimate sources of power and influence in the context of an urban high school reform. Design: This is an interpretive study of teacher leadership situated in one small high…

Joint Inquiry: Teachers' Collective Learning about the Common Core in High-Poverty Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stosich, Elizabeth Leisy

2016-01-01

Recent research on the relationship between standards and teachers' practice suggests that teachers are unlikely to make changes to practice without extensive opportunities for learning about standards with colleagues. This article extends this line of research, using a comparative case study of three high-poverty urban schools to examine the…

Learning to teach science in urban schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobin, Kenneth; Roth, Wolff-Michael; Zimmermann, Andrea

2001-10-01

Teaching in urban schools, with their problems of violence, lack of resources, and inadequate funding, is difficult. It is even more difficult to learn to teach in urban schools. Yet learning in those locations where one will subsequently be working has been shown to be the best preparation for teaching. In this article we propose coteaching as a viable model for teacher preparation and the professional development of urban science teachers. Coteaching - working at the elbow of someone else - allows new teachers to experience appropriate and timely action by providing them with shared experiences that become the topic of their professional conversations with other coteachers (including peers, the cooperating teacher, university supervisors, and high school students). This article also includes an ethnography describing the experiences of a new teacher who had been assigned to an urban high school as field experience, during which she enacted a curriculum that was culturally relevant to her African American students, acknowledged their minority status with respect to science, and enabled them to pursue the school district standards. Even though coteaching enables learning to teach and curricula reform, we raise doubts about whether our approaches to teacher education and enacting science curricula are hegemonic and oppressive to the students we seek to emancipate through education.

Lessons Learned: Implementation of the Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative in Years One and Two. Report for the Milwaukee Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doyle, Lynn H.; Huinker, DeAnn

The Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI) program is an effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that targets large urban school systems with the goal of sustainable implementation of high-quality, standards-based teaching for the purpose of attaining system-wide increases in students' learning of challenging mathematics and science.…

Understanding and Reversing Underachievement, Low Achievement, and Achievement Gaps among High-Ability African American Males in Urban School Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Donna Y.; Moore, James L., III

2013-01-01

This article focuses on the achievement gap, with attention devoted to underachievement and low achievement among African American males in urban school contexts. More specifically, the article explains problems and issues facing or confronting these Black male students in urban education settings. A central part of this discussion is grounded in…

Examining the Associations Among Home-School Dissonance, Amotivation, and Classroom Disruptive Behavior for Urban High School Students.

PubMed

Brown-Wright, Lynda; Tyler, Kenneth M; Graves, Scott L; Thomas, Deneia; Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Mulder, Shambra

2013-01-01

The current study examined the association among home-school dissonance, amotivation, and classroom disruptive behavior among 309 high school juniors and seniors at two urban high schools in the Southern region of the country. Students completed two subscales of the Patterns of Learning Activities Scales (PALS) and one subscale of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). ANCOVA analyses revealed significant differences in classroom disruptive behaviors for the gender independent variable. Controlling for gender in the multiple hierarchical regression analyses, it was revealed that home-school dissonance significantly predicted both amotivation and classroom disruptive behavior. In addition, a Sobel mediation analysis showed that amotivation was a significant mediator of the association between home-school dissonance and classroom disruptive behavior. Findings and limitations are discussed.

Examining the Associations Among Home–School Dissonance, Amotivation, and Classroom Disruptive Behavior for Urban High School Students

PubMed Central

Brown-Wright, Lynda; Tyler, Kenneth M.; Graves, Scott L.; Thomas, Deneia; Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Mulder, Shambra

2015-01-01

The current study examined the association among home–school dissonance, amotivation, and classroom disruptive behavior among 309 high school juniors and seniors at two urban high schools in the Southern region of the country. Students completed two subscales of the Patterns of Learning Activities Scales (PALS) and one subscale of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). ANCOVA analyses revealed significant differences in classroom disruptive behaviors for the gender independent variable. Controlling for gender in the multiple hierarchical regression analyses, it was revealed that home–school dissonance significantly predicted both amotivation and classroom disruptive behavior. In addition, a Sobel mediation analysis showed that amotivation was a significant mediator of the association between home–school dissonance and classroom disruptive behavior. Findings and limitations are discussed. PMID:27081213

School-wide implementation of the elements of effective classroom instruction: Lessons from a high-performing, high-poverty urban school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dyson, Hilarie

2008-10-01

The purpose of the study was to identify structures and systems implemented in a high-performing high-poverty urban school to promote high academic achievement among students of color. The researcher used a sociocultural theoretical framework to examine the influence of culture on the structures and systems that increased performance by African American and Hispanic students. Four research questions guided the study: (1) What are the trends and patterns of student performance among students of color? (2) What are the organizational structures and systems that are perceived to contribute to high student performance in high-poverty urban schools with high concentrations of students of color? (3) How are the organizational structures and systems implemented to support school-wide effective classroom instruction that promotes student learning? (4) How is the construct of race reflected in the school's structures and systems? Qualitative data were collected through interviews, observations, and artifact collection. A single case study method was employed and collected data were triangulated to capture and explore the rich details of the study. The study focused on a high-performing high-poverty urban elementary school located in southern California. The school population consisted of 99% students of color and 93% were economically disadvantaged. The school was selected for making significant and consistent growth in Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress over a 3-year period. The school-wide structures and systems studied were (a) leadership, (b) school climate and culture, (c) standards-based instruction, (d) data-driven decision making, and (e) professional development. Four common themes emerged from the findings: (a) instructional leadership that focused on teaching and learning; (b) high expectations for all students; (c) school-wide focus on student achievement using standards, data, and culturally responsive teaching; and (d) positive relationships and interactions among students, teachers, parents, and community. Suggestion for future research include a deep examination of how and why culturally relevant pedagogy supports students of color, research on leadership and its impact on creating a positive school climate and culture to produce high student achievement by students of color, and the impact of early education programs on student achievement among poor students and students of color.

