Rutgers University Libraries Urban Education: History & Issues

Library Basics

Restricted Access

Many of the resources listed in the sections below are marked Restricted Access. You should have no problem connecting to these from any networked computer on campus. However, in order to use these from off-campus, you must log in with your Rutgers NetID. For instructions see the Libraries' Remote Access to Library Resources.

Off-Campus Links

When linking to Rutgers-restricted resources from off-campus use the "Off-Campus Link" provided on this page to connect to that database or article. This link is formulated so that if you have not already logged in with your NetID [your pegasus username and password] you will automatically be taken to the login page. Use the link embedded in the citation to access these resources on campus.

E-Reserves

To get to readings that your instructor may have placed on Reserve in the Library, click here. Once you get to the Lookup box, the easiest way to get to the right list is to search by the Instructor's name.

IRIS: Find Books

IRIS is the online catalog for all the Rutgers University Libraries except the Newark and Camden Law Libraries. Use IRIS to find out if the Rutgers Libraries have the specific books or journals that you need, or to locate books on topics that you're researching. Show Me How

Getting Books From Other Rutgers Libraries

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If a book is not owned by the Rutgers Libraries and is not available via E-Z Borrow, you can place an Interlibrary Loan request. Tell Me More

Becoming an 'Expert' User

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Citing Your Sources

You will most likely be using APA (American Psychological Association) style when citing the sources that you use in your research papers. The APA Publication Manual is available at the Dana Library Reference Desk. The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also has an excellent introduction to APA Documentation that will give you the basic information you need to create APA citations and reference lists.

You can also import references from IRIS and many of the electronic databases into RefWorks, a web-based bibliography and database manager. RefWorks will build your bibliography for you based on whatever style sheet you specify (APA, Chicago, etc.). For information on setting up your (free) RefWorks account see the RefWorks FAQ.

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History of American Urban Education
Bibliography of the History of American Education: America in the Urban Age
Professor Jurgen Herbst (University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2001.
Part of his extensive bibliography on the history of American education.
Kantor, Harvey and Barbara Brenzel. "Urban Education and the 'Truly Disadvantaged': The Historical Roots of the Contemporary Crisis, 1945-1990," Teachers College Record 94(2), Winter 1992, 278-314.
Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access
Brookings Papers on Education Policy: 1999
Diane Ravitch, editor. Issue focusing on the state of urban education in the U.S. Includes an introductory essay by Jeffrey Mirel on Urban Public Schools in the Twentieth Century: the View from Detroit.
Rules for the Government of the Grammar, Secondary, and Primary Schools in the First Section of the First School District of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, 1843.
New Jersey School Laws and Rules and Regulations Prescribed by the State Board of Education
Prepared for the Commissioner of Education. Trenton, N.J., 1911.
Recommendations for Reorganization of the Public School System of the City of Chicago. 1917
Report of An Investigation by the Committee on Schools, Fire, Police and Civil Service of the City Council of the City of Chicago.

Finding Books: Library Catalogs

IRIS
The online catalog for the Rutgers University Libraries.

To find books that focus on urban education and the history of urban education in the U.S., search IRIS using SUBJECT begins with

education urban history
education urban united states
education urban united states history
education political aspects united states history
education social aspects united states history
urban schools united states
Newark Law
Camden Law
Rutgers Law library materials are not listed in IRIS. So if your topic is in some way law-related, be sure and use the Law library catalogs.
EDUCAT
Catalog of the Teachers College Library, one of the most comprehensive research libraries in education.

Finding Articles: Indexes

Google Scholar
Use the Google search engine to search specifically for scholarly literature including books, peer-reviewed articles, theses, preprints, and technical reports.
Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access

Education
Education Abstracts/Full Text
The basic index for finding articles relating specifically to the applied and theoretical aspects of education. Indexes over 500 English language journals in education. Indexes many journals back to 1983, and, beginning with 1994, includes many full text articles.
Off Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access
ERIC - Educational Resources Information Center
The premier resource for educational research, the ERIC database contains more than one million abstracts covering research documents, journal articles, technical reports, program descriptions and evaluations, and curricular materials in the field of education. 1966+
Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access

History
America: History and Life
1964- . The most comprehensive index to American (U.S. and Canada) history. Indexes over 2000 journals worldwide, as well as book reviews and dissertations.
Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access.

Getting the News
Access World News
Access to the full text of over 600 U.S. and over 700 international newspapers.
Off-Campus Access Restricted Access
Historical New York Times
Allows you to search and display the full image of articles published in the New York Times back to 1851. The two+ most recent years are not included, use Access World News.
Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access.

