By exploring how liberalism is at work through a federally driven effort to improve academic achievement in schools serving youth of color and those from low-income communities, this article attempts to advance an understanding of the mechanisms that reify structural inequity in urban schools. Based on both a critical analysis of School Improvement Grant (SIG) policy and qualitative data from a school undergoing SIG reform, this article illustrates the power of individualism, meliorism, and presumed neutrality to shape schooling and the ways educators engage in school reform.
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