Immense amounts of resources, time, and money have been devoted to improving the quality of education available to disenfranchised urban communities. Scholars, administrators, teachers, policymakers, and the private sector have all worked to develop solutions to reduce the rate of school failure and underachieving students. Poverty, drugs and destroyed family structures have fueled a spiral of desperation and apathy that has undermined the integrity of educational infrastructure in these urban places. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay From charter schools to federal laws like No Child Left Behind, the emphasis on providing a better education has been approached from a variety of angles. At the same time, the role of individual responsibility and accountability has been an approach that traditionally does not receive much attention compared to the more macro and institutional approaches advocated by researchers and government institutions. Despite a poor upbringing in Indiana, Dr. James P. Comer (1995) realized his great aspiration of becoming a doctor and later an acclaimed education reform leader and expert on race relations. In his piece, What I Learned in School: Reflections on Race, Child Development, and School Reform (1995), Dr. Comer suggests that students' success depends on their ability to take personal responsibility for their education and future, despite any obstacles. they meet.Dr. Comer emphasizes that students must have some sort of personal responsibility to prepare themselves to face life's tasks. They must claim ownership of the education system in the desire to reside and strive to possess all that it offers. Ultimately, this essay will address the issue of the failure of schools in urban areas in relation to the prescription established by Dr. Comer for transforming the standard of education available in these environments and will explore how his approach contributes to expanding the broader discourse on curing ills of urban education. Erik Morales (2010), in his research on high-achieving students in low-income area schools, identifies a number of factors that enabled 50 students to defy broader trends and experience tremendous progress and mobility toward high. Morales identifies factors through survey research that he believes have proven critical to the excellence of these students. Using resilience theory, it illustrates how these factors undermined risk factors thus allowing these students to thrive. Morales also provides pragmatic applications of these factors that are being explored for implementation by schools at the institutional level as well. Echoing Dr. Comer's sentiment for greater accountability, Lambert (2013) explores how school leadership institutionally, including teachers and school principals, must be developed and held accountable. ensure better performance, especially in areas where the student population is particularly at risk given the socioeconomic landscape. The study examines current leadership and professional development protocols, as well as recommending what should be included to make institutional leaders better leaders and therefore more accountable for the performance of their schools and students. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a custom essayLambert (2013) argues that a leadership vacuum..