URBAN EDUCATION / JANUARY 2001Groulx / CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF MINORITY SCHOOLS CHANGING PRESERVICE TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF MINORITY SCHOOLS

This study compared education students ’ attitudes toward working in urban schools as they entered teacher preparation and later after student teaching. Given descriptions of four schools differing in demographic makeup, students rated interest and comfort levels for teaching in each situation. Respondents also ranked 14 school characteristics according to importance when considering a teaching position. Attitudes shifted more favorably toward urban school teaching among students whose field placements provided positive urban teaching experiences. School security and parental support ranked as highly important both initially and later. Socioeconomic and ethnic diversity became more important later. Written comments illuminated students ’ ratings and helped inform a professional develop-ment school project. The undergraduates in our teacher preparation program match the typical profile of White, female, middle-class teacher candi-dates. However, their future classrooms are not likely to have such homogeneous or affluent student populations. The attitudes of these preservice teachers and their commitment to culturally rele-vant pedagogy will become crucial factors in many of their future students ’ chances for success in school (Ladson-Billings, 1995). This study compares their perceptions of urban, minority schools at the beginning and completion of teacher preparation. Planned as part of a formative evaluation, the study helped us understand how a professional development school (PDS) project could help educa-tion students approach teaching in diverse schools with confidence and positive expectations