Bruce L. Wilson & Dick Corbett 
Listening to Urban Kids [PDF ebook] 
School Reform and the Teachers They Want

One

INTRODUCTION

The Reform Context
Students as Useful Windows through Which to View Reform
Overview of the Study and Its Participants
The Student Sample and Interview Strategy
The School Sites
Other Considerations in Reading This Book

Two

CHANGES IN STUDENTS’ SCHOOL LIVES OVER THREE YEARS

Changes in Plans for the Future
Changes in the Schools
More and/or Harder Work
Different Student Behavior
Small Learning Communities
Changes in Classroom Experiences
Multiple or Long-term Replacement Teachers
Disruptive Classrooms
‘Support Scarce’ Classrooms
A Need to Scale Up within Schools

Three

PEDAGOGICAL, CONTENT, AND CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT DIFFERENCES WITHIN AND ACROSS FIVE SCHOOLS

Pedagogical Differences—The Case of Science
Content Differences—The Case of English
Classroom Environment Differences—Two Examples
School #1: Two Teachers on the Same Team
School #4: A Comparison between Students’ Initial Teacher and a Replacement
Students Focused on Instructional, Rather Than Personal, Style

Four

THE TEACHERS STUDENTS WANTED

Three Teachers Students Praised
Qualities Students Wanted Their Teachers to Have
Valued Teachers Pushed Students to Complete Their Assignments
Valued Teachers Maintained Order in the Classroom
Valued Teachers Were Willing to Help
Valued Teachers Went to Great Lengths to Explain a Topic Until
Everyone Understood It
Valued Teachers Varied Classroom Activities
Valued Teachers Respected Students, Related to Them, and Tried to
Understand Their Worlds
Behind the Actions: The Student–Teacher Relationship

Five

SPREADING THE POCKETS OF SUCCESS

A Brief Description of School #6
Students’ Aspirations and Teachers’Preferences
Pedagogical Differences—The Case of Science
Content Differences—The Case of Writing and English
A Note on Mathematics
Classroom Environment Differences
Evidence of School Effects
Students’ Perspectives on School #6
Student Performance Data
Student Comparisons of School #6 with the Other Study Schools
Student Talk and School Differences

Six

STUDENTS AND REFORM

Making Reform Noticeable
Focus Professional Development on Adults’ Underlying Beliefs about
a School’s Role in Supporting Student Learning Rather Than
Discrete ‘Best Practices’
Emphasize the Quality of the Relationships between Teachers
and Students
Changes in Student Performance Standards Must be Accompanied by the
Creation of Standards for Pedagogy, Content, and Classroom Environment—
and the Professional Development Necessary to
Implement Them
Connect Changes in Standards to Grades, Not Just to Performance on
Large-scale Assessments
Create ‘Extra Help’ Situations That Encompass All Students Who Need It, Not
Just Those Students Who Avail Themselves of It
Extend Extra Help Beyond School Work to How to Succeed in the Future
Reforming with, Not for, Students

References

Appendix: Student Interview Protocols

Author Index

Subject Index

H. Dickson Corbett is the Director of Improvement Studies at Research for Better Schools, Inc. in Philadelphia.