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),…

Purpose: We examine how uncertainty, both about students and the context in which they are taught, remains a persistent condition of teachers' work in high-poverty, urban schools. We describe six schools' organizational responses to these uncertainties, analyze how these responses reflect open- versus closed-system approaches, and examine how this…

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and response to rewards and discipline in adolescent boys using a mixed-methods approach. Participants comprised 39 boys aged between 12 and 13 years and 8 teachers. Quantitative findings showed that CU traits were significantly related to punishment…

We examine how Black high school students, participants in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program, understand issues of racial discrimination and inequality in their schools. Through semi-structured individual interviews conducted early in the program, eight students (six boys and two girls) recount experiences of racial…