A volume in Urban Education Studies SeriesSeries Editors Nicholas D. Hartlep, Illinois State University,Thandeka K. Chapman, University of California, San Diego and Kenny Varner, Louisiana State UniversityIn urban education, "urban" is a floating signifier that is imbued with meaning, positive or negative by its users. "Urban"can be used to refer to both the geographical context of a city and a sense of "less than," most often in relation to race and/or socioeconomic status (Watson, 2011). For Noblit and Pink (2007), "Urban, rather, is a generalization as much aboutgeography as it is about the idea that urban centers have problems: problems of too many people, too much poverty, toomuch crime and violence, and ultimately, too little hope" (p. xv). Recently, urban education scholars such as Anyon(2005), Pink and Noblit (2007), Blanchett, Klinger and Harry (2009), and Lipman (2013) have elucidated the socialconstruction of oppression and privilege for urban students, teachers, schools, fa
