Makeba Jones

Teacher Resilience in Urban Schools: The Importance of Technical Knowledge, Professional Community, and Leadership Opportunities

Improving teacher retention and resiliency are key educational problems. In this article, we share findings from case studies of six educators who, for over 200 combined years, worked in urban, high-poverty schools and highlight what teachers need to remain in such contexts. We argue that developing professional resilience is a process built on the interplay between individuals and their supportive contexts. In-depth interviews with these six educators reveal how connections with educator networks such as the National Writing Project (NWP) helped teachers develop into durable and reflective practitioners by providing them technical expertise, cultural support, and opportunities to develop as leaders.

Student Voice, Cultural Change: Using Inquiry in School Reform

Since 1998, the Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has formed partnerships with 18 lowperforming elementary and secondary schools that serve a largely minority student population from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. The university created these partnerships following the passage of Proposition 209 in 1995, which ended affirmative action in university admissions in California. At that time, the state legislature charged the University of California system to increase diversity on each of the 10 campuses. At UCSD, CREATE and its partnership schools were established as a response. We work in CREATE and, along with our colleagues, we are responsible for developing, sustaining, and studying UCSD’s partnerships with 18 schools in San Diego County. As two of three partnership coordinators, we serve as the primary liaison for 12 schools (each partnership coordinator works with 6 schools). Our 12 schools include four high schools, two middle schools, and six elementary schools. As partnership coordinators, we develop resources, implement programs for the partnership schools, and provide technical support such as tutors, teacher professional development opportunities, and parent education. As action researchers, we also are responsible for studying the partnership schools and using that knowledge to inform the partnership process and our school reform efforts. The technical supports we often provide schools certainly can help UCSD meet the legislature’s charge to increase campus diversity. However, we also know from our everyday experiences in schools and communities that technical resources alone cannot tackle deeply rooted patterns of educational inequality. Cultural, social, economic, and political issues permeate the urban school, community, and classroom contexts within which we work, and these issues circumscribe beliefs about teaching, learning, and student achievement. Con-

Student Action Research: Reaping the Benefits for Students and School Leaders

Recent years have seen a proliferation of student action research both nationally and internationally. Going by various names—participatory research, action research, participatory evaluation—student action research is research that (a) is conducted by youth, within or outside of schools and classrooms, with the goal of informing and a fecting school, community, and/or global problems and issues and (b) contributes to the positive development of a variety of academic, social, and civic skills in youth. This article reviews research and writing on student action research, describing di ferent types of student action research initiatives, the benefits of this powerful practice, and how principals can manage implementation challenges.

Student Co-Researchers: How Principals Can Recruit, Train, and Enlist the Help of Students to Examine What Works and Does Not Work in Their Schools.

This article describes an e fort by principals and university researchers to create student co-research groups at several high schools. The authors describe the student co-research team concept, how it provides principals with ways to actively engage students in ongoing school-reform e forts, and how it assists them in gathering and analyzing data regarding school change. More specifically, the article describes an e fort to create student co-research groups across school sites to address dilemmas districtwide and within specific schools. Co-research team enactment, training, and support are discussed and suggestions for principals to sustain such a concept are recommended.