School District Crisis Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Plans - United States, 2012.

PubMed

Silverman, Brenda; Chen, Brenda; Brener, Nancy; Kruger, Judy; Krishna, Nevin; Renard, Paul; Romero-Steiner, Sandra; Avchen, Rachel Nonkin

2016-09-16

The unique characteristics of children dictate the need for school-based all-hazards response plans during natural disasters, emerging infectious diseases, and terrorism (1-3). Schools are a critical community institution serving a vulnerable population that must be accounted for in public health preparedness plans; prepared schools are adopting policies and plans for crisis preparedness, response, and recovery (2-4). The importance of having such plans in place is underscored by the development of a new Healthy People 2020 objective (PREP-5) to "increase the percentage of school districts that require schools to include specific topics in their crisis preparedness, response, and recovery plans" (5). Because decisions about such plans are usually made at the school district level, it is important to examine district-level policies and practices. Although previous reports have provided national estimates of the percentage of districts with policies and practices in place (6), these estimates have not been analyzed by U.S. Census region* and urbanicity.(†) Using data from the 2012 School Health Policies and Practices Study (SHPPS), this report examines policies and practices related to school district preparedness, response, and recovery. In general, districts in the Midwest were less likely to require schools to include specific topics in their crisis preparedness plans than districts in the Northeast and South. Urban districts tended to be more likely than nonurban districts to require specific topics in school preparedness plans. Southern districts tended to be more likely than districts in other regions to engage with partners when developing plans. No differences in district collaboration (with the exception of local fire department engagement) were observed by level of urbanicity. School-based preparedness planning needs to be coordinated with interdisciplinary community partners to achieve Healthy People 2020 PREP-5 objectives for this vulnerable population.

An Analysis of Staff Development Programs and Their Costs in Three Urban School Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Donald R.; Hyde, Arthur A.

This report analyzes teacher staff development programs and their costs in three large urban school districts, and discusses research and policy implications of the research results. The districts were selected through a survey of school districts serving the 75 largest U.S. cities, and were chosen because of their respectively high, medium, and…

Towards a Non-Deterministic Reading of Pierre Bourdieu: Habitus and Educational Change in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Brian D.; Martina, Camille Anne

2012-01-01

Building on the social reproduction theory of Pierre Bourdieu, this study examines the impact of school context and institutional agency on shaping urban students' access to social and cultural capital resources, which are selectively valued and rewarded by the education system, in two schools across two high-poverty, intensely segregated urban…

Assessing School Council Contribution to the Enabling Conditions for Instructional Capacity Building: "An Urban District in Kentucky"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talley, Wade Kenneth; Keedy, John L.

2006-01-01

This study identified the enabling conditions related to building instructional capacity created by the councils in three high-performance schools in an urban district. The authors collected the data through observation, interview, and document mining. School-level data were sorted inductively into themes through constant comparative analysis.…

Big-City Rules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon, Dan

2011-01-01

When it comes to implementing innovative classroom technology programs, urban school districts face significant challenges stemming from their big-city status. These range from large bureaucracies, to scalability, to how to meet the needs of a more diverse group of students. Because of their size, urban districts tend to have greater distance…

Not Driven by High-Stakes Tests: Exploring Science Assessment and College Readiness of Students from an Urban Portfolio Community High School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleshman, Robin Earle

This case study seeks to explore three research questions: (1) What science teaching and learning processes, perspectives, and cultures exist within the science classroom of an urban portfolio community high school? (2) In what ways does the portfolio-based approach prepare high school students of color for college level science coursework, laboratory work, and assessment? (3) Are portfolio community high school students of color college ready? Is there a relationship between students' science and mathematics performance and college readiness? The overarching objectives of the study are to learn, understand, and describe an urban portfolio community high school as it relates to science assessment and college readiness; to understand how the administration, teachers, and alumni perceive the use of portfolios in science learning and assessment; and to understand how alumni view their preparation and readiness for college and college science coursework, laboratory work, and assessments. The theoretical framework of this study encompasses four theories: critical theory, contextual assessment, self-regulated learning, and ethic of care. Because the urban high school studied partnered with a community-based organization (CBO), it identifies as a community school. Therefore, I provide context regarding the concept, culture, and services of community schools. Case study is the research design I used to explore in-depth this urban portfolio community high school, which involved mixed methods for data collection and analysis. In total, six alumni/current college students, five school members (administrators and teachers), and three CBO members (administrators, including myself) participated in the study. In addition to school artefacts and student portfolios collected, classroom and portfolio panel presentation observations and 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the portfolio-based approach as it pertains to science learning and assessment and college science readiness. Data from the transcripts of two graduating classes were analyzed and the interview transcripts were coded and analyzed as well. Analysis of qualitative data revealed key findings: (1) the school's Habits of Mind, authentic scientific inquiry, self-regulated learning triggers and strategies, and teacher feedback practices driven by an ethic of care supported students' science learning and portfolio assessment; and (2) the cyclical and extensive portfolio processes of writing, revision, and submission well prepared alumni for college science laboratory work and coursework, to a certain extent, but not for the traditional assessments administered in college science courses. Analysis of quantitative data revealed that, if based solely on the City University of New York's Regents score criteria for college readiness, the majority of students from these two graduating classes studied would not have been considered college ready even though all participants, including interviewed alumni, believed the school prepared them for college. The majority of these students, however, were transitioning to college readiness based on their Regents-level science and mathematics coursework. Findings of this study have implications for science assessment, professional development in science, education policy reform, and high school partnerships with CBOs and postsecondary institutions as they pertain to college and college science readiness for students of color in urban portfolio community high schools.

