This digest, addressed to prospective teachers, consists of questions and answers that provide information on such topics as teachers' responsibilities, how to become a teacher, teacher supply and demand, salaries, and working conditions. References are included. (JD)

Reflective practice can be beneficial to preservice and inservice teacher professional development. This digest reviews the concept, levels, techniques for, and benefits of reflective practice. Donald Schon introduced the concept in 1987, and since then, many schools, colleges, and departments of education have begun designing teacher education…

This ERIC Digest focuses on the student teacher, the school-based cooperating teacher, and the university supervisor, all of whom form a supervisory triad. Barriers to improved student teaching supervision such as incongruent role expectations and lack of substantive communication and collaboration among triad members are discussed. Some efforts…

The 1989 Charlottesville Education Summit of the nation's governors resulted in the National Education Goals which describe six priorities (readiness for school; high school completion; student achievement; world leadership in science and math; adult literacy; and safe, disciplined, and drug free schools) for public schools to achieve by the year…

This digest examines how technology can support multicultural education. Multicultural education represents an approach to education and the teaching-learning process that is grounded in the democratic ideals of justice and equality. Five critical dimensions of multicultural education are: content integration, knowledge construction, prejudice…

This digest examines research on indicators of teacher quality. While research on the value of a teacher's advanced degree is mixed, all studies suggest that teachers with degrees in subjects different from the subjects they teach have little impact on students. There is no strong consensus about the value of pedagogical preparation for teachers,…

To ensure that future generations of girls as well as boys fulfill their potential without restriction, it is important that gender equity be taught in teacher education programs as a matter of course. Gender equity is defined as the set of behaviors and knowledge that permits educators to recognize inequality in educational opportunities, to…

Schools and teacher education programs have begun to rethink preservice and inservice professional development to take into account the need for teachers to work effectively with students learning English. New approaches to teacher education are based on the belief that English language learners' access to challenging content can be enhanced…

Experts agree that prevention through education is the best way to fight the transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency (AIDS). However, the capacity of teachers to provide instruction about AIDS and other related health problems with knowledge and comfort may be limited by a lack of preservice…

The National Partnership for Excellence in Education and Accountability in Teaching (NPEAT) helps place improvement of teaching at the center of reform efforts, addressing two problems that impede the development of systemic reforms to improve teaching quality: (1) absence of agreement about effective strategies for improving teaching among those…

This digest provides an overview of a new institution, the professional development school (PDS), and of its place in improving public schooling. The PDS is the result of a collaboration between universities and local school districts. In recent years, the literature has suggested that public schools as they exist today cannot adequately prepare…

Over 10 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in public schools and more than 18 percent of AI/AN students in Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal schools are eligible for or placed in special education programs. This digest addresses four selected issues in the education of AI/AN students with disabilities. First, the 1997…

This digest highlights ways in which new and seasoned teachers are developing a repertoire of skills and knowledge that complement education reform efforts. For example, rather than seeing each stage of a teacher's professional life as distinct and separate, a more holistic view of the development of teacher from novice to advanced practitioner is…

This Digest explores facets of collaboration between general and special education teachers that are different from earlier models. Inclusion of students with disabilities into the same class has brought about teams of general education and special education teachers working collaboratively or cooperatively to combine their professional knowledge,…

This Digest discusses the conversion of military personnel to school employees and describes a U.S. Department of Defense program called "Troops to Teachers" that helps military personnel affected by defense cut-backs pursue new careers as teachers and teachers' aides. Created by Congress in 1992 through the National Defense…