Who's In Charge?

School Boards
The City Superintendent and the Board of Education
William Walter Theisen. New York City, Teachers College. Columbia University, 1917.
"The problem of this study is to discover how lay boards of education provide for the administration of city school systems through professional chief executives. The study is concerned with an analysis of the practices of boards of education in cities of various size, together with an attempt to evaluate such practices."
Local School Boards Under Review: Their Role and Effectiveness in Relation to Students' Academic Achievement
Deborah Land. Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR). Report no.56. January 2002.
"A review of literature published in the the past two decades on the role and effectiveness of school boards." Includes a brief history of school boards in the U.S.
Leadership Matters: Transforming Urban School Boards. March 1999
A Report of the National School Boards Foundation.
From the National School Boards Association [NSBA]:
  • Why School Boards? Five Reasons for Local Control of Public Education
  • Do School Boards Matter? Takeovers, Local Governance, and the Public Trust

    • Mayoral Control
    Mayoral Leadership and Involvement in Education: An Action Guide for Success
    2006 guide from the United States Conference of Mayors. Includes a useful bibliography.
    Cook, Glenn. "Taking Charge," American School Board Journal 189(12), December 2002
    Since 1995 some of the largest school districts in the U.S. have been taken over by either mayors or the state.
    Wong, Kenneth K. and Francis X. Shen. "Big City Mayors and School Governance Reform: The Case of School District Takeover," PJE: Peabody Journal of Education 78(1), 2003, 5-32.
    Off-Campus Access. Rutgers-restricted Access
    Mayoral Influence, New Regimes, and Public School Governance
    Michael W. Kirst. CPRE Research Report RR-049. University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Consortium for Policy Research in Education, May 2002.
    When Mayors Use School Choice as a Reform Strategy
    Kenneth K. Wong, Francis X. Shen, and Lauren M. Pachucki. Paper repared for the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 7-11, 2006, San Francisco, CA.
    "US Mayors Are Divided About Merits of Controlling Schools"
    Tony Favro. CityMayors February 2, 2007.

    State Takeovers
    Annotated Bibliography: Takeovers and Accountability
    From the Rutgers-Newark Institute on Education Law and Policy. May 2002.
    50-State Report on Accountability, State Intervention and Takeover
    From the Rutgers-Newark Institute on Education Law and Policy. May 2002.
    State Takeovers and Recomstitutions
    Education Commission of the State [ECS] Policy Brief. July 1998; updated April 2002.
    "24 states have enacted policies that allow them to take over a school district due to academic problems within the school district."
    Balancing Accountability and Local Control: State Intervention for Financial and Academic Stability
    Richard C. Seder. Reason Public Policy Institute Policy Study no. 268.
    New Jersey State Department of Education Monitoring, Intervention, and Takeover Practices in the Newark, Trenton, and Jersey City Public School Districts
    Randy Pratt. Thesis (Ed.D). Seton Hall University, 1992.
    Dana Call Number: LB2809 .N5P73 1992a [NEWARK plus STACKS]
    Historical Events Leading to the State Take Over of the Paterson, New Jersey School System: Video and Written Materials
    Patrick William Martin. Thesis (Ed.D), Teachers College, 1996.
    Special Collections Call Number: SNCLNJ LB2809 .N5M37 1995a
    Burns, Peter. "Regime Theory, State Government, and a Takeover of Urban Education," Journal of Urban Affairs 25(3), July 2003, 285-303.
    Examines the state takeover of Newark schools. "The Newark case illustrates how politics and structural conditions motivated state government to change the nature of the education regime and directly shape education policy at the local level."
    Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access

    Myths and Realities: The Impact of the State Takeover on Students and Schools in Newark
    William M. Eglinton. Boston Mass., Community Training and Assistance Center, c.2000.
    Data and perceptions on school and district operations, community engagement, and student performance five years after the State takeover of Newark city schools.
    Developing a Plan for Reestablishing Local Control in the State-Orerated School Districts
    Rutgers-Newark Institute on Education Law and Policy. Final Report Submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education. 2002

    Need more?

    Check IRIS, the Rutgers Libraries online catalog. Some relevant subject searches you can try include:

    Need books on related topics?

