The society is violent, the urban neighborhoods are violent, and the schools are violent. People who want to teach in urban schools need to recognize the reality of the situation they will enter. Beginning teachers must recognize that preventing violence is an integral part of their legitimate work; the more effective they are at empowering…

Gentle teaching, empowering children growing up amid poverty and violence, is the only alternative to ineffective coercive teaching. "Decent" teachers are not judgmental, moralistic, or easily shocked; they listen, recognize their biases, are culturally competent, and do not seek to fulfill power needs. (SK)

"Star" urban teachers are driven by the desire to develop good people. Their undergirding ideology is high expectations for low-income students, and they see their role as fundamentally different from that of other teachers. (SK)

Principals of successful urban schools have certain attributes that heighten their effectiveness. They exhibit behaviors and attributes undergirded by an ideology, that is, a value-laden system of beliefs that is "caught" by life experiences and not "taught" in graduate courses. Potential star principals must be screened and selected before they…

Urban teachers need a set of attributes that enable them to connect with children and youth in poverty and to function in dysfunctional school districts. The Milwaukee Teacher Education Center's (MTEC's) urban mission is to prepare educators to teach in the real world classroom of urban schools. For example, teachers are prepared to work toward…

Urban education reformers are now abandoning basic skills instruction and emphasizing critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. An autocratic "pedagogy of poverty" undermines reform efforts by forcing compliance without involving students in learning and self-discipline. Good teaching is happening whenever students are actively involved…

Discusses the impact of grade repetition on disadvantaged students, questioning why the failing strategy persists. Among the sollutions advocated are preservice teachers must learn to view student diversity favorably; and thoughtful teacher preparation and teacher selection are essential to the process. (SM)

This article discusses teacher burnout which scholars define as a condition caused by depersonalization, exhaustion, and a diminished sense of accomplishment. A psychological model of how stress leads to burnout describes it as a syndrome resulting from teachers' inability to protect themselves against threats to their self esteem and well-being.…

The difficulties facing teachers in the largest urban school districts in the United States are different from those in smaller districts. It is especially important to identify the success stories of teachers and students in demanding urban classrooms. Star teachers are those who are outstandingly successful in terms of student achievement and…

Describes the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center (MTEC), a new system of alternative preservice and inservice teacher education which meets the needs of the Milwaukee Public Schools and prepares teachers to succeed with children in poverty within an urban school district. The paper discusses what works in preparing urban teachers and explains how…

The findings of two studies conducted with resident teachers participating in alternative teacher certification programs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are reported in three reports; a summary and two study reports. The role of the teacher in diagnosing the physical and learning disabilities of students is not clearly identified, but…

Proposes 12 teacher attributes that are important in multicultural schools, focusing on specific teacher qualities and ideology and explaining that selecting teachers who are predisposed to perform the sophisticated expectations of multicultural teaching is a necessary precondition. Training has important value after preselection, providing it…

This paper asserts that the growth and maintenance of failed urban school districts that have miseducated minority children in poverty for over 50 years is a predictable, explainable phenomenon. The essay suggests that the extensive resources funneled into these systems are used for increasing district bureaucracies rather than improving…

Buffalo Creek Elementary School in Houston, Texas, has been recognized for its success in serving its students--approximately 600 low-income Hispanic children in grades preK-5. A study of the school, which sought to develop a detailed picture of school effectiveness, identified 33 indicators of success. Each of these indicators is briefly…

Presents guidelines to inform teacher education programs aspiring to prepare teachers for working in impoverished urban schools: (1) attributes of preservice teacher candidates, (2) teacher educator expertise, (3) knowledge, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and values to be learned by prospective teachers, (4) educational methods, and (5) program…