For the past 30 years, I have devoted much of my professional life to the challenge of preparing teachers to work with children and youth in poverty.  For such children, schooling is a matter of life and death; without school success, they have no other options for making it in American society.  I believe that our best hope for students of America's urban schools is to provide them with the very best teachers we can.  That belief has been the source of motivation as I have pursued a research agenda aimed at identifying the functions of Star Urban Teachers.

 

When I first began this research, I was criticized for taking a "Band-Aid" approach to a system of schooling that the reconstructivists argue should be dismantled.  Today, while people continue to debate what kinds of systemic changes are necessary, I continue to study the beliefs and practices of classroom teachers who are making schools work better.  As a result of this research, the quality of teaching in many urban districts has improved.

 

Thus far, we have discovered and described 14 teacher functions that characterize the professional practice of outstanding urban teachers.  Each function includes a mix of beliefs and behaviors that reflect an idealogy and a number of "should be's" about the purpose of school and about teaching children in poverty.  For this reason, I have maintained that there are no "10 easy steps" for other teachers to follow.

 

For the past two years, I have watched with great interest the work of James Rowley and Patricia Hart at the University of Dayton as they have created a series of professional development programs designed to help novice and experienced teachers reflect on many of the star teacher functions.  Understanding the complex challenge of trying to help teachers adopt star idealogies, Rowley and Hart have turned to the case method of teaching, which can be used in both preservice and inservice education.  Their video case study programs bring into sharp focus some of the most critical thoughts and behaviors of star teachers.  I expect that those who experience these programs will never again be the same way in the way they approach their own professional practice.  I thank and commend Hart and Rowley for their authentic reflection of research on outstanding urban teachers and their dedicated commitment to help teachers at all levels of experience reach for the stars.

 

Martin Haberman, 1995

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee