This booklet addresses the beginning teacher whose assignment is an inner-city school. It advocates that each new teacher in the inner city should have what amounts of a self-administered interview schedule, focusing on points one needs to keep uppermost in one's mind if one wishes to be effective in working with low-income youth. This protocol focuses on 11 issues: (1) recognizing, understanding, and taking into account the conditions in which many of the students grow up; (2) the lack of experience with, and knowledge of, even the most basic words, concepts, and facts of many disadvantaged students; (3) the negative factors in the child's environment that might influence judgments of his potential; (4) the interpretation of student reactions; (5) recognizing and using positive forces in the students' neighborhood; (6) the danger of too openly and too frequently exhorting students to try harder in order to ensure themselves of successful careers as adults; (7) the danger of "giving up" on students; (8) acceptance or rejection of inner-city students' language; (9) the feelings of insecurity which most disadvantaged students feel in school; (10) expectations of the teacher regarding his role in an inner-city school; and (11) deciding on priorities in professional and personal life. (JM)