Educational Management Organizations as High Reliability Organizations: A Study of Victory's Philadelphia High School Reform Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, David E.

2013-01-01

This executive position paper proposes recommendations for designing reform models between public and private sectors dedicated to improving school reform work in low performing urban high schools. It reviews scholarly research about for-profit educational management organizations, high reliability organizations, American high school reform, and…

Perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana: Implications for health sector staff internal migration control

PubMed Central

Beyere, Christopher B.; Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward; Mwini-Nyaledzigbor, Prudence P.

2017-01-01

Background The population of Ghana is increasingly becoming urbanized with about 70% of the estimated 27 million people living in urban and peri-urban areas. Nonetheless, eight out of the ten regions in Ghana remain predominantly rural where only 32% of the national health sector workforce works. Moreover, the rural-urban disparities in the density of health tutors (staff responsible for pre-service training of health professionals) are enormous. This paper explores perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana. Methods This is a descriptive qualitative study conducted in the Greater Accra and Northern regions of Ghana. The Study used the deductive thematic and sub-thematic analysis approaches. Five health training institutions were randomly sampled, and 72 tutors engaged in separate focus group discussions with an average size of 14 participants per group in each training institution. Results Perceived rural-urban disparities among health tutors were found in the payment of extra duty allowances; school infrastructure including libraries and internet connectivity; staff accommodation; and opportunities for scholarships and higher education. Health tutors in rural areas generally expressed more frustration with these work conditions than those in urban areas. Conclusions There is the need to initiate and sustain work incentives that promote motivation of rural health tutors to control ongoing rural-urban migration of qualified staff. It is recommended the following incentives be prioritized to promote retention of qualified health tutors in rural health training schools: payment of research, book and rural allowances; early promotion of rural staff; prioritizing rural tutors for scholarships, and introduction of national best health tutor awards. PMID:28982194

Perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana: Implications for health sector staff internal migration control.

PubMed

Alhassan, Robert Kaba; Beyere, Christopher B; Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward; Mwini-Nyaledzigbor, Prudence P

2017-01-01

The population of Ghana is increasingly becoming urbanized with about 70% of the estimated 27 million people living in urban and peri-urban areas. Nonetheless, eight out of the ten regions in Ghana remain predominantly rural where only 32% of the national health sector workforce works. Moreover, the rural-urban disparities in the density of health tutors (staff responsible for pre-service training of health professionals) are enormous. This paper explores perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana. This is a descriptive qualitative study conducted in the Greater Accra and Northern regions of Ghana. The Study used the deductive thematic and sub-thematic analysis approaches. Five health training institutions were randomly sampled, and 72 tutors engaged in separate focus group discussions with an average size of 14 participants per group in each training institution. Perceived rural-urban disparities among health tutors were found in the payment of extra duty allowances; school infrastructure including libraries and internet connectivity; staff accommodation; and opportunities for scholarships and higher education. Health tutors in rural areas generally expressed more frustration with these work conditions than those in urban areas. There is the need to initiate and sustain work incentives that promote motivation of rural health tutors to control ongoing rural-urban migration of qualified staff. It is recommended the following incentives be prioritized to promote retention of qualified health tutors in rural health training schools: payment of research, book and rural allowances; early promotion of rural staff; prioritizing rural tutors for scholarships, and introduction of national best health tutor awards.

Opening the Gates to Foster Scholarship for Urban Students: Organizational Policies and Systemic Practices in a High Performing High Poverty Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Regina Anderson

2012-01-01

The problem of underachievement seems to exist in school districts across the country, particularly, where there are a significant percentage of students of color and low socio-economic groups. The purpose of this qualitative case study, conducted with an ex post facto approach, was to bring to light the organizational policies and systemic…

Mental Health Condition of the Only-Child: A Study of Urban and Rural High School Students in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Chenying; Munakata, Tsunetsugu; Onuoha, Francis N.

