Recounts a successful implementation of the School Health Curriculum Project in an elementary school. Development of the program has been supported by the federal Bureau of Health Education, Center for Disease Control, and the National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health. (Author/IRT)

Reviews the types of teacher certification examinations and questions their validity and the procedures used for validating the tests. Includes references. (MD)

Although some nontraditional drug education programs work, most programs are either ineffective or actually increase the use of drugs. (Author/IRT)

When training prospective teachers, even the most optimistic, nurturing teacher educator must realize that not every candidate has what it takes to become a good teacher. The tendency to decrease discrimination and academic rigor produces thousands of mediocre teachers who should never have been admitted to training programs and exacerbates the…

Teacher education suffers from parochialism and is essentially the same today as it was 50 years ago. Corporate education programs are large and well developed, and adoption of their promising ideas could improve teacher education. Eight conclusions about corporate educational practices are presented from a study of corporate training programs…

This assessment of the deficiencies of teachers focuses on teacher education programs and current methods of certification. (IRT)

The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium is engaged in a multistate effort to craft model teacher licensing standards. Preparation programs must be redesigned to ensure that all candidates have developed a strong foundation of content and pedagogical knowledge, can demonstrate this knowledge in practice, and have exhibited…

Teaching is not an activity directly producing the learning of some specific matter (which is inadequate as a definition of teaching and incapable of being guaranteed), but an activity intentionally directed toward, and potentially capable of, improving the student's general intellectual functioning or "cognitive competence" in whatever…

Reviews recent court cases concerning teacher "immorality," which appear to be on the increase, and offers guidelines that have emerged from such cases. (IRT)

The drive to eliminate undergraduate teacher education programs raises problems. Discusses the hostile climate of opinion expressed about teacher education in many colleges and universities. (MD)

Schools of education need to broaden their mission to open up realistic new career options in education in order to attract the kinds of talented persons who entered education in the 1960s. While the demand for schoolteachers has declined, the overall demand for learning in this society has vastly expanded. (Author/IRT)

Student learning must be touchstone by which teachers and teacher educators are gauged. Unfortunately articles in November 1996 "Kappan" on "Quality Teaching for the 21st Century" don't support this statement. In contrast to three national certification initiatives, Oregon's teacher licensure system (Oregon Work Sampling…

Discusses written and unwritten tests of teachers and such issues as due process, equal protection, and test validity. (IRT)

With its inadequate training methods and disregard for teaching and learning knowledge base, Wendy Kopp's Teach for America (TFA) program continues a long tradition of devaluing urban students and deprofessionalizing teaching. One elementary school principal found that recruits lacked teaching skills and were not really dedicated to meeting…

Although most public-school teachers have undergraduate degrees, only 68% to 76% possess at least a bachelor's degree in their area. Do advanced degrees enhance teacher productivity? A recent study of 8th- and 10th-graders' math and science achievement suggest that only advanced degrees specific to the subjects taught should be rewarded. (12…