The semi-structured interview was investigated as a content-based assessment designed to take into account the complexity of teaching. A semi-structured interview licensing assessment for secondary mathematics teachers was developed and tested by the Connecticut State Department of Education. The scoring system converted the open-ended verbal…

Teacher education programs can benefit from research on student retention. By focusing on intervention for the very youngest student, failure at early levels may be reduced. Teachers must be taught to meet the needs of these students and to work more effectively with high-risk students who are potential drop-outs. Teachers can help at-risk…

A study on teacher communication concerns explored the following questions: (1) to what extent is communication concern expressed after the first quarter of college teaching, and (2) does the type of communication concern expressed vary by quarter? The experiences of two new faculty members at a western university provided the data source for the…

This study sought to determine if preservice teachers perceived that state-mandated teaching competencies were important and if they felt competent in these mandated areas. The subjects were 313 preservice teachers enrolled in elementary education at Mississippi State University and Florida State University in the spring of 1989. The subjects…

The 30 or more major educational reform reports that have appeared since "A Nation at Risk" are in solid agreement that public education falls short of excellence. While suggestions for reform in elementary/secondary education have focused on teaching, in colleges and universities the emphasis has been more on curriculum than instruction. However,…

Papers read by three German educationalists at a workshop on "Education between Quality and Equity" are included in this document. The first, by Han Leo Reimann, is entitled "Simulated Reality: The Instructional Objectives within the Framework of Pedagogical Paper Plays." This paper describes a gaming method of simulating…

During the first half-century of the existence of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the teaching of grammar aroused furious debate among its members. In 1924, Charles C. Fries assembled a panel of six language scholars to answer three questions: (1) What should English teachers know about the English language? (2) Do the usual…

A study was undertaken to determine if secondary vocational educators require additional skills to teach adult students enrolled in their classes. The technique selected to implement the study was the DACUM or "Develop a Curriculum" method for analyzing occupational competencies within the vocational education spectrum. A DACUM team…

This report describes a diagnostic instrument designed for school districts to use in assessing the training needs of bilingual staff. The construction and trial administration of the instrument involved several stages. Among these were the development of a pool of subscaled questions, questionnaire forms, and a pool of instrument questions. The…

A number of ideological, economic and demographic changes are necessitating radical and substantial changes in the education system in England and Wales. Foreseeing a teacher shortage throughout primary education well into the 1990s, alternative forms of entry to the profession have been explored. However, the largest potential source for…

Teacher testing began in Arkansas when the governor threatened to veto a 1% sales tax if a teacher testing bill were not passed. With enactment of Act 76 in 1983, an instrument was developed for field testing in 1984 over objections of the Arkansas Education Association. The test, the Arkansas Educational Skills Assessment, is comprised of 50…

A survey of preservice and inservice teachers identified teaching competencies they perceived to be most important. A self-administered questionnaire asked respondents to use Likert scales to rate the importance of 44 teaching competencies. A comparison was made between the perceptions of preservice and inservice teachers and between the results…

Preservice teachers can be taught skills in questioning techniques through a three-stage process of modeling, practicing, and evaluation. In a methods course taught by the authors, education students were confused by the variety of questioning techniques available, and would not adopt effective and efficient approaches to questioning. A…

The recent integration of learning disabled students into regular classrooms has emphasized the need of the regular classroom teacher to have special education competencies. The implication is that all teachers should attain a certain level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. The Generic Affective Competency (GAC) model identifies how teachers…

The most suitable vehicle for preparing preservice teachers for work with exceptional children is clinical experience, which include practica, field experiences, internships, and student teaching. Besides giving preservice teachers practical work experience, a well-planned and action-oriented clinical experience develops and modifies attitudes,…