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Basically, urban schools are "city schools." I first want to make it clear that although the stereotype for urban schools is that they are right in the heart of a big city and are crowded and poorly funded, not all urban schools are this way. However, there are still many urban schools that desperately need good teachers and better resources, and these are the category of urban schools that I will be focusing on, as well as schools that are in areas of high-poverty. "Urban schools are always in need of talented, passionate teachers who want to make a difference in the lives of their students" ("What is an urban school," 2017). Unfortunately, schools that need effective teachers the most are often the ones that experience the most difficulty finding good teachers. Though teaching in urban schools can present challenges, such as having a lack of resources, being located in impoverished areas, and having overcrowded classes, teachers who have a passion for teaching well and building strong relationships with their students can overcome these barriers and find teaching in this setting very rewarding ("What is an urban school," 2017).

Chris Edmin, author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too, discusses in an interview the problems that can come from situations where teachers are not informed, experienced, or prepared enough to teach in a school with a large population of students of color, which can tend to be the case in urban schools. He writes in the interview, "If you go in schools right now, almost all black schools have a 90% white staff. And of course you hear or see that and go 'well, that’s interesting,' but most of these staff don’t live in the community, they don’t understand the community, they don’t know the socio-economic background of the community, and have a perception about those students based upon were they come from" (Elie, 2016). This can create very tough barriers to overcome when teachers cannot connect to students on this very personal and crucial level of ethnic background. Many teachers only take one or two classes in multiculturalism, ethnicity, race, or politics and then start teaching in a school where these issues make up the largest factor they encounter in their practice (Elie, 2016).

Edmin says one of the key ideas in overcoming this problem is building a foundation of mutual trust and learning from one another in the classroom. If teachers see students as victims or inherently bad, they are not teaching them with a mindset that will actually help the students learn; they will only be looking to "fix" the students. "The savior complex is also problematic because it reinforces the notion that the teacher is the hero. To be a good teacher the effective skill you need is not ego. It’s humility. You look at the natural, raw, unpolished beauty of the neighborhood, and if you are looking to save someone, you cannot see that" (Elie, 2016). Teachers must not only focus on teaching the students well so that they can then work on fixing their own lives, but teachers must also be open to learning from the students. In other words, teaching and learning goes both ways in an effective learning environment. Teachers may know their content well, but the students are experts in their own cultures and have a lot to teach their instructor (Elie, 2016).

So, the question is, how can we work effectively in urban and high-poverty schools in order to impact students' lives and even use education to bring geographic areas out of poverty? There is one school in West Michigan, called North Godwin Elementary, that is a high-poverty school doing just that. The students at North Godwin come from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, most come from low-income families, and 92% of students receive free or reduced-price lunches. These tend to be indicators that the school will perform poorly. However, the students at North Godwin test so well, that they are on par with the area's most affluent school districts (Albanese, 2015). North Godwin is breaking the trend and the stereotype that high-poverty school means low achievement.

The principal of this school, Mary Lang, says their success is based on a mindset. The teachers have to believe that the students can and will do well, despite the challenges they face in life. The staff has to come together and create a secure environment for the children. They must foster strong and trusting relationships with fellow colleagues, students, parents, and the surrounding community. They continually work to get better and always hold high expectations for their students. And if something is not working or producing the results they want, they change it (Albanese, 2015).

One thing North Godwin does to interact with the community and further their students' learning is to push for parental involvement. This can be one aspect of high-poverty schools that gets lost and fails to happen. However, North Godwin embraces the diversity of people coming into their community, and their partnership with parents truly helps their children succeed. Because of the lack of background and foundational knowledge that the incoming students have, the school has to push even harder to challenge the students and help them succeed (Albanese, 2015).

The work this school is doing to push their students to achieve reflects the ideas the Center for Public Education suggests high-poverty schools need to focus on in order to bring about systemic change. They list 10 factors. The five building blocks are, "a culture of high expectations and caring for students; a safe and disciplined environment; a principal who is a strong instructional leader; hard-working, committed, and able teachers; a curriculum focused on academic achievement that emphasizes basic skills in mathematics and literacy." The five specific practices are, "increased instructional time; ongoing, diagnostic assessment; parents as partners in learning; professional development to improve student achievement; collaboration among teachers and staff" ("High-performing, high-poverty schools," 2005).

The factors listed here are researched-based ideas that will help teachers as they navigate the world of teaching in urban schools and/or schools of high-poverty. You can see several, if not all, of these factors in the work that North Godwin is doing. This school is a great example of how to challenge stereotypes about high-poverty schools and overcome the barriers teachers, students, and parents face in this specific area of education. Though work in schools like these can be very difficult, and even the challenges can vary from school to school, we need good teachers who are willing to put forth the effort and make a difference in the lives of their students in a positive way.