Results from 3 experiments in auditory word recognition involving a total of 266 undergraduates supported interactive models of lexical processing, but required additional sublexical processes. The hypothesized sublexical mechanism is fast acting and frequency sensitive and produces top-down effects, but its operation has not yet been fully…

To examine the role of mentoring in urban school settings, conceptions of "urban schools,""mentors," and "mentoring" are explored. The most critical component of successful mentoring is a shared philosophy of the ways students learn and the possibility of learning. Strengthening the ability of mentors to exchange information is essential. (SLD)

As dispensers of information, mentors can support teachers through career stages from recruitment to retirement. This article explores mentorships as transferable transactions. This concept is particularly valuable in urban areas, where teachers unacquainted with physical and cultural conditions may replicate the practices of seasoned mentors.…

The California Mentor Teacher Program is unique among statewide mentor teacher initiatives in its size, longevity, stipends for mentor teachers, and the discretion it allows local education agencies. The shared perspectives of a mentor, a local administrator, and a state administrator trace the legislative and policy history of this program. (SLD)

Teacher mentors in urban schools need particular characteristics to promote development in beginning teachers because the urban school is a unique environment. Urban mentor teachers need to be able to articulate their beliefs and practices, and they need well-developed coaching skills. (SLD)

Reviews the literature on mentoring teachers, focusing on bilingual and bicultural education and emphasizing issues relevant in urban settings. An interactive model of mentoring is proposed in which bilingual teachers, whether mentors or new teachers, can share perspectives sorely needed in this age of increasing cultural diversity. (SLD)

Focuses on the mentoring of beginning (preservice) mathematics and science teachers in classrooms with large populations of bilingual students or students for whom English is a second language. Mentors can play a crucial role in preparing preservice teachers to instruct language minority students. (SLD)

Some urban teachers are marginal teachers who are beginning to internalize a sense of hopelessness about their effectiveness. The characteristics and skills of potential mentors to help marginal teachers are discussed, and salient points to consider in establishing a model for mentoring marginal teachers are reviewed. (SLD)

Offers suggestions for using modeling and mentoring in urban teacher education in the belief that the power of models and mentors resides more in their being and behaving than in the finished products. Good role models live their ethics and beliefs personally and professionally. (SLD)

Detailed text analysis was used to examine the expository writing patterns of four academically successful African American high school students. These bidialectic students brought culturally influenced text design patterns into the classroom. Implications for writing instruction for culturally diverse students are discussed. (SLD)

The attitudes of 193 teacher candidates at a rural university toward teaching in urban schools were studied. In spite of their lack of experience and preparation for teaching urban students, many were willing, although not eager, to teach in urban schools in order to have a job. (SLD)

Discusses issues and problems in the development and implementation of multicultural education programs, focusing on how a group of educators sought to help early childhood teachers deal with the increasing number of intergroup conflicts among their pupils. These educators developed a multicultural education resource book. (SLD)

Focusing on the efforts of seven teachers involved in a mathematics curriculum reform program in three housing projects ("The Bricks") in Cleveland (Ohio), this article examines the contexts of reform. Cultural conflicts between students and teachers and barriers to full teacher commitment to reform hampered project implementation. (SLD)

Explores the relevance of environmental education in modern society, focusing on urban areas. Environmental education can enable a relevant and fulfilling education within a community-specific environment. Properly conceptualized, environmental education has much to offer all communities. (SLD)

Focuses on the plight of children living in poverty in the United States, and introduces a partial solution via integrated comprehensive school-linked services. The author describes why school-linked comprehensive services are needed, reveals the diminishing political commitment in addressing the problem, and explains how American Educational…