Questions addressed in this paper include: what it means to be a successful teacher in poor, urban, ghetto areas; whether schools of education can prepare white, middle-class young men and women to be successful teachers in such areas; and if it is possible to prepare them, how to do it. Two case examples illustrate some unique challenges found in…

The Cleveland Collaborative for Mathematics Education (C2ME) intends to change the role and status of teachers of mathematics in Cleveland's public secondary schools. This report presents the perceptions, beliefs, and practices of the teacher members of the collaborative project. This research is based upon descriptive and historical data gathered…

The School of Education at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) prepares its elementary teachers to work in an urban setting through a teacher education program that makes extensive use of field experiences. The program is organized into four phases. Phase I is the screening process for acceptance into the teacher education program for those…

This paper examines some theoretical models and approaches in ethnic education and the implications for schools in populous and diverse urban centers. It then focuses on four ethnic heritage groups that frequently populate urban areas--Afro-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Arab-Americans, and Irish-Americans. These four ethnic groups are used as case…

Using data from three urban school districts, this paper examines policies and practices that contribute to inequities in the allocation of well-qualified, experienced teachers within these school systems. The research attempts to focus on some of the subtle and less directly observable influences on school district policies and practices.…

This paper examines urban schools serving minorities, and begins by arguing that inservice development is the greatest need of the American school system, one that needs many things. The time that a teacher spends in effective inservice activity is more important for the future of pupils than the same amount of time spent with those pupils. Though…

The study reported here was undertaken to determine if a structured human relations program, focusing on positive classroom management techniques, could contribute to more positive teacher-student relations and thereby help to decrease one of the major sources of friction in our educational communities. The major objective of this program was to…

This study assessed the influence of reflective thinking on the early field experiences of preservice teachers who later taught in urban settings that were radically different from those they experienced as students. Reflective thinking refers to consciously identifying and defining schooling and classroom problems, generating reasonable…

This paper examines the management of training programs for educators who are or will be working in inner-city schools. Four common patterns emerge from investigations of the program which have been effective in preparing personnel for inner-city schools. First, the programs featured a sound and explicit theoretical base, an analysis of the…

This paper describes the evolution of a Professional Development School (PDS) continuum for urban teachers through 5 years of school-university collaboration. The paper reports the impact on education students completing internship experiences at urban PDS's, discusses the impact of the collaborative initiative on PDS faculty, and identifies…

This paper discusses an ecological approach to training educators for urban schools which focuses on learning to develop and nurture collaborative relationships with parents and communities. It argues that the construct of collective efficacy is the missing link in understanding and implementing successful linkages between schools, parents, and…

The inadequate preparation of urban teachers contributes to the high rate of teacher attrition in city schools. This paper describes an attempt to alleviate the rapid turnover of urban teachers through a project that helped secondary urban student teachers become effective. In the spring semester of 1993, a teacher educator, an Urban Practicum…

This paper reviews changes in an elementary teacher education program based on several studies regarding the content of the program. The nature of each study and its implementation in the program are described. Three changes have been made in the program as a result of the studies: student teachers are required to complete a junior year practicum…

The perceptions of novice and expert teachers in urban schools about their preparation through teacher education were studied. It is generally recognized that middle-class white teachers are strangers to urban cultures, and that they often believe the mass media's negative images about low- income African American and Latino communities.…

A case study of the practices of a white teacher working in an urban elementary school with a large majority of African American students shows the problems caused by detached and unreflective teaching practice. The study emerges from a joint ethnographic research and classroom-based educational project at the school. The teacher worked with…