2005-01-01

The mental health of the only-child continues to generate interest in research literature. The present study examines the issue in China, where the one-child phenomenon is highest due to deliberate government policy. Subjects are 299 and 333 students in two high-rank high schools in urban Harebin and rural Qing an Xian, respectively (mean age =…

Erasure and Survival: Creating a Future and Managing a Past in a Restructuring High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galletta, Anne; Ayala, Jennifer

2008-01-01

Background/Context: With the growth of the small-school movement, many urban districts have restructured large underperforming high schools into new, small high schools or schools-within-a-school designed to engage adolescents in rigorous and meaningful learning along with strong teacher-student relationships. In the case of this study, the…

Primary school students' mental health in Uganda and its association with school violence, connectedness, and school characteristics: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Thumann, Barbara F; Nur, Ula; Naker, Dipak; Devries, Karen M

2016-07-29

Few studies have explored risk factors for poor mental health in Ugandan primary schools. This study investigated whether individual- and contextual-level school-related factors including violence from school staff and other students, connectedness to school and peers, as well as school size and urban/rural location, were associated with mental health difficulties in Ugandan children. We also examined whether associations between violence exposure at school and mental health were mediated by connectedness as well as whether associations were different for boys and girls. The analytic sample consisted of 3,565 students from 42 primary schools participating in the Good Schools Study. Data were collected through individual interviews conducted in June and July 2012. Mental health was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multilevel logistic regression was applied to investigate factors associated with mental health difficulties. Experiences of violence from school staff and other students in the past week were strongly associated with mental health difficulties (OR = 1.58, 95 % CI 1.31 to 1.90 and 1.81, 1.47 to 2.23, respectively). Children with a low school connectedness had 1.43 times (1.11 to 1.83) the odds of mental health difficulties compared to those with a high school connectedness. The OR comparing children never feeling close to other students at their school with those always feeling close was 1.86 (1.18 to 2.93). The effect of violence on mental health was not mediated through the connectedness variables. School size was not related to mental health difficulties, but attending an urban school increased the odds of mental health difficulties after accounting for other factors. We did not find evidence that the effect of one or more of the exposures on the outcome differed between boys and girls. These findings suggest that violence in school and low connectedness to school and peers are independently associated with mental health difficulties and interventions should address both concurrently. Extra support may be needed for students in urban schools. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01678846 . Registered 24 August 2012.

Curriculum and the American Rural School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldmann, Doug

This book begins by tracing the history of curriculum development and the subjugation of rural school districts to curriculum decisions made from afar and tailored to urban needs. Local and teacher interpretation of the formal curriculum gave rise to the enacted curriculum, or that which was actually taught in classrooms. But for rural schools,…

Building Life Options: School-Community Collaborations for Pregnancy Prevention in the Middle Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archer, Elayne; Cahill, Michele

This handbook was written to encourage and assist school districts, schools, and community-based organizations to respond to the growing need for adolescent pregnancy prevention activities in the middle grades. It reflects the experiences of adolescent pregnancy prevention programs across the country, particularly those of the eight Urban Middle…

Education for Ethically Sensitive Teaching in Critical Incidents at School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanhimaki, Eija; Tirri, Kirsi

2009-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to identify and investigate critical incidents at school that require ethically sensitive teaching. This kind of knowledge is needed in teacher education to prepare future teachers for their profession. The data included narrative interviews with 12 teachers from four urban schools in Finland. Critical…

Making Wishes Come True: A Guide to Successful School Expansions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fowle, Bruce

1993-01-01

A school expansion project should be carefully orchestrated with following steps: compiling list of everyone's perceived needs; determining what is affordable; developing program of requirements; developing a master plan; and overseeing the process. Case studies of two New York State schools (one urban and one suburban) illustrate how the location…

Patterns of School Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Marvin

An examination was done of school reform efforts supported by Bank Street College of Education's Center for Minority Achievement in two urban junior high schools in New York City. One school was a traditional junior high school with majority minority enrollment with most teachers using traditional techniques. The other school, the Media Arts…

Focusing on flu

PubMed Central

Short, Mary B; Middleman, Amy B

2014-01-01

Introduction: To describe adolescents' perspectives regarding the use of school-located immunization programs (SLIP) for influenza vaccination. More importantly, adolescents were asked what factors would make them more or less likely to use a SLIP offering influenza vaccine. Results: Participants were generally found to be knowledgeable about influenza and to have positive attitudes toward receiving the vaccine via SLIP. Students were more willing to participate in a SLIP if it were low cost or free, less time-consuming than going to a doctor, and if they felt they could trust vaccinators. Overall, high school and middle school students ranked the benefits of SLIP similarly to each other. Methods: Focus groups using nominal group method were conducted with middle and high school students in a large, urban school district. Responses were recorded by each school, and then, responses were ranked across all participating schools for each question. Conclusions: A wide range of issues are important to middle and high school students when considering participation in SLIPs including convenience, public health benefits, trust in the program, program safety, and sanitary issues. Further research will be needed regarding the generalizability of these findings to larger populations of students. PMID:24018398

Black Inner-City Males and the Milwaukee Public Schools Immersion Program: A Progress Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanders, Eugene T. W.

One new approach to the needs of at-risk African American male students that is being implemented in several urban school districts throughout the nation is the immersion school approach. This is the establishment of schools that provide a curriculum and related experiences for African American male students that are distinct from the curriculum…

The Relationship of a Systemic Student Support Intervention to Academic Achievement in Urban Catholic Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Katherine A.; Walsh, Mary E.; Lee-St. John, Terrence J.

