Urban-Focused Teacher Preparation in Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities: Confronting the Challenges

The current narrative surrounding urban education, while incomplete, often focuses on concerns related to student achievement, failing schools, and teacher quality. This article targets teacher preparation as one response to these challenges and investigates the extent to which liberal arts colleges and universities are involved in this work. The article provides a summary of practices associated with effective urban-focused teacher preparation and analyzes data from liberal arts teacher education programs. Based on this research, the author categorizes the programs' various approaches and offers recommendations for maximizing the ability of such programs to effectively engage in this crucial work.