Professor Hughes (Quote 1):  These are the most difficult places to teach.  The program was started with the theory that we would train pre-serviced teachers to teach in urban schools because that's where the greatest need is.  That's where the most job openings are, in urban schools.  That's where the greatest challenge is.  So by training the teachers in that environment, we are preparing them to be successful.  Teachers that don't have this background frequently are not successful when they get into an urban school because they haven't studied the cultural poverty, they don't understand the different management techniques that we study, the different best-practice techniques that we want the students to use and we work with a cadre of teachers at Broadripple and Shortridge that are outstanding and do model best-practice in this environment.  So, we're providing a very positive, successful experience for students before they enter the job market.

Professor Hughes (Quote 2):  As a student, you will see a lot of growth in yourself and your own attitudes and I think our best recruiting is through students that have been in the program.  They're the ones that do the most as far as it's not as much as what I say as it is what students that have participated in the program come back and talk to the students considering this program. They're the best salesmen of all and talk about the advantages, all the different experiences they have; the good, the bad, and the ugly.  They see it all and they learn whether or not they can survive in that environment; whether it's a high-poverty school or any school and if they can survive in a high-poverty school, they can teach anywhere they want.

Professor Hughes (Quote 3):  I'm the coordinator for the secondary program of the urban semester.  My role is to coordinate the placements at the high school and the middle school and to coordinate the university faculty that work for the program, and we coordinate our curriculum and course assignments and all the expectations of the students.  I also work with the administrators at the schools for the placement of the students in the various classrooms.