RUNNING HEAD: TENSIONS AND CONTRADICTIONS Tensions and Contradictions in Approaches to Improving Urban Inner-City Schools in the United States D. Gavin Luter University at Buffalo, State University of New York January 2015 Accepted for publication in Information Age Press International Research on School Leadership Volume 6 book series Challenges and Opportunities of Educational Leadership Research and Practice: The State of the Field and Its Multiple Futures Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Stephen L. Jacobson for his encouragement and helpful comments on the chapter.