In terms of training teachers, the Ford Training and Placement Program is unique. It uses the cadre-model in the internship and placement year of the training program. The teacher training is focused on an attempted immersion of the university-based student into not only the grade level or subject-matter specialty in which he seeks a degree, but into the entire social system of the school and the outside institutions which affect the school as it operates. Thus, an understanding of the school and the milieu in which the student is placed is necessary as well as an understanding of the use of tools necessary to operate effectively. Focused preparation includes training in working with the established faculty of the school and becoming aware of the policy-making operations and procedures of the Chicago Board of Education. Cross-role preparation is provided whereby the MAT and MST students are joined by experienced teachers who have worked in the schools and the administrator of the school in which the intern is placed. The cross-role concept includes educational specialists, adult educators, social workers and social psychological workers. The entire experiment is complex, but in its complexity many different innovative ideas have emerged in almost all areas dealing with urban education. (Author/JM)