The hypothesis that ethnocultural minority teachers bring characteristics and experiences to their teaching that create a positive learning environment was studied by tracking 20 Canadian candidates of color from preadmission to teacher education through graduate study. Findings show the transgenerational commitment to role modeling and…

Reports an exploratory investigation which examined how advice and support from teacher training tutors and school teacher mentors influenced elementary student teachers' classroom practice. Mentors significantly influenced the content of curriculum students taught. Tutors were more influential on deciding how to teach. Friends and relatives were…

Describes a creative organization of low-enrollment schools that was created in order to allow teachers in village schools to share their ideas and discuss professional problems and to address the needs of students and beginning teachers. Considers the village teacher's role in producing quality education and their influence on village schools.…

Novice and experienced special educators and headteachers (total n=49) of special schools in Israel received the Teacher Training Interactive Problem-solving System computer-training system and then completed a questionnaire on four common behavioral difficulties in children: attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, conduct disorders,…

Innovations, Educational Testing Service (ETS's) corporate magazine, provides information on educational assessment for educators, school leaders, researchers and policymakers around the world. Each issue focuses on a particular theme in assessment. This issue explores the question, "What makes a great teacher?" Articles in this issue…

Helen Ladd takes a comparative look at policies that the world's industrialized countries are using to assure a supply of high-quality teachers. Her survey puts U.S. educational policies and practices into international perspective. Ladd begins by examining teacher salaries--an obvious, but costly, policy tool. She finds, perhaps surprisingly,…

This study analyzed differences in perception of "critical incidents" in classroom teaching among inexperienced, experienced, and award-winning university professors. In past research, expert and novice differences in teaching have been attributed to differences in teacher knowledge, but the teachers were almost entirely at the…

This study, currently in progress, explores the perceptions of 75 near graduate primary teacher education students at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, about their preparedness to teach. It investigates the students' views about the areas of teaching for which they feel the 3-year program of teacher education at the School of…

Mentoring programs have consistently demonstrated their value in assisting new and early faculty members to make successful adjustments and productive contributions to the academy. Yet, mentoring programs have failed to be consistently implemented despite their efficacy and increasing levels of job dissatisfaction reported by new and early faculty…

This paper reviews research that has been done in Australia on teacher education in the past decade. It presents some perspectives on the potential of that research to inform practice and to improve the process of teacher education. The research projects studied included preservice education, the induction of beginning teachers, and the…

This report describes a Scottish Education Department study of induction (new staff orientation) policy and practice provided by colleges and of perceptions about the adequacy of such provision in the opinion of new staff, senior college staff, and regional officials. An introduction discusses the two-stage research design; this consists of case…

In a University of Ottawa field-based teacher education program, students spend much of their postdegree preservice year in schools. Three studies of the first cohort of program participants suggest that the model of preservice education has less effect on the first-year teaching experience than do the nature of the practicum and coursework…

Explores the conceptual basis of teaching in China through the metaphor of teacher as virtuoso performer, with teaching considered an art. Field research results on teacher preparation and elementary and secondary teaching practice are shared. Shortcomings of this teaching model and implications for educational reform are considered. (IAH)

Reports a study that investigated how a preservice teacher education program affected the development of student teachers' understanding of the role of information technology (IT) in the history classroom, noting the role of mentors. Interviews indicated the use of IT in history was important for both mentors and students. (SM)

Examined beginning teachers' role in reconceptualizing classroom instruction. After learning about teaching inquiry and completing a student-teaching practicum, student teachers completed surveys about teaching inquiry during the practicum. Few taught inquiry or saw their associate teach it during the practicum. This made them less enthusiastic…