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This article investigates whether school activism diminishes the alienation that accompanies urban youths' observations of unequal educational conditions, and often leads to underachievement and school rejection. The study is based on interviews with 13 urban youth about their participation in a community-based program that supports education organizing. Findings reveal that school activism is a promising intervention that encourages more constructive responses to schooling. However, the opportunity to participate in school activism was more influential for students who were already integrated into school life and initially felt less acutely alienated. Implications for enhancing the prevalence of success among urban students are considered.

The educational community is divided over which is the best approach for improving urban schools: focus on teaching and learning or underlying social inequity? This article argues that the students who attend urban schools can inform the debate. The study draws on interviews with fourteen urban youth about their participation in a community-based program that supports school activism. In the program, the students selected a surprising, and seemingly trivial, set of school problems as their top reform priorities. Yet findings reveal that from the students’ vantage point, these concrete changes will enhance engagement and the perceived fairness of the educational environment. Urban students therefore bridge current policy debates by posing recommendations pertinent to both educational and social reform advocates. The study concludes with reflections on students’ contributions to the content and process of urban educational reform.

This article examines the emergence of a dialogue among urban youth about their educational condition, and the opportunities for learning and collaboration that ensue. The study is based on observations and interviews with eight students in a community-based program that supports the engagement of young people in school reform. Notably, the membership includes youth enrolled in both urban and suburban high schools. Findings reveal that the students capitalized on their dialogic inquiry process by constructing knowledge of educational disparity and forging coalitions across district lines. Implications include the possibilities for structuring and supporting students' social inquiry, and the potential for diverse, student-led dialogues to advance the cause of educational equality.

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