The School of Education at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) prepares its elementary teachers to work in an urban setting through a teacher education program that makes extensive use of field experiences. The program is organized into four phases. Phase I is the screening process for acceptance into the teacher education program for those who have completed or are completing 60 semester hours of undergraduate work. Abilities in reading, writing, and computation are tested, and the students' speech and hearing tests, grade point average, standardized test scores, and references are required. Certain course requirements must also be met to gain admittance into the program. The components of Phase II consist of courses emphasizing educational theory and supervised field work in urban school classrooms. When all course and competency requirements for Phases I and II are satisfied, the student can apply for admission into the school of education and, if accepted, may enroll in Phase III. This phase is a continuation and expansion of Phase II, comprising of courses, teaching experience, and performance evaluations. Phase IV is the student teaching experience. Again, formal application is required, and the student must submit to an interview and have a 2.5 grade point average. During this final phase, the students are in the field for a full 16 week semester in urban elementary schools. The program's success is indicated by the number of graduates hired and by the results of external program evaluations. (FG)