The papers included in this special issue grew out of a small invitational conference on urban secondary schools, held in May 2017 at the University of Minnesota which broadly addressed perspectives on a single question: What are the social contexts within and out of schools that affect achievement and humanization of urban secondary students? The authors' contributions reflect a common conviction that it is time to move schools (and school leadership) away from a singular focus on improving instruction in order to increase tested student achievement. While instruction and cognitive outcomes and skills are important, the participants concluded that we need a broader perspective that recognizes the role of all stakeholders in shaping the forces within and outside schools that affect student development and learning.