Directs attention to crucial issues facing English teaching in Canada, among them teacher qualifications, the return to basics movement, and unqualified, tenured teachers who are reassigned to teach English from other subject areas. (CRH)

This study identifies special needs students, by category of definition, who were enrolled in vocational agriculture programs in Pennsylvania during the 1980-81 school year. It further identifies program-related problems encountered by vocational agriculture teachers and it provides teachers' perceived level of competence for teaching handicapped…

A comparison is offered between competency-based programs using a consortium model and field-based programs relying on teacher autonomy for use in teacher education programs. (JMF)

This report presents final proposals of five transition groups that gave shape to the recommendations of the Australian National Training Authority Ministerial Council relating to bringing training providers and their clients more closely together. Section 2 discusses simplifying processes and structures, through national structures, closer…

This monograph contains seven papers from a workshop for pre- and in-service administrators and teachers serving special needs students. In "Identification Factors and Criteria for Determining Disadvantaged: Definition of Terms" Edgar I. Farmer, Sr., sets workshop parameters and defines terms. Royce Bland, in "Suggested Techniques…

A variety of responses to lifelong learning issues are contained in these essays by 12 practitioners directly involved in non-traditional educational alternatives. Sheila Gordon and Augusta Souza Kappner analyze the demographics, motivation, and environment of returning adult students. Peter Smith looks at the educator as facilitator rather than…

To respond to teacher training needs, staff at the National Center for Research in Vocational Education developed an alternative approach to teacher/instructor preparation, called performance-based teacher education (PBTE). This training program was based on competencies required of successful vocational and technical instructors and required the…

This report summarizes the proceedings of the second National Child Development Associate (CDA) Workshop conducted by University Research Corporation with the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF). The purpose of the workshop was to provide information and assistance to staff from Head Start grantees, educational institutions, and…

If teacher competency tests were constructed according to a criterion-referenced paradigm, it would be possible both to assess worthwhile competencies and describe them with sufficient rigor. Such tests would thus be amenable to the design of effective instruction, permitting aspiring teachers to master the competencies identified. (Author/GC)

Teacher education programs should include methods of promoting self-awareness in prospective physical educators. Suggested guidelines to help develop potential are listed, including increased autonomy; more adequate assumptions about reality, possibility, and value; improved competencies; and increased awareness and openness to experience.…

Recommends the improvement of English teacher training programs that would include a focus on developing sensitivity to language in prospective English teachers. (AEA)

Argues that the competency-based guidelines for teacher training in Scotland fraudulently present teaching as an uncontroversial set of basic skills; obscure the point that educational knowledge and practice are rooted in forms of moral and evaluative discourse; and belie the inherent controversy of educational aims, objectives, and methods. (KS)

Describes a study designed to create a competency model for community-college education professionals, and a self-assessment based on that model to identify areas of developmental need, perceived importance, and training priority. Two-hundred eighty-seven respondents ranked 89 tasks categorized into 14 competency areas. Communications skills were…

Janice Wearmouth is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the Open University in the UK. She has many years' experience of teaching and research in mainstream secondary schools and of developing and leading postgraduate development courses for teachers in the area of special and inclusive education. In this article,…

As public funds decline and the political climate changes, accountability and quality assurance are important issues for U.S. colleges and universities, and institutional leaders are concerned about a shift away from the established institution-centered structures, toward government-mandated, standards-driven systems. This paper explores the…