ABSTRACT
There is good news for American public education based on the successes of some schools in urban districts that serve families living in poverty. Although there are far too many well-documented stories of intellectually vapid schools that perpetuate cycles of poverty and further limit the life choices of children, there are some urban schools that are giving new life to their communities and transforming the futures of the children they serve. In 1999, the Charles A.Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin, under contract from the U.S. Department of Education, conducted a study of nine such schools. The results of that study were issued in a report entitled Hope for Urban Education: A Study of Nine High-Performing, High-Poverty Urban Elementary Schools. The report is about nine urban elementary schools that served children of color in poor communities and achieved impressive academic results. These schools have, in fact, attained higher levels of achievement than most schools in their states or most schools in the nation. They have achieved results in reading and mathematics beyond those achieved by students in some affluent suburban schools.
