ABSTRACT
Urban schools in the United States serve multiple masters. More so than perhaps any other sector of public education in the United States, urban schools are the focal point for accountability demands and the proving grounds for new approaches to and methods of educational governance and accountability. Urban schools and the districts within which they are situated end up being a primary reference point for and drivers of state and federal accountability policies and practices. They are a source of tension between and among school boards, mayors, city councils, governors, state legislatures, and state and federal education agencies. The net effect of the diffuse yet constant pressure on urban school districts that emanates from the city, state, and federal levels has been to shape and distort their functioning and to lead to the rise of a variety of educational models, structures, and strategies intended to improve urban schooling and to make urban districts and schools more responsive to the demands and needs of policymakers and, theoretically, the communities these schools serve.
