The Lincoln, Nebraska, Teacher Corps' contracting process offers an effective model for team teaching, individualizing/personalizing instruction, and demonstrating both teacher and learner levels of competency. (JMF)

Research on the effects of teacher clarity on student achievement levels suggests that teacher trainees should concentrate on reducing their use of "vagueness terms" and ambiguous word phraseology in a classroom situation. (LH)

Traces developments following warnings that tests used for teacher education admission or licensure may prevent capable African Americans from entering teaching, using elementary student teachers' evaluations and test scores to examine the possible impact on newly licensed teachers' effectiveness if passing cutoff scores were raised by one point.…

Discusses the need to increase urban teacher supply and address urban teacher turnover by learning what makes teaching in urban schools fulfilling and offering related policy solutions. The paper looks at defining urban teacher quality, understanding urban teacher learning, developing processes and structures that support urban teacher learning,…

This article discusses problems of beginning teachers and suggests two categories of solutions: increased support during the initial year and increased involvement of principals in the preservice preparation program. Several responsibilities for principals in relation to student teaching are recommended. (IAH)

Six measurement strategies are suggested for assessing different kinds or aspects of competencies: (1) teaching tests; (2) behavior samples; (3) teaching exercises; (4) classroom interaction simulations; (5) projected problem exercises; and (6) paper-and-pencil exercises. (MJB)

The reform of the nature and content of secondary school teacher preparation programs is advocated in an examination of four key assumptions: (1) Secondary school teachers must be content specialists; (2) Secondary school teachers must teach by lecturing; (3) All students are the same; and (4) Secondary school teachers are best socialized to…

A review of current research efforts reveals that there is little dependable evidence that teachers, under similar conditions, exhibit what has been defined as differential performances. (JMF)

Describes Alberta, Canada's Initiation to Teaching Project, which addressed beginning teachers' inadequate practical skills, eased the transition to full-time professional work, and reduced teacher unemployment and underemployment. Project evaluation revealed that most participants considered it a valuable induction scheme that resulted in…

Fostering teachers' clinical reasoning as a reflection of their understanding of classrooms should be a central purpose of any modern teacher education program. This article presents a rationale for and description of a proposal for pre-student teaching laboratory experiences which utilize computer-based simulations to facilitate development of…

This study examines whether the concepts held by teachers are communicated to students during instruction and if students' concepts of reading reflect their teachers' concepts of reading. Implications for teacher education are discussed. (IAH)

The central research question addressed at the National Center for Teacher Education is, "What do teacher education programs contribute to teachers' learning?" This article describes how this question is explored, conceptualization of key terms in the question, data collection strategies, and contributions and limitations of the Center's…

Argues that the legitimacy of accreditation in teacher education is rooted in political consensus, power, and scholarship. Because these roots are fragile, there is no accepted concept of educational malpractice. The legitimacy of accreditation should be rooted in scholarly evidence that the program has fulfilled the claim that its graduates are…

Responds to Goodlad's comments that a school of education not preparing teachers is an anomaly that provokes mischief, suggesting that it also promotes disbelief. States that the primary mission of schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) is the preparation of teachers, noting that many SCDEs have lost sight of that focus and…

Helping teachers understand the relationship between the message of instructional content and the medium of instructional technology is a legitimate focus for colleges of education. Colleges of education can respond to the need for computer sophistication by creating survey courses on the uses of computers in education. (JN)