A federally-funded three-year project is described that was undertaken by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages to train a group of Texas-based college level foreign language educators in French, German, and Spanish to serve as oral proficiency interviewers and evaluators of all applicants for a Texas state teaching certificate…

This publication presents the foreign language profession's consensus on selected topics and is designed to address areas of interest to instructional leaders and practitioners who are concerned with developing and maintaining effective second language programs. The topics are grouped into four sections: "Preparing for the…

This model of teacher supervision was designed to improve instruction in the Aspinwall Elementary School in the Fox Chapel School District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The project sought to accomplish three things: improve the achievement level of underachieving students, increase teacher instructional effectiveness, and change the teachers'…

The Philadelphia Collaborative for Excellence in Teaching Education (CETP) helps develop, implement, and evaluate a new model for science and mathematics K-12 teacher preparation. It involves collaboration of two colleges and a school district. One of the collaborative's main objectives is to redesign the content and pedagogy of core mathematics…

Focusing on the future of at-risk students is critical. Collaboration between university and public school educators in a Professional Development School (PDS) can provide opportunities for faculty and preservice teachers to participate with at-risk students and their teachers to improve current practices, provide individualized experiences, and…

Describes a constructivist teaching exercise consisting of a group of teachers involved in regular instructional conversations. Raises issues related to conceptualizing frameworks for teaching and developing new teacher assessments, arguing that new assessments should reflect a comprehensive view of teaching based on a broad continuum of teaching…

As community colleges struggle with keeping their disciplines and programs up-to-date, offer more courses to an ever-increasing student population, and battle shrinking budgets, adjunct faculty save the day (Roueche, Roueche, & Milliron, 1995). To retain quality part-time faculty members already employed in community colleges, as well as new hires…

This paper describes and interprets an action research project that supported student teachers learning to teach physical education in a community-based, after-school games program. Ten student teachers taught 10 lessons to elementary school children, under the guidance of 3 supervisory teachers, who were graduate students, and one program…

The process developed at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) for evaluating adjunct faculty in the English Department parallels the one developed by full-time faculty for their own evaluation. The process, which is overseen by the Program Head for English Adjunct Faculty (PHEAF), involves student evaluations, grade analyses, classroom…

The Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST), was developed at Educational Testing Service at the request of the National Teachers Examination Policy Council. The battery of three tests is designed to provide objective, standardized measures of basic proficiency in reading, mathematics, and writing. The steps in the test development process of this…

Two components in making decisions about selecting courses are examined: course descriptions by instructors and evaluation of instruction by students. Faculty attitudes toward student evaluations in general and their attitudes about evaluations being used for instructional improvement, administrative decisions, and course selection are discussed,…

An edited transcript of a discussion on innovative ways to improve teacher education is presented. The moderator was W. Robert Houston, and the "resource persons" were Fred Wood of Pennsylvania State University and Dwight Allen of Old Dominion University. Wood and Allen are introduced, and their suggestions for improving staff…

Performance-based teacher certification in Georgia is centered on: criterion-referenced tests, and on-the-job assessment procedures for student teachers and beginning teachers. A state-funded contract was awarded to develop teacher certification tests, resulting in a 250-item pool and 15 criterion-referenced tests for 32 teaching fields. Cutting…

This paper explains that today's teacher preparation programs must meet the needs of tomorrow's teachers. They must be practical, experiential, and effective, and must produce educators who practice personal reflection, ongoing professional development, and lifelong learning. The Professional Development School (PDS) model addresses these needs.…

This fastback explains that better teaching is the key to higher student achievement, and improving the quality of both teachers and their teaching is an important challenge for departments of education and schools nationwide. The fastback focuses on: "Enhancing Teacher Quality" (content knowledge, licensure and certification, and…