As part of an ongoing effort to improve program quality in the Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) Education Unit, a survey was sent to ECSU graduates who were recommended for teaching certification from 1999 through 2001. This report presents student assessment data of the professional preparation provided by the Education Unit at ECSU.…

During the 1998-99 academic year, five teacher education institutions participated in the first year of a study to determine the impact of teacher preparation programs on beginning teachers. This collaboration, known as the Teacher Research Network (TRN), met several times during the academic year and the following summer to investigate recent…

Describes a program designed to help the beginning teacher adjust to a new job and assist him to minimize the common pitfalls and difficulties encountered by