Comparative research was conducted on two preservice teacher education field experience programs. The "Tutoring Program" was designed to place participants in active teaching roles by having them prepare remedial lessons and tutor pupils. The "Teacher Apprentice Program" was designed to expose participants to a full range of teaching…

Describes the difficulties encountered when a college professor of education returned to an elementary school mathematics classroom. Provides excerpts from his daily journal, which is organized by themes (e.g., planning, uncertainties about students' learning, the adult as stranger, classroom management, and teaching skills), and reflects on how…

Excerpts from case reports illustrate some problems and dilemmas of three teacher trainees who entered teaching via alternative certification. The article highlights ways in which they were helped or harmed by the intervention of their mentor teachers. Based on analysis of case material, policy recommendations are made to school districts. (IAH)

Examines one professor's beginning as a reflective practitioner who practiced critical reflection in teaching and learning, highlighting research on students' beliefs about good teacher characteristics. Interviews with and observations of elementary students examined their beliefs about what characteristics made a good teacher. Results indicated…

Responds to Goodlad's article on teacher education's journey over the past century and its current malaise, suggesting that the rest of the journey is up to teacher education faculty, their university colleagues, and partners within communities and schools who must work to improve education. Describes Massachusetts' experience in attempting to…

This article describes a systematic overhaul of a teacher preparation program and presents outcomes based on studies of the program's effectiveness in improving the knowledge and skills of teacher educators--university and PK-12 based--related to technology, diversity, and democratic education. The renewal program was peer designed and implemented…

A selected annotated bibliography on the preparation of secondary school teachers is divided into five categories: (1) research on secondary education; (2) research on secondary teacher education students; (3) discussions of general secondary school teacher preparation; (4) discussions of math and science teacher preparation; and (5) discussions…

Presents student teachers' reactions to a mathematics and science methods class redesigned to challenge their beliefs regarding the nature of mathematics, themselves as learners, and teaching-learning processes. Student interviews, journal writings, mathematics autobiographies, exams, and class writings indicated that many students increased their…

Demonstrates a process for creating a preservice teacher evaluation instrument utilizing the expertise of teacher educators who conduct the evaluations. Highlights how one college developed such an instrument using the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS). Preservice teacher supervisors participated at all stages of development of the rating…

Investigated hiring criteria Canadian administrators used to assess prospective teachers seeking employment. Surveys of 69 Directors of Education indicated that hiring preferences reflected directors' own practical orientation toward schooling. The three broad areas that the directors valued were good interpersonal communication skills, good…

Marva Collins' teaching style includes positive reinforcement, high teacher expectation, high motivation, and love. Cultural congruence, or the relationship between curriculum and the pupil's cultural experiences outside the school, is also a significant factor. Although she uses a traditional curriculum, Ms. Collins' success lies in the…

Results are reported from an investigation into the influence of subject-specific coursework in the development of pedagogical content knowledge in English through contrasting case studies of six beginning English teachers, only three of whom graduated from teacher education programs. Implications for teacher education policy, research, and…

Describes a cognitive intervention that offered novice student teachers access to the thinking underlying an expert teacher's practice, examining the implementation and impact of the cognitive intervention, which involved two 2-hour workshops held between participants' first and second practicum experiences. Workshop transcripts indicated that…

Promotes the improvement of school success for ethnically diverse students via culturally responsive teachers and the preparation of preservice teachers with necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills to do this, highlighting: development of a cultural diversity knowledge base; design of culturally relevant curricula; demonstration of cultural…

Describes a two-year, collaborative, university-school district teacher induction program in which beginning teachers' classroom performance was assessed using a behavioral observation instrument. Participants made significant gains, with first-year gains resulting from improvements in classroom organization and second-year gains related to…