This book describes teachers' work in urban New York City (New York) schools during a time of intense school reform in the 1920s. Teachers and schools coped with an ever-growing and diverse student body. Extensive interviews of teachers from this era shows the complexity of teachers' work, their problems with reform implementation, and the conditions they believed were necessary for change. There are six chapters with the introduction "The Historical Silence on Teachers' Work: A Note on Method." Chapters include: (1) "Disunity and Dissolution: The Politics of Teaching Before World War I"; (2) "To Be a Teacher: The Shaping of an Occupation"; (3) "The Maze of the Curriculum: The Intensification of Teachers' Work"; (4) "Isolation and Stress: The Physical Workplaces of Teaching"; (5)"Administration and Alienation: Teachers' Work Culture Under Supervision"; and (6) "Through the Classroom Door: Teachers' Work Culture and Students." The epilogue is entitled "The Legacy of Teachers' Experiences." (Contains references, notes, and an index.) (EH)