A new teacher in a self-contained classroom for six kindergarten students with autism describes the challenges of beginning a new program in her school, planning instruction with the new state instructional standards in mind, being scrutinized by parents, and coordinating documentation of progress and development of Individualized Education…

In the last decade, the education and policy communities in California have undertaken a major effort to reform the preparation of public school teachers. At the heart of this work is quality education for all children and high-quality teacher education. With the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 2042 in 1998, the state has set in motion the building of…

Through literature reviews, discussions, and a survey of members of the Council for Exceptional Children, a common core of knowledge and skills essential for entry-level special education teachers was developed, composed of 107 statements in 8 categories. The categories include: (1) philosophical, historical, and legal foundations of special…

New teachers entering classrooms must have training and skills to merge today's technologies into learning activities and strategies that will stimulate and maintain student interest. Colleges of education must provide modeling of new and advanced technologies by professors and "hands-on" opportunities for students to become skilled in using…

This paper reports data from a program of research examining how teachers learn the practical, professional knowledge of teaching. Data collection focused on interviews with teachers immediately following a period of classroom observation. Interviews were spaced at monthly intervals when possible. The 15 participants included teachers in training,…

Issues are discussed that graduate students may want to consider before seeking positions at small colleges. The discussion is based on perspectives gained from about 50 interviews as well as 50-60 resumes received from graduate students in psychology. Attention is directed to: enculturation of graduate school norms and their relation to job…

This booklet, which outlines the knowledge and skills that should be guaranteed by graduation from a teacher education program, advocates a strong emphasis on general education, the disciplines underlying pedagogy, the teaching specialty content, and an enriched study and practice of pedagogy. A profile is offered of the competencies beginning…

The New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Department have approved a plan to implement a written licensing examination as the first step in a process to professionalize teaching. However, important issues and questions are raised when considering this testing component, such as: (1) the questionable validity of tests already in…

A survey of social studies supervisors revealed that beginning teachers have inadequate knowledge of social studies content and teaching methods, both of which, according to the supervisors, are essential to good teaching. Reform is needed in teacher education. National Council for the Social Studies teacher education standards are inadequate. (RM)

This document suggests changes to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in four targeted areas. Regarding Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) supports: (1) Setting challenging but demonstrably attainable student progress goals; (2) Judging school effectiveness by measuring progress of the same students over…

This collection of papers presents the experiences of several university educators in dispelling myths about teacher education. The papers include: "Introduction--Out of the Ivory Towers: Making Connections with the Public" (Gail Huffman-Joley); "Education Deans Are Not Activists for Reform" (Richard C. Kunkel and Molly…

This paper focuses on the experiences of one beginning teacher, studying the ways issues of race and ethnicity are dealt with in a predominately white elementary school. Faced with issues of racism in the classroom, the teacher had no strategies to handle either overt or covert racism, both of which appeared to be condoned by those responsible for…

Describes Wilson's experience in Ithaca College's Teaching Apprenticeship in Writing, a program that introduces teaching apprentices to the instructional process and pairs them with professor mentors. (VWC)

Carolyn Evertson discusses the importance of forging links between the teacher preparation institution and the world of practice; skills that make a good mentor; the inaccessibility of educational research and its inability to affect educational policy; new directions in classroom management; and the need to work with students, parents, and…

A beginning teacher appointed to a remote Aboriginal school in the Northern Territory (Australia) describes experiences that led him to question his worth as a teacher, including social and professional isolation, his idealistic expectations of becoming a teacher, and difficulties in teaching students of various ages and academic levels. (LP)