2016-01-01

Much of the achievement gap between rich and poor students can be attributed to out-of-school factors, yet few schools have a comprehensive, coordinated system for addressing students' nonacademic needs. Within a group of Catholic schools located in one city, this study examined academic achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test battery in…

Ethnicity and Sex Distinctions in Patterns of Aptitude Factor Scores in a Sample of Urban High School Seniors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hennessy, James J.; Merrifield, Philip R.

1978-01-01

Three aptitude factor scores for each of 2,985 college bound urban high school seniors were used to compare patterns and levels of performance by sex and ethnic group membership. Significant differences in levels of performance between Blacks, Hispanics, Caucasian Jewish, and Caucasian Gentile were found on factors labeled Verbal, Reasoning, and…

Leveraging the Power of Peer-Led Learning: Investigating Effects on STEM Performance in Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Ally S.; Bonner, Sarah M.; Everson, Howard T.; Somers, Jennifer A.

2015-01-01

The Peer Enabled Restructured Classroom (PERC) is an instructional innovation developed to address gaps in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in urban high schools. The PERC model changes instruction from teacher led to peer led by bringing peer students into the classroom to lead small-group work. Our study sought to provide…

Two Teacher Educators Go to the Source: Teaching an Interdisciplinary Class in an Urban Charter High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiCamillo, Lorrei; Bailey, Nancy M.

2016-01-01

The authors of this article are two teacher educators who worked collaboratively to co-teach an interdisciplinary English and US history class to eleventh-grade students in an urban high school. They wanted to ensure the methods they were teaching preservice teachers were current and effective. The article discusses the foundational beliefs that…

WWC Review of the Report "Mastery Learning and Student Teams: A Factorial Experiment in Urban General Mathematics Classes"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2012

2012-01-01

The study reviewed in this paper examined the effects of "mastery learning" and "student team learning" on the math achievement of high school students. The analysis included 588 ninth-grade students in 16 urban Philadelphia high schools. The study assessed the effectiveness of the different conditions after one year by…

Becoming Job-Ready: Collaborative Future Plans of Latina Adolescent Girls and Their Mothers in a Low-Income Urban Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Packard, Becky Wai-Ling; Babineau, Maureen E.; Machado, Haidee

2012-01-01

This article examined the future plans constructed by Latina adolescent girls and their mothers within a lower income urban community. Seventeen high school juniors and their mothers were interviewed about the girls' pursuit of a trade during high school and anticipated postsecondary pathways in the nursing field. Thematic content analyses…

A Case Study Examining the Career Academy Model at a Large Urban Public High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Howard

2013-01-01

This study focused on how career academies were implemented at a large, urban, public high school. Research shows that the career academy model should consist of 3 core components: (a) a small learning community (SLC), (b) a theme-based curriculum, and (c) business partnerships (Stern, Dayton, & Raby, 2010). The purpose of this qualitative…

Scientific Discourse in Three Urban Classrooms: The Role of the Teacher in Engaging High School Students in Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeill, Katherine L.; Pimentel, Diane Silva

2010-01-01

Argumentation is a core practice of science and has recently been advocated as an essential goal of science education. Our research focuses on the discourse in urban high school science classrooms in which the teachers used the same global climate change curriculum. We analyzed transcripts from three teachers' classrooms examining both the…

Urban and Rural High School Students' Perspectives of Productive Peer Culture for Mathematics Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, Melva R.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine students' perspectives about productive peer culture (PPC) in general and for mathematics learning. The urban and rural high school students in this study have participated for at least one year in either an Algebra Project Cohort Model (APCM) for daily mathematics instruction and/or worked as mathematics…

She's Strict for a Good Reason: Highly Effective Teachers in Low-Performing Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poplin, Mary; Rivera, John; Durish, Dena; Hoff, Linda; Kawell, Susan; Pawlak, Pat; Hinman, Ivannia Soto; Straus, Laura; Veney, Cloetta

2011-01-01

A study of 31 high-performing teachers in low-performing urban schools found that these teachers had certain traits in common. They were strict; they taught in traditional, explicit ways; there was little time in their classrooms when instruction was not occurring; and they moved around the room helping their students. They used very few…

Extrinsic Motivation for Large-Scale Assessments: A Case Study of a Student Achievement Program at One Urban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emmett, Joshua; McGee, Dean

2013-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to discover the critical attributes of a student achievement program, known as "Think Gold," implemented at one urban comprehensive high school as part of the improvement process. Student achievement on state assessments improved during the period under study. The study draws upon perspectives on…

Factors That Influence the Retention of Urban, Hispanic High School Male Graduates: A Phenomenological Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott-Ghalleb, Robin

2016-01-01

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to investigate the factors that contribute to the retention of urban, Hispanic high school male graduates in East Harlem, New York. Originated through the works by W. E. B. Du Bois (1968), Gloria Ladson-Billings (1998) and Derrick Bell (1992) pioneered Critical Race Theory (CRT), which…

Assessing the Eating Behaviors of Low-Income, Urban Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fahlman, Mariane; McCaughtry, Nate; Martin, Jeffrey; Garn, Alex C.; Shen, Bo

2012-01-01

Background: There is a need for instruments that can accurately determine the effectiveness of nutrition interventions targeting low-income, inner-city adolescents. Purpose: To examine the development of a valid and reliable eating behavior scale (EBS) for use in school-based nutrition interventions in urban, inner-city communities dominated by…

Urban Principals' Second Order Change Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Rosemarye T.; La Cava, Gonzalo S.

