Leadership and Urban Education

As context and community shape leadership, urban school leaders and policymakers need to understand more about the context, challenges, and opportunities of our cities. This article explores the broad context of urban leadership, highlighting the ways in which our cities can change rapidly and conceptualizing the challenges of urban education, as well as the characteristics of urban schools. It also offers a tool for school leaders, designed to strengthen their capacity to read and interpret the unique community context of their schools; understand more about young people’s lives and experiences; and apply this knowledge to their leadership.