I have a new appointment in the Urban Pedagogy program at the School of Education, so I am particularly interested in attending the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association because of this years theme on Education and Poverty. It will be held in San Francisco in the Spring 2013. My MA students are members of the Teach for America Detroit Corps. These are students who are new teachers in the Detroit Public Schools and have made a commitment to helping to improve opportunities for students in poverty through ambitious and motivated teaching. My courses will specifically focus on improving instruction in high poverty settings. In addition, I will be training and supervising the field instructors who will mentor the students as they learn to teach. As a program we believe that teaching in a setting like the Detroit Public Schools requires a different pedagogy, as well as a different set of beliefs on the part of teachers. I wish to increase my knowledge and awareness of key issues and research on teaching and learning in high poverty settings, in order to best support my students and their field instructors. My role affords me the opportunity to influence the knowledge and beliefs of many new educators who, in turn, touch many young Detroit students' lives. For this reason I feel that it is imperative that I am knowledgeable about issues related to poverty and education and I feel attending this conference will help me accomplish that.