Teaching, Bearing the Torch 2/e   Pamela J. Farris
	For the Student

When you receive your degree and teacher certification, these documents do not specify what type of environment you'll teach in. You need to know the characteristics, benefits, and challenges of teaching in rural, urban, and suburban schools. Chapter 15 describes these three school environments, as well as the various age-levels of schools and discusses issues such as:

• The purposes of different levels of schools
• The differences in urban, rural, and suburban schools
• The different challenges teachers face in various school settings and levels.

After reading Chapter 15, you should be able to:

• Identify and describe the four main types of schools.
• Identify and describe the three main school settings.
• Describe the requirements for teachers in each of the four main types of schools.
• Compare and contrast the problems faced by schools in each of the three general settings.
• Compare and contrast the courses offered by the high schools in each of the three settings.
• Compare and contrast daycare centers and preschools.
• Compare and contrast middle schools and junior high schools.

Quiz Questions for Chapter 15

Quiz Help! Check here for related page references and feedback.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

1. Visit the Center for Research on Urban Schools and Communities (see Other Sites to Explore) to find out more about issues confronting today's urban schools.

2. Look up child abuse on the web to research the incidence of child abuses reported by urban, suburban, and rural schools.

3. Visit a parent chat room to discuss preschools vs. daycare centers.

4. Find websites for rural, urban, and suburban districts in your region. Can you tell which school setting has the most diverse population, the best technology, and the widest range of high school courses offered?

5. There are many school and societal problems associated with the phenomenon of "latch-key children." Find websites concerning this social issue.

OTHER SITES TO EXPLORE

http://www-gse.berkeley.edu/research/UrbanSchoolCenter.html
Center for Research on Urban Schools and Communities
The Center for Research on Urban Schools and Communities is dedicated to supporting school-based research and reform efforts that focus on the problems and issues confonting urban schools.
Textbook links: see pages 393-394.

http://www.tntech.edu/www/acad/rued/research.html
Department of Rural Education
The Department of Rural Education offers research results and strategies concerning the characteristics and needs of rural school students.
Textbook links: see pages 395-396.

http://www.howard.k12.md.us/msreport/comm/philosophy.html
Middle School Philosophy
The Howard County Public School System created this website to outline the middle school philosophy in response to the results of a study conducted by the Maryland School Review Committee.
Textbook links: see page 401.

http://www.ncrel.org/skrs/areas/issues/students/atrisk/at6lk13.htm
Pathways to School Improvement: Large Schools
Legters, McDill, and McPartland (1993) describe the problems inherent within large schools and offer possible solutions in the article on this webpage. Pathways to School Improvement also offers links to other resources regarding the problems shared by large schools.
Textbook links: see pages 403-404.

http://edschool.csuhayward.edu/Departments/EDLD/faculty/lopez/Research PPT/index.htm
Research on Teachers
Consists of research by Dr. Jose Lopez focusing on teaching in elementary and secondary schools as well as the characteristics of these types of schools.

OTHER RESOURCES

Boyer, E. 1983. High school: A report on secondary education in America. New York: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Johnson, L.A. 1992. My posse don't do homework. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Kidder, T. 1989. Among Schoolchildren. New York: Avon.

Lewis, A.C. 1993. The payoff from a quality preschool. Phi Delta Kappan. 74 (10): 748-49.

Schmuck, R.A., and P.A. Schmuck. 1992. Small districts, big problems: Making school everybody's house. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.

Sheppo, K.G., S.J. Hartsfield, S. Ruff, C.A. Jones, and M. Holinga. 1995. How an urban school promotes inclusion. Educational Leadership 52 (4): 82-84.

Sizer, T.R. 1984. Horace's compromise: The dilemma of the American high school. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.