2011-01-01

Urban school leaders have challenges in continually improving student achievement and making change as quickly as needed. To address this problem 37 non-Title I principals completed an on-line survey, Principal's Actions Survey (PAS), based on the seven responsibilities for second order change identified by Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005).…

Close Encounters with the Turbulent Environment of Urban Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jefferson, Arthur; Levey, Richard

1978-01-01

In order to improve the quality of urban education, public school educators must be joined by the public, legislators, business leaders, and social planners. These individuals will need to understand public policy priorities, as well as the social, economic, and political forces which define our present environment. (Author/GC)

Branded Environments: Defining the Restructured High School Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunton, Brad; Rubin, Adam

2006-01-01

In cities across the country, educators and civic leaders are taking on the challenge of transforming large, failing high schools where graduation rates have remained below 50 percent for many years. They are replacing these high schools with small schools that will prepare students in underserved urban communities to meet the high standards…

REMOTE HIGH SCHOOLS--THE REALITIES.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

FORD, PAUL; AND OTHERS

THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED AT TWO URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS AND THREE SMALL, REMOTE HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON IN AN EFFORT TO INVESTIGATE STUDENT-TEACHER ACTIVITIES AND RELATIONSHIPS, AND TO EXPLORE, IN DEPTH, ANY EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES AND/OR DISADVANTAGES ACCRUING TO THE SMALL HIGH SCHOOL. GENERAL FINDINGS OF THE STUDY INDICATED THAT THERE…

Are environmental influences on physical activity distinct for urban, suburban, and rural schools? A multilevel study among secondary school students in Ontario, Canada.

PubMed

Hobin, Erin P; Leatherdale, Scott; Manske, Steve; Dubin, Joel A; Elliott, Susan; Veugelers, Paul

2013-05-01

This study examined differences in students' time spent in physical activity (PA) across secondary schools in rural, suburban, and urban environments and identified the environment-level factors associated with these between school differences in students' PA. Multilevel linear regression analyses were used to examine the environment- and student-level characteristics associated with time spent in PA among grades 9 to 12 students attending 76 secondary schools in Ontario, Canada, as part of the SHAPES-Ontario study. This approach was first conducted with the full data set testing for interactions between environment-level factors and school location. Then, school-location specific regression models were run separately. Statistically significant between-school variation was identified among students attending urban (σ(2) μ0  = 8959.63 [372.46]), suburban (σ(2) μ0  = 8918.75 [186.20]), and rural (σ(2) μ0  = 9403.17 [203.69]) schools, where school-level differences accounted for 4.0%, 2.0%, and 2.1% of the variability in students' time spent in PA, respectively. Students attending an urban or suburban school that provided another room for PA or was located within close proximity to a shopping mall or fast food outlet spent more time in PA. Students' time spent in PA varies by school location and some features of the school environment have a different impact on students' time spent in PA by school location. Developing a better understanding of the environment-level characteristics associated with students' time spent in PA by school location may help public health and planning experts to tailor school programs and policies to the needs of students in different locations. © 2013, American School Health Association.

Inquiry-based Science Instruction in High School Biology Courses: A Multiple Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aso, Eze

A lack of research exists about how secondary school science teachers use inquiry-based instruction to improve student learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how science teachers used inquiry-based instruction to improve student learning in high school biology courses. The conceptual framework was based on Banchi and Bell's model of increasing levels of complexity for inquiry-based instruction. A multiple case study research design was conducted of biology programs at 3 high schools in an urban school district in the northeastern region of the United States. Participants included 2 biology teachers from each of the 3 high schools. Data were collected from individual interviews with biology teachers, observations of lessons in biology, and documents related to state standards, assessments, and professional development. The first level of data analysis involved coding and categorizing the interview and observation data. A content analysis was used for the documents. The second level of data analysis involved examining data across all sources and all cases for themes and discrepancies. According to study findings, biology teachers used confirmation, structure, and guided inquiry to improve student learning. However, they found open inquiry challenging and frustrating to implement because professional development about scaffolding of instruction over time was needed, and students' reading and writing skills needed to improve. This study contributes to positive social change by providing educators and researchers with a deeper understanding about how to scaffold levels of inquiry-based science instruction in order to help students become scientifically literate citizens.

Home-Town Values and High Accountability: A Texas Recipe for Districtwide Success in an Urban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skrla, Linda; McKenzie, Kathryn Bell; Scheurich, James Joseph; Dickerson, Kimberly L.

2011-01-01

This article reports the findings from a case study of urban school district effectiveness taken from a larger, multistate study. The case study district, Galena Park Independent School District in Galena Park, Texas, was chosen for inclusion in the study based on quantitative analysis of student achievement data in Texas. An education production…

The Learning and Practice of Preservice Teachers in an Urban School-University Partnership: The Struggle to Enact Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stairs, Andrea J.

