The experiences of a literature teacher in an inner-city high school in Houston (Texas) give a portrait of the urban classroom and the successes and failures of the everyday life of the urban teacher. The school, in a poor neighborhood, is unremarkable, unstimulating, and ill-equipped for serious learning. The students, who are almost entirely…

This book contains the following papers examining approaches to integrating high school vocational and academic curricula in U.S. high schools to provide education through occupations: "Resolving the Paradox of the High School" (W. Norton Grubb); "'The Cunning Hand, the Cultured Mind': Sources of Support for Curriculum…