Latina/o youth as educational researchers: Implications for teaching and learning in urban schools

The discourse of school reform has become commonplace in popular parlance, as policy makers and educators have applied free-market business principles such as “choice” and “vouchers” to purportedly improve educational opportunities for young people, especially in urban communities that have been historically underserved by schools. However, these school reform efforts have largely been top-down and misguided, often excluding the participation of youth and families as meaningful partners in policy decisions. Similarly, the preparation of teachers is rarely, if ever, informed by the urban communities many of these teachers will eventually serve. As a result, many educators are unprepared to meet the challenges of working in urban schools and teaching across lines of cultural, racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic difference (Milner, 2010; Sleeter, 2001; Talbert-Johnson, 2006).