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    What Do They Know?: Standardized Testing

    History
    How Testing Came to Dominate American Schools: The History of Educational Assessment
    Gerard Giordano. New York, P. Lang, 2005.
    Alexander and Roberson Call Number: LB3051 .G516 2005
    Gallagher, Carole J. "Reconciling a Tradition of Testing with a New Learning Paradigm," Educational Psychology Review 15(1), March 2003, 83-99.
    "The entrenchment of standardized assessment in America's schools reflects its emergence from the dual traditions of democratic school reform and scientific measurment."
    Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access
    Mazzeo, Christopher. "Frameworks of State: Assessment Policy in Historical Perspective," Teachers College Record 103(3), June 2001, 367-397.
    "This paper uses archival and secondary sources to examine the early history of state student assessment in the United States."
    Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access

    Impact
    The Impact of Tests and Promotion Standards on Urban Schools and Students
    Joseph J. D'Amico and Thomas B. Corcoran. The Urban School Superintendents of New Jersey. Position Paper #6. January 1985.
    High Stakes Testing
    Some articles and reports. From the Civil Rights Project (UCLA and Harvard).

    Results
    The Nation's Report Card
    "The official site for results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress."
    Improving Student Achievement: What State NAEP Test Scores Tell Us
    David Grissmer et al. Santa Monica, CA, Rand, 2000.
    "This report present results of a study that examined state-level achievement scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests given in math and reading from 1990 through 1996."
    2006 The State of State Standards
    Chester E. Finn, Jr., Liam Julian, and Michael J. Petrilli. Washington, D.C., Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, August 2006.
    Beating the Odds: A City-By-City Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments Results from 2005-2006 School Year. April 2007.
    7th annual report on student achievement in major city school systems in math and reading. Report plus separate City by City Profiles, math and reading results by individual city between 1999/2000 and 2005/2006.
  • Beating the Odds. May 2001.
  • Beating the Odds II. June 2002.
  • Beating the Odds III. March 2003.
  • Beating the Odds IV. March 2004.
  • Beating the Odds V. March 2005.
  • Beating the Odds VI. March 2006.

    • Need more?

    To find other books relating to educational testing in IRIS, use the subject headings:

    No Child Left Behind

    No Child Left Behind: A Desktop Reference

    NCLB and Other Elementary/Secondary Policy Documents
    U.S. Department of Education site.
    Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. October 21, 2004
    ECS Report to the Nation: State Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act
    Education Commission of the States. July 2004.
    Analysis of NCLB implementation.
    Serving Those Most In Need or Not? A Report on the Implementation of the NCLB's Supplemental Education Services in New York City
    New York, Advocates for Children of New York, Inc., October 2003.
    Report assessing the implementation and effectiveness of the Supplemental Education Services program (SES) required under the No Child Left Behind Act.
    No Child Left Behind Penn GSE Perspectives in Urban Eduation 3(3), 2006.
    Issue devoted to implications and effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on urban education.
    2006 New Jersey "No Child Left Behind" Reports
    Status regarding adequate yearly progress; information on highly qualified teachers; attendance and dropout data; and language art and math assessment data for each school in New Jersey.
    2006 Newark Schools "No Child Left Behind" Report

    Need more?

    To find other books relating to NCLB in IRIS, use the subject headings:

    Issues of Race and Class
    African American Education: A Reference Handbook
    Cynthia L. Jackson. Santa Barbara, Calif., ABC-CLIO, 2001.
    Focuses on schooling, higher education (specifically the black colleges), and the legal influence (e.g., executive orders, legislative acts, Supreme Court rulings) on African American education. Historical overview, with emphasis on the period since 1954. Includes an annotated bibliography.
    Dana Call Number: Ref. LC2741 .J33 2001
    Rist, Ray C. "Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education," Harvard Educational Review 70(3), Fall 2000, 257-301.
    Reprint of Rist's classic 1970 article (Harvard Educational Review 40(3), 1970, 411-451) with a new Introduction by the author.
    Off-Campus Access Restricted Access
    Urban Schools: The Challenge of Location and Poverty
    Laura Lippman et al. Washington, DC, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996.
    "This report addresses [the] widespread beliefs about the performance of urban students, and their family and school environments. Using data from several national surveys, it compares urban students and schools with their suburban and rural counterparts on a broad range of factors, including student population and background characteristics, afterschool activities, school experiences, and student outcomes. A specific focus of this report is how poverty relates to the characteristics of the students and schools studied."
    School Desegregation
    Research reports from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA and Harvard.

