Student teaching is only a successful experience if it assists the prospective teacher in developing effective classroom control techniques and evolving a personal teaching style. In order to make student teaching useful, four factors should be considered. First, profiles should be developed on the student teacher and the cooperating teacher before the student is placed, in order to match personalities, philosophical and disciplinary approaches, and style. Second, teacher education programs should emphasize classroom control and teaching style and familiarize prospective teachers with the theory and practice of positive/negative reinforcement. Third, educators need to address the particular problems of urban schools, especially in the areas of discipline and classroom control. Fourth, competency tests should be developed for student teachers to determine their progress in the areas of classroom control and discipline, and particularly the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. (CG)