2010-01-01

This paper reports on an interpretive, collective case study that examined preservice teacher learning and practice in an urban school-university partnership. Multiple data sources were collected from 55 predominantly White middle-class preservice teachers at a predominantly Black and Latino high school, including pre- and post-surveys,…

High School Physical Educators' Beliefs about Teaching Differently Abled Students in an Urban Public School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hersman, Bethany L.; Hodge, Samuel R.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine general physical education (GPE) teachers' beliefs about teaching differently abled students in inclusive classes.The participants were 5 GPE teachers from a large urban school district. The research method was explanatory multiple-case study situated in planned behavior theory. Data were gathered using a…

THE STATUS OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF RURAL YOUTH--THE IMPACT OF SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGE.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CUSHMAN, M.L.

RURAL SCHOOLS HAVE GREATER EDUCATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES THAN URBAN SCHOOLS BECAUSE THEY MUST ATTEMPT TO PREPARE YOUTH EITHER FOR RURAL OCCUPATIONS, IF THEY REMAIN IN THE RURAL COMMUNITY, OR FOR URBAN OCCUPATIONS, IF THEY MIGRATE. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT RURAL SCHOOLS ARE FAILING TO DO THIS, AS EVIDENCED BY THEIR HIGH DROPOUT RATE, LACK OF GUIDANCE…

The Breathmobile[TM]: A Novel Comprehensive School-Based Mobile Asthma Care Clinic for Urban Underprivileged Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liao, Otto; Morphew, Tricia; Amaro, Silvia; Galant, Stanley P.

2006-01-01

Urban minority children have higher rates of asthma morbidity due to multiple factors. Many school-based programs have been funded to improve asthma management, especially for these "high-risk" inner-city children with asthma. Here they report the outcomes of the Children's Hospital of Orange County Breathmobile program, which is a school-based…

Human Capital Problems in Zimbabwean Rural Schools: A Case Study of Mazowe District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zvavahera, Promise

2014-01-01

This study focused on the management of human capital in Zimbabwean rural schools. It was observed that teachers in rural schools preferred urban postings which turned out to have better facilities and incentives. Rural to urban migration of teachers is a cause for concern in Mazowe District. This study was motivated by the high teacher-turnover…

Changes in Urban-Rural Social Structure and Distribution of High School Educational Opportunities--An Analysis Based on Middle School Graduation Education Tracking in Q County, Gansu

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baoyan, Yang; Minggang, Wan

2015-01-01

To a certain extent, the distribution of high school education opportunities among the population determines the stratification of high school education opportunities. The researchers examined the distribution of high school education opportunities within the county region based on survey data on middle school graduation education tracking in Q…

A longitudinal study of the educational and career trajectories of female participants of an urban informal science education program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fadigan, Kathleen A.; Hammrich, Penny L.

2004-10-01

The purpose of this longitudinal case study is to describe the educational trajectories of a sample of 152 young women from urban, low-income, single-parent families who participated in the Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) program during high school. Utilizing data drawn from program records, surveys, and interviews, this study also attempts to determine how the program affected the participants' educational and career choices to provide insight into the role informal science education programs play in increasing the participation of women and minorities in science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET)-related fields. Findings revealed 109 participants (93.16%) enrolled in a college program following high school completion. Careers in medical or health-related fields followed by careers in SMET emerged as the highest ranking career paths with 24 students (23.76%) and 21 students (20.79%), respectively, employed in or pursuing careers in these areas. The majority of participants perceived having staff to talk to, the job skills learned, and having the museum as a safe place to go as having influenced their educational and career decisions. These findings reflect the need for continued support of informal science education programs for urban girls and at-risk youth.

Risk factors associated with overweight and obesity among urban school children and adolescents in Bangladesh: a case-control study.

PubMed

Bhuiyan, Mejbah Uddin; Zaman, Shahaduz; Ahmed, Tahmeed

2013-05-08

Childhood obesity has become an emerging urban health problem in urban cities in Bangladesh, particularly in affluent families. Risk factors for obesity in this context have not been explored yet. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with overweight and obesity among school children and adolescents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. From October through November 2007, we conducted a case-control study among children aged 10-15 years in seven schools in Dhaka. We assessed body mass index (weight in kg/height in sq. meter) to identify the cases (overweight/obese) and controls (healthy/normal weight) following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention age and sex specific growth chart. We used a structured questionnaire to collect demographic information and respondent's exposure to several risk factors such as daily physical activity at home and in school, hours spent on computer games and television watching, maternal education level and parents' weight and height. We enrolled 198 children: 99 cases, 99 controls. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that having at least one overweight parent (OR = 2.8, p = 0.001) and engaging in sedentary activities for >4 hours a day (OR = 2.0, p = 0.02) were independent risk factors for childhood overweight and/or obesity while exercising ≥ 30 minutes a day at home was a protective factor (OR = 0.4, p = 0.02). There were no significant associations between childhood overweight and sex, maternal education or physical activity at school. Having overweight parents along with limited exercise and high levels of sedentary activities lead to obesity among school children in urban cities in Bangladesh. Public health programs are needed to increase awareness on risk factors for overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in order to reduce the future burden of obesity-associated chronic diseases.

How the Coalition Campus Schools Have Re-Imagined High School: Seven Years Later.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ancess, Jacqueline; Ort, Suzanna Wichterle

In 1992, a collaboration of educational reform organizations, the New York City Board of Education, a teachers' union, and private funders created a model of urban high school reform that was practitioner-driven. Two failing high schools, one in Manhattan and one in the Bronx, were phased out while 11 new, small autonomous high schools were…

Population Prevalence of Need for Spectacles and Spectacle Ownership Among Urban Migrant Children in Eastern China.