    Brown v. Board of Education
    BROWN ET AL. v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA ET AL. No. 1 Appeal From the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
    Argued December 9, 1952; Decided May 17, 1954.
    Brown vs. Board of Education
    Overview, 'myths versus truths,' virtual exhibit, and research sources. From the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research.
    Brown v. Board of Education--Fifty Years
    Gail Tatum. Partially annotated bibliography on Brown and its aftermath.
    Brown at 50: King's Dream or Plessy's Nightmare?
    Gary Orfield and Chungmei Lee. Cambridge, Mass., The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, January 2004.
    Examines the decade of resegregation that began with the Supreme Court's 1991 Dowell decision, which authorized a return to neighborhood schools even if that would result in segregated schools.
    With More Deliberate Speed: Achieving Equity and Excellence in Education: Realizing the Full Potential of Brown v. Board of Education
    Edited by Arnetha F. Ball. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education 105th, pt. 2. October 2006, pp. 1-391.
    Off-Campus Access Rutgers-restricted Access
    Federal Records Pertaining to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)
    Descriptions of the 52 case files at the U.S. National Archives relating to Brown v. Board of Education.

    Need more?

    To find other materials on Brown v. The Board of Education in IRIS, use the SUBJECT Begins with: Brown, Oliver, 1918 Trials, Litigation, etc.

    Need articles?

    In ERIC, and in Education Abstracts/Full Text, if you are searching for, or combining terms with, specific legal cases search the case name as a keyword. In this case, use "brown v board of education" as your search term. Show Me

    Special Education

    On the Nexus of Race, Disability and Overrepresentation: What Do We Know? Where Do We Go? December 2001.
    From the National Institute for Urban School Improvement. Includes an excellent bibliography.

    Racial Inequity in Special Education
    Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield. Introduction to Racial Inequity in Special Education. Cambridge, MA, Harvard Education Press, 2002. LC3981. R294 2002

    Limited English Proficient Students and Special Education
    "Some school districts have at times confused the educational needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students with the special education services required by students with disabilities."

    Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education. M. Suzanne Donovan and Christopher T. Cross, editors. National Research Council, Committee on Minority Representation in Special Education, Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, 2002.
    Considers possible contributors to the disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic minority students in special education and gifted and talented programs.

    Skiba, Russel J. The Context of Minority Disproportionality: Local Perspectives on Special Education Referral. A Status Report. Indiana University, Indiana Education Policy Center, June 2003.
    Study based on interviews with 66 educators (teachers, principals, school psychologists, and special education directors) in 14 Indiana schools with a high percentage of minority students in their special education programs.

    Need more?

    Check IRIS, the Rutgers Libraries online catalog. Some relevant subject searches you can try include:

    Schooling the Immigrant
    Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930: Topics
    Topical index to an online collection of approximately 1,800 books and pamphlets as well as 9,000 photographs, 200 maps and 13,000 pages from Harvard manuscript and archival collections. Emphasis on 19th century materials. Includes section on "Education." An amazing resource!
    Immigrant Children in American Schools: A Classified and Annotated Bibliography with Selected Documents
    Framcesco Cordasco. Fairfield, N.J., A.M. Kelly, 1976.
    Dana Call Number: Ref. Z5814 .I4C67
    The Children of Immigrants in Schools
    United States. Immigration Commission Reports vols. 29-33 (1907-1910). Reprint, Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow, 1970. 5 vols.
    Kilmer Library Call Number: LC3731 .A5 1970
    The Impact of Immigration on Newark, New Jersey's Public and Parochial Primary and Grammar School Programs During the Migration, 1880-1930
    Linda M. Jacewich. Ed.D. Thesis, Seton Hall University, 1993.
    Dana Call Number: LC3746.5 .N5J33 1993a [NEWARK plus STACKS]
    How Immigrants Fare in U.S. Education
    Georges Vernez. Santa Monica, CA., Rand, 1996.
    The Educational Attainment of Immigrants: Trends and Implications
    Julian R. Betts and Magnus Lofstrom. Cambridge, MA, National Bureau of Economic Research, October 1998.
    Promise of Peril?: NCLB and the Education of ELL Students
    Beatriz Chu Clewell et.al. Washington, D.C., Urban Institute, April 2007.

    Need more?

    Check IRIS, the Rutgers Libraries online catalog. Some relevant SUBJECT Begins with searches you can try include:

    Bilingual Education

    Basic Resources
    Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education
    Edited by Colin Baker and Sylvia Prys Jones. Philadelphia, PA., Multilingual Matters, 1998.
    Ref. LC3707 .E53 1998
    Bilingual-Bicultural Education: An Annotated Bibliography, 1936-1982
    Octavio A. Ballesteros. Jefferson, N.C., McFarland, 1983.
    Dana Call Number: Ref. LC3719 .B34 1983

    History
    Ovando, Carlos J. "Bilingual Education in the United States: Historical Development and Current Issues," BRJ Online: Bilingual Research Journal 27(1), Spring 2003.
    History of Bilingual Education
    Timeline from the Colonial Era to 1995.
    Legal History of Bilingual Education
    Jill Kerper Mora.
    Annotated list of the major laws, policy documents and court decisions regarding bilingual education in the U.S. and California.

