This report examines the impact of teacher quality on student achievement in Canada, analyzing current research, practices, and innovations to provide a better understanding of the complexity of teaching and effective teacher deployment. The nine chapters focus on: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Indicators of Teacher Quality" (defining teacher quality…

This volume provides an overview of some of the outstanding features of the work of the Norwegian sociologist and comparative educationist, Jon Lauglo. After an introduction, "'It Ain't Necessarily So!': Theories and Observations in Jon Lauglo's World of Education and Training" (Se-Yung Lim and Klaus Schaack), essays and studies are…

This report discusses the place of preservice and inservice teacher education in the needs of gifted children, outlines the role of the gifted education specialist, and discusses the competencies that gifted education specialists should have. It begins by providing a joint statement of core beliefs and goals related to giftedness and the…

The first section of this booklet discusses the union role in assuring teacher quality, focusing on the teacher development continuum (preservice preparation, entry level standards, induction programs and the granting of tenure, standards for granting tenure, and continuing professional development) and the union role in assuring quality teaching…

This paper describes an initiative developed at Pittsburg State University, Kansas, that involved radically changing the program's performance-based standards and expanding the structure of the student teaching experiences to include multiple avenues of training and assessing teacher development. The paper: (1) identifies characteristics in each…

The Ontario College of Teachers licenses, governs, and regulates teaching practice. Its mandate includes providing leadership in developing standards of practice. This paper examines the mandate of the Standards of Practice and Education Committee and work of the staff in the Standards of Practice and Education Unit. After describing development…

This exploratory study examined a field-based project in which preservice teacher candidates and faculty collaborated to implement a problem-centered, technology integrated curriculum for a multiage (4th, 5th, and 6th grade) intersession at Timber Lane Elementary School. Content included detective skills such as fingerprinting and handwriting…

This paper presents initial findings from a 2-year study to identify the core knowledge and skills necessary to teach in a standards-based system. The study was part of the Standards-Based Teacher Education Project (STEP), which focused on the development of frameworks and materials for preservice and practicing teachers. High school teachers and…

Educators create the culture of success in schools through the effective implementation of classroom management and discipline. Creating a proactive learning environment relies heavily on the training of new teachers in classroom management. Having new teachers find a management style which is consistent within the culture of the school and in…

Examines a social studies methods course where preservice teachers explored ways to use a variety of materials and sources to engage middle and high school students in higher order thinking about social studies content, especially with regard to historical thinking. Discusses students' responses. (MJP)

Discusses the special challenges presented to classroom teachers in identifying low income, gifted students and describes an independent field study conducted by a preservice teacher in a school with an at-risk population. Concludes that improved teacher attitudes could be fostered by applying educational theory to classroom practice as a…

This paper provides strategies used by several teacher education programs to enable beginning and continuing teachers to celebrate diversity in curriculum, faculty, and student body. Explains that successful programs identify and overcome such barriers to diversity as geographic location, limited pool of faculty applicants, unspoken prejudices,…

Examines some activities that Miami University initiated to change its teacher training orientation to inclusive practices. The process included establishing a context for change (creating a reform agenda and offering administrative support) and establishing a need for change among constituents (documenting need, identifying inclusive teacher…

The College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin is collaborating with the Austin Independent School District to improve teacher education through restructuring of the preservice curriculum, infusion of technology into teacher preparation, a research-based internship program, new teacher mentoring, and administrator development. One…

This article describes how the Professional Development School without Walls, a partnership between the Departments of Special Education and Elementary Education at the University of South Florida and two large school districts, was developed; the challenges, needs, and contexts influencing the development and implementation process; and the…