Urban Education: A Handbook for Educators and Parents (Handbooks for Educators and Parents)

176 Pages·2008·0.58 MB·English

by  Donna Adair Breault

Urban Education
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Urban Education
A Handbook for Educators and Parents
Donna Adair Breault and Louise
Anderson Allen
HANDBOOKS FOR EDUCATORS AND PARENTS
James T. Sears, Series Editor
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Breault,DonnaAdair.
Urbaneducation:ahandbookforeducatorsandparents/DonnaAdairBreault
andLouiseAndersonAllen.
p. cm.—(Handbooksforeducatorsandparents,ISSN1554–6039)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978–0–313–33674–4(alk.paper)
1.Education,Urban—UnitedStates—Handbooks,manuals,etc. I.Allen,
LouiseAnderson,1949– II.Title.
LC5131.B74 2008
370.9173(cid:2)2—dc22 2008022053
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:3)C 2008byGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2008022053
ISBN:978–0–313–33674–4
ISSN:1554–6039
Firstpublishedin2008
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.praeger.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Series Foreword vii
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. History and Hope of Urban Education 3
2. Making a Difference in Urban Schools 19
PART II: A CRITICAL CONVERSATION FOR EDUCATORS
3. Contexts and Challenges: Beginning the Conversation 35
4. Educators as Architects of Reform: Continuing the
Conversation 53
5. Transformative Action Plans: Enacting the Conversation 69
PART III: A CRITICAL CONVERSATION FOR PARENTS AND
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
6. Politics and Policies: Beginning the Conversation 93
7. Building Blocks for Reform Coalitions: Continuing the
Conversation 113
8. Agents of Change: Enacting the Conversation 135
Glossary 155
Resources 159
Index 165
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Series Foreword
How can I advocate for my child? What are the best school practices in
teaching diverse learners? What programs are most effective in enhancing
learning?Thesesimplebutprofoundlyimportantquestionsaretheheartof
thisbookseries.
This handbook is a practical guide for parents/families and a standard
referenceresourceforeducatorsandlibraries.Theentireseriesprovidesan
overview of contemporary research, theories, practices, policy issues, and
instructional approaches on a variety of timely and important educational
topics. It also gives straightforward recommendations for evaluating cur-
riculumandadvocatingforchildreninschools.
Written in clear language, each handbook is divided into three major
sections. An overview of the topic, in the first part, provides a framework
for understanding the topic in terms of research and policy and summa-
rizes popular approaches, programs, and curricula. The next two sections
gointogreaterdepthinamannermostappropriateeitherforeducatorsor
parents, including an annotated bibliography of useful print, audio/video,
and electronic resources within each section. Part two is written for teach-
ers, administrators, allied professionals, and those who are studying for
such professions. It gives a concise overview of current and cutting-edge
research and scholarship, details on research-based effective programs and
bestpractices,andaguideforevaluatingandimplementingsuchprograms
and practices. The third part is written directly for parents and families. It
provides an overview of specific issues of concern to parents, implications
from research for everyday family life, and strategies for supporting their
(andothers’)childrenthroughinvolvementinschoolsandciviclife.
In Urban Education: A Handbook for Educators and Parents, Donna
AdairBreaultandLouiseAndersonAllenaddressakeyareademographicfor
educationreform.Ifwearetrulytobringabout“meaningfulandsustainable
viii SeriesForeword
change”inpubliceducation,thengroundzeroistheurbancommunity.The
so-called new urbanism has brought renewal to residential housing and
a return of residents from the suburbs and exurbs. However, top-down
reformsmostnotablyNoChildLeftBehindhavedonelittletoassistinthis
urbanrenaissance.Ifreformistobebothmeaningfulandsustainable,then
it has to be a local and collective effort among teachers, parents, students
working within the business community, community organizations, and
places of worship. In short, it requires all of us to recognize that we are
stakeholdersinwhathappensordoesnothappenintheeducationofyoung
people living within our cities. It also means we must assume individual
responsibility to learn about curriculum and pedagogy, to inquire into the
allocation of resources, assignment of personnel, standards for learning,
and styles of leadership, and to pose hard questions at those in position of
authorityaswellastoouryoungpeopleandourselves.Failureonlyrequires
individualscapegoats,successmandatespersonalaction.And,astheauthors
conclude, assuming such personal responsibility requires a communitarian
ethic:
Itisoftendifficultforindividualstotaketheinitiativetoconnectwiththose
aroundtheminpublicspaces,butifyouembarkonacommunityprojectof
planningandchange,youcreateaspacewheremembersofyourcommunity
cancometogetherandfeelconnected.
Democracyrequirespubliceducation.Urbanschoolsaretheheartofthe
American experiment. As such, they must exemplify excellence in not only
curriculum and pedagogy but in those values that are imbued in everyday
school lifeand through principles of interpersonalinteraction:dialogic un-
derstanding, transparency, and inclusivity. This handbook is a manual for
democraticactionbasedonsolidresearch,effectivepractice,andsoundthe-
ory. It is an owner’s manual for those of us who wish to reclaim the new
urbanisminschooling.
JamesT.Sears
SeriesEditor
PART I
Introduction