    Federal Mandates
    Rossell, Christine H. " The Federal Bilingual Education Program," Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 2000 215-264
    Includes comments by Catherine E. Snow and Charles Glenn.
    Best Evidence: Research Foundations of the Bilingual Education Act
    James Crawford. National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, March 1997.
    Antunez, Beth and Casserly, Michael. Title III of No Child Left Behind: A Status Report from the Great City Schools
    Council of the Great City Schools, Fall 2004.
    Title III of the No Child Left Behind act made substantial changes in the the bilingual education programming of the federal government.

    Current Issues
    Bilingual Education
    Research reports from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA and Harvard.
    A National Study of School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students' Long-Term Academic Achievement
    Wayne P. Thomas and Virginia P. Collier. Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, 2001.
    Results of a five-year study of five urban and rural research sites, looking at the long-term academic achievement of all minority language students in those districts.
    Resources About Secondary English Language Learner Outcomes
    From the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA).
    Limited English Proficient Students and Special Education
    "Some school districts have at times confused the educational needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students with the special education services required by students with disabilities."

    Need more?

    Check IRIS, the Rutgers Libraries online catalog. Some relevant SUBJECT Begins with searches you can try include:

    School Choice
    Trends in the Use of School Choice, 1993 to 1999
    Stacey Bielick and Christopher Chapman. Washington, DC, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003.

    School Vouchers
    Choice in Schooling: A Case for Tuition Vouchers
    David W. Kirkpatrick. Chicago, Loyola University Press, 1990
    Traces the history of the concept of education financing based on direct support of students rather than institutions in American history.
    Dana Call Number: LB2825 .K58 1990
    The Education Gap: Vouchers and Urban Schools
    William G. Howell and Paul E. Peterson. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution Press, 2006.
    Alexander and Kilmer Call Number: LB2828.8 .H69 2006
    An Evaluation of the Effect of D.C.'s Voucher Program on Public School Achievement and Racial Integration After One Year
    Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters. Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute. Education Working Paper no.10. January 2006.
    Another Look at the New York City School Voucher Experiment
    Alan B. Krueger and Pei Zhu. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 9418. December 2002.

    Need more?

    To find other books on tuition vouchers in IRIS, use SUBJECT Begins with:

    Charter Schools

    The U.S. Department of Education sponsored a 4-year National Study of Charter Schools:

    Frankenberg, Erica and Lee, Chungmei. Charter Schools and Race: A Lost Opportunity for Integrated Education. Education Policy Analysis Archives 11(32), September 5, 2003.
    Looks at segregation patterns in the nation's charter schools.
    Charter School Operations and Performance: Evidence from California. RAND Report MR-1700, 2003.
    Examines accessibility, student achievement, governance, and operation of California charter schools. Concludes that as there is no single charter school approach there is no single charter school effect.
    Charter Schools and Urban Education Improvement: Newark and New Jersey's Charter Schools
    Louisa Visconti et al. National Conference on Charter Schools: Trends and Policy Issues. Sacramento, CA, March 27-28, 2004.
    Performance-Based Accountability: Newark's Charter School Experience
    Kathe Callahan, Alan Sadovnik, and Louisa Visconti. Newark, Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, June 2002 (revised December 2002).
    A Comparison of District and Charter Schools for 4th and 8th Grades in Newark, New Jersey
    Jason Barr, Alan Sadovnik, and Louisa Visconti. Rutgers University Newark Working Paper #2006-002. May 2006
    Charter High Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap: Innovations in Education
    Washington, D.C., U.S. Dept. of Education, 2006.
    Profiles eight charter schools, including the North Star Academy School of Newark, that are meeting achievement goals under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). 95% of North Star's 2005 graduates were accepted to 4-year universities.
    Evaluation of New Jersey Charter Schools
    Highlights of the 2001 report, report on charter school hearings, and the Commissioners recommendations.

    Need more?

    To find other books on school choice in IRIS, use the subject headings:

    Corrections?
    Natalie Borisovets (natalieb@andromeda.rutgers.edu)
    John Cotton Dana Library
    October 25, 2007