Shifting from a traditional lecture-based teaching approach to a student-centred approach, such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), demands significant changes in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). It requires changes for teachers, students, institutional management, and even the physical learning environment. Once a university is not designed…

Safety is one of the primary reasons why parents report seeking out a school of choice in depressed cities with a high proportion of charter schools. However, little empirical research has examined how parents assess school safety in these settings. This study explores factors that parents associate with school safety in Detroit, Michigan by…

Urban educational leaders must make the educational experience relevant to children and advocate constructive changes in educational, political, and social sectors to benefit their students. They need to know what effect environment has on achievement and the relationship of teachers' attitudes to student achievement. The blame for…

This book relates a fictionalized year in the life of an elementary school. Told from the perspective of an elementary school principal, whose school is located in a poor, urban neighborhood, the stories portray the daily struggles of the children, teachers, and principal. Some of the themes explored include chaos and violence, problem students,…

Studied perspectives of 192 principals and 148 teachers in urban schools with regard to the challenges of urban teaching. Findings suggest that many of the challenge areas suggested in the literature on urban teachers were not ranked as very important by these educators, making the point that not all urban schools face the same challenges. (SLD)

This report summarizes the results of a telephone survey of New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) members. The purpose of this study is to identify problems affecting the education of children in New Jersey urban school districts and make recommendations for improvement. First, the design of the study is described, and then the report is…

The essays in this collection, presented as letters to teachers, reaffirm Paulo Freire's place as the most significant educator in the world during the last half of the 20th century. As North America experiences a rapid change to conditions approximating those of the Third World, Freire's pedagogy becomes more important, not only for his methods…

Argues that education is the primary solution for improving the self-concept, academic ability, and economic solutions for young African-American men. Results from teacher and student surveys in New Orleans (Louisiana) indicate that much effort is required, primarily in the area of leadership development in the early years of education. (SLD)

A qualitative case study explored the perceptions of 37 urban secondary school students and 12 teachers about their school and community. Teachers and students worked in a landscape characterized as one of "urban abstraction," a term that helps explain the complex and contradictory fabric of current urban life. (SLD)

The national supply of teachers has risen to meet the demand, largely because of the growing interest in alternative programs of teacher preparation. An overview is given of alternative teacher certification that has allowed many districts, especially large urban districts, to fill their vacancies. (SLD)