Nine discussions identify needs and concerns of beginning teachers and call for a more concerted effort to ensure a smooth transition from preservice teacher to a working professional. An historical perspective on beginning teachers' problems and attempted solutions is provided in the first chapter. An interview with four beginning teachers…

The focus of the literature in this review is on schools of education and teacher educators. References are included on major works on the topics, and central questions and issues are raised. The factors which make it difficult to arrive at consensus about the quality of teaching in higher education are outlined along with various definitions of…

A philosophical and pragmatic critique is offered of the pedagogical dilemmas confronting the educational establishment. It is argued that higher education institutions at present have no clear idea of what a liberal arts education ought to accomplish, what its scope ought to be, and how its goals ought to be reached. The academic community is…

In a study at the University of Illinois, student written comments to four open-ended questions in end-of-semester student evaluations of 60 courses from ten different fields, taught by instructors of different ranks, were analyzed and classified into 22 categories. Nearly two-thirds were about the instructor, and one of four comments were on…

The proceedings of a conference that discussed the universities' responsibilities in the preparation of mathematics teachers are presented. The report covers a series of meetings at Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, from August 31 to September 3, 1977. The conference was restricted to university mathematicians and mathematics educators in…

Two student evaluation surveys developed in the United States were administered to a sample of University of Sydney students to determine their applicability in Australia. The Endeavor Instructional Rating Form (Frey et al.) measures seven components of effective teaching that have been demonstrated with the use of factor analysis in several…

The proceedings of the conference include background information, transcripts of opening and closing sessions, papers presented, a conference program, summary of discussions, findings and recommendations, and lists of committees and participants. The papers are divided into four sections: (1) goals and objectives of university education in…

This course guide provides a survey of reading instruction and a description of the skills necessary for teaching reading in the elementary classroom. The purpose of the course is to help the student develop into a competent teacher of reading at the elementary school level through a competency-based approach to teacher education. Each…

One of seven similar project reports dealing with program development in career education for teacher, counselor, and administrator preparation, this report presents, in two sections, information on infusing career education content into secondary teacher education programs. The first section describes the results of the work done by the Secondary…

Skills and attitudes needed by language teachers, characteristics of a well-designed curriculum, and other aspects of teaching and learning in foreign language and second language programs are outlined. (SW)

Describes a small, decentralized, flexible program for training instructors of freshman composition. Recommends ways to capture the flavor of small programs in larger university settings. (SKC)

Discusses the need to individualize instruction. Presents a model for such instruction based on learning efficiency. Outlines the model in terms of its impact on the learner, instructional materials and media, instructional methods, the teacher, and the teaching and learning environment. (TW)

This document describes Harris-Stowe State College's (HSSC's) Performance-Based Design System for the Preparation of Effective Teachers for a Diverse Society. The program prepares teachers who possess subject matter, sociocultural, instructional, and personal-professional competencies that mirror effective teaching practices for enhancing P-12…

This paper explores relationships among grade point average (GPA), SAT scores, and Praxis I and II scores for traditional undergraduate preservice teachers, describing the development of an instrument to assess teaching skills. Participants were students from eight graduating classes at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, from 1994-2001…

Research shows that teacher quality affects student achievement more greatly than any other school-based variable. The No Child Left Behind Act requires a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom by the 2005-2006 school year and achievement gains by all students over time. These realities give policymakers a strong incentive to focus on…