PubMed

Wang, Xiuqin; Yi, Hongmei; Lu, Lina; Zhang, Linxiu; Ma, Xiaochen; Jin, Ling; Zhang, Haiqing; Naidoo, Kovin S; Minto, Hasan; Zou, Haidong; Rozelle, Scott; Congdon, Nathan

2015-12-01

The number of urban migrants in China is 300 million and is increasing rapidly in response to government policies. Urban migrants have poor access to health care, but little is known about rates of correction of refractive error among migrant children. This is of particular significance in light of recent evidence demonstrating the educational impact of providing children with spectacles. To measure prevalence of spectacle need and ownership among Chinese migrant children. Population-based, cross-sectional study among children who failed vision testing (uncorrected visual acuity ≤6/12 in either eye) between September 15 and 30, 2013, at 94 randomly selected primary schools in predominantly migrant communities in Shanghai, Suzhou, and Wuxi, China. Refractive error by cycloplegic refraction; spectacle ownership, defined as producing glasses at school, having been told to bring them; and needing glasses, defined as uncorrected visual acuity of 6/12 or less correctable to greater than 6/12 in either eye, with myopia of -0.5 diopters (D) or less, hyperopia of +2.0 D or greater, or astigmatism of 0.75 D or greater in both eyes. Among 4409 children, 4376 (99.3%) completed vision screening (mean [SD] age, 11.0 [0.81] years; 55.3% boys; 4225 [96.5%] migrant and 151 [3.5%] local). Among 1204 children failing vision testing (total, 27.5%; 1147 migrant children [27.1%] vs 57 local children [37.7%]; P = .003), 850 (70.6%) completed refraction. Spectacle ownership in migrant children needing glasses (147 of 640 children [23.0%]) was less than among local children (12 of 34 children [35.3%]) (odds ratio = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.32-0.95; P = .03). Having uncorrected visual acuity less than 6/18 in both eyes was associated positively with baseline spectacle ownership (odds ratio = 5.73; 95% CI, 3.81-8.62; P < .001), but parental education and family wealth were not. Among urban migrant children, there was a high prevalence of need for spectacles and a very low rate of spectacle ownership. Spectacle distribution programs are needed specifically targeting migrant children.

Sterilization of rural and urban women in the United States.

PubMed

Lunde, Britt; Rankin, Kristin; Harwood, Bryna; Chavez, Noel

2013-08-01

To examine the prevalence of sterilization among women aged 20-34 years in rural and urban areas in the United States. Data were obtained from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, a cross-sectional survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study population included the 4,685 female respondents who did not want to become pregnant at the time of the survey. Women who were not sexually active with men or were infertile for reasons other than contraception were excluded. We performed bivariate and stratified analysis and multivariable logistic regression modeling to determine the associations between place of residence and sterilization after considering other demographic characteristics. Rural women were at increased odds of undergoing sterilization compared with urban and suburban women (22.75% compared with 12.69%, respectively; crude odds ratio [OR] 2.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-2.86; risk difference 0.10, 95% CI 0.05-0.16). Education level was found to be a significant effect modifier of the relationship between location of residence and sterilization. In adjusted analysis, controlling for age, parity, race and ethnicity, income, insurance status, history of unintended pregnancy, and relationship status, rural women without a high school degree were more likely to have undergone sterilization compared with urban and rural women with greater than a high school education (OR 8.34, 95% CI 4.45-15.61). Rural women with low education levels have a high prevalence of sterilization. Future studies need to address the reasons for this interaction between education and geography and its influence on contraceptive method choice. II.

Investigating the Link between Home-School Dissonance and Academic Cheating among High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown-Wright, Lynda; Tyler, Kenneth M.; Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Thomas, Deneia; Mulder, Shambra; Hughes, Travonia; Stevens-Morgan, Ruby; Roan-Belle, Clarissa; Gadson, Nadia; Smith, La Toya

2013-01-01

The current study examined the association between home-school dissonance and academic cheating among 344 high school juniors and seniors at two urban high schools. Students completed two subscales of the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scale (PALS) and one subscale of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). Analyses revealed that home-school…

"Poder en las Voces y Acciones Comunitarias": Immigrant Young People and Their Families' Transformative Engagement with High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvarez Gutiérrez, Leticia

2015-01-01

This research examines how high-school-aged undocumented immigrant Latinas/os and their families resist being marginalized in schools and in communities. These young people and their families are part of a university intergenerational participatory action research collective, Family School Partnership (FSP), located within an urban high school in…

Predicting Parental Home and School Involvement in High School African American Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, DeMarquis

2011-01-01

Predictors of parental home and school involvement for high school adolescents were examined within two groups of urban African American parents from various socioeconomic levels. Home involvement was defined as parent-adolescent communication about school and learning, while school involvement was defined in terms of parent attendance and…

High School Students' Exposure to Diversity in an Urban Teaching Academy and Their Conceptions of Its Place in Future Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fletcher, Edward C., Jr.

2014-01-01

This study explored the meaning high school Urban Teaching Academy participants ascribed to the critical term of "diversity" and how that translated into shaping their philosophies on how to address the issue in their future classrooms. Findings indicated that perceptions of diversity and its place in the curriculum were most likely…