Few studies have addressed the effects of teacher education generally, no less the specific program elements necessary to prepare competent and caring teachers. As a result, to address teacher shortages in science, mathematics, and special education, alternatives to traditional preparation have been proposed, and their development has proceeded…

The Quality Assurance Teacher Education Program has been designed to provide students, graduates, and employers with assurance of program quality and effectiveness. Elements of the program are discussed. (DF)

An integrated program for training program and staff development specialists should be of high priority in higher education. (MM)

The practical needs of preservice teachers are considered from the perspective of their needs within the larger framework of professional, societal, and personal education. (LH)

Human relations training can be effectively adapted to teacher education courses and may lead to later improvement in teacher-student rapport. (LH)

Career ladder and other incentive programs are resisted when teachers and administrators involved in the programs are removed from the initial decision making process. The ideal scenario is described. Implications for teacher educators are discussed. (Author/MT)

The interrelated themes of identity, non-passivity, control, and curriculum must be addressed in any successful innovation in teacher education. An innovative masters-level program is explored in terms of these themes. (Author/MT)

An internship/residency model of teacher education was developed by the California Consortium on the Beginning Years of Teaching. A successful initiation of the model and problems that prevented implementation elsewhere are described. (DF)

Effective inservice programs are necessary to ensure that current reforms in education are properly implemented. Inservice programs must meet the needs of both the educational system and educators. Six basic policy assumptions dealing with what is needed in inservice education are discussed. (DF)

The New England Program in Teacher Education model of inservice education is described. (MM)

The College of Education at Cleveland State University has developed a Visiting Instructors Program with area school districts. Outstanding classroom teachers serve as teacher educators for a one-year period. The benefits of this partnership are discussed. (DF)

The National Writing Project is a collaborative effort between teachers and professors aimed at the improvement of teaching. A discussion of the project's history and structure and implications for other cooperative efforts in inservice education are offered. (DF)

Teacher education is described using opinions from critics both inside and outside the profession. A new model for teacher preparation is proposed that is based on four different models. Several unique teacher education programs are reviewed. (DF)

A "Product-Action" approach extends the research and theory of teacher education into the reality of the actual learning site. (LH)

This article describes a model for conducting collaborative, goal-oriented conferences with student interns to enable them to acquire the skills of beginning teachers. The procedures and rationale of the Supervised Throughput Model are described, and suggestions for its application are made. (JL)