Annotated Bibliography: Gentrification And Urban Public School Reforms

Wilson, E. K. (2015). Gentrification and Urban Public School Reforms: The Interest Divergence Dilemma. W. Va. L. Rev., 118, 677.
The paper notes that cities across the country are experiencing a vast increase in gentrification. It defines gentrification as the influx of middle class white residents into cities with large minority populations. This situation is reversing a decade old trend where whites were moving out of urban schools. Local officials are in support of gentrification because it provides an opportunity to racially integrate urban schools. The article suggests that some officials are implementing certain policies with the purpose of making the schools more attractive to gentrifies. It argues that such reforms harm poor and minority

These issues challenge teachers when they enter the classrooms. The paper notes that one of the most pressing issues in urban education is the number of vacancies that go unfilled and the number of teachers that are assigned to teach in arras they lack certification. Research indicates that urban schools suffer the most from teacher shortage limited resources, teacher under preparation and high turnover. It notes that traditional teacher preparation programs fail to provide the type of transformative experiences needed to develop teachers to work in high need urban education settings. The paper discusses the importance of educator training programs that devote attention to reform preparation programs to include clinical experiences for teacher candidates. The paper argues that in order to meet the needs of future students especially those in high need schools, there is need to make a collective ownership of the recruitment, preparation and support of new professional practitioners. The stakeholders identified include policy makers and the education

It presents the findings of a case study of urban expeditionary learning. It draws on theoretical perspectives according to the socio cultural theory. The data was collected from a variety of sources including field notes, surveys, interviews derived from classroom observation and other school activities. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that expeditionary learning was successful because of the schools culture, structure, the commitment of teachers as well as the engagement of the community. These findings imply that committed teachers and leadership as well as the right reform model can drastically reduce or eliminate problems associated with urban schooling. This means that urban school reform is dependent on selecting the right reform model, the commitment of the teachers and engaging