University and School District Cooperation: A System for Growing Your Own Quality Urban Teachers.

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) has worked with the University of Houston, Texas Southern University, the Houston Community College to develop a program to prevent rapid staff turnover in urban schools. Part of the program is aimed at recruiting high school students who live in urban areas and training them as potential teachers. Other facets of the program concentrate on inservice training and support of urban teachers. The program is designed to provide participants with knowledge of urban life and with specific skills to enable them to work effectively with students and parents in inner cities. Five components characterize the program: (1) work-study for teacher aides; (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. (FG)