ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that professional development for urban school leaders must take into account the uniqueness of the urban environment, or else such professional development will be viewed as irrelevant and a waste of time by school leaders who are genuinely committed to improving the academic and sociocultural environment of their schools and school districts. It provides studies on school leadership that were underway in the St. Louis and Kansas City school districts through the Urban School Leadership Consortium. The theory allows for a critical discussion of race, ethnicity, and the influence of community and culture on communications in an urban educational arena. Socioeconomic status is often cited as the most significant correlate to academic achievement. Urban school leaders need to be prepared to understand the persistence of the digital divide in America and how to systematically act on this divide. Consistent with the learner-centered concept, urban school leaders must become transformational in their leadership style.
