face closure as early as 1999. However, he also notes that if education leaders begin to fight for these schools using new, and vital strategies and programs, conditions could just as rapidly be reversed.
One innovative method which educators are using to combat the difficulties involved in properly educating inner city children is the development of programs designed to provide teachers with greater preparation for teaching in inner city schools. For example, McIntire and Hughes (1982) discussed The Houston Independent School District's (HISD) work with the University of Houston, Texas Southern University, and Houston Community College in the development of a program to prevent rapid staff turnover in urban schools.
Part of the program was aimed at recruiting high school students who live in urban areas and training them as potential teachers. Other facets of the program concentrated on inservice training and support of urban teachers. One of the basic characteristics of the program was to provide participants with knowledge of urban life and with specific skills enabling them to work effectively with students and parents in inner cities.
Five components characterized the program. These are:
2. paid work experience for junior and senior college students as substitute teachers;
3. retraining and recertification of teachers to attract and hold the best qualified teachers and those who can teach in critical subject areas;
4. inservice substitute teacher training; and
5. a proposed magnet school specifically for high school juniors and seniors who are interested in careers as classroom teachers, teacher aides, and substitute teachers.
According to McIntire and Hughes (1982), evaluative data collected on the program indicates that it operates to make teachers more effective in their instructional endeavors in inner city schools. Also, for those teachers who received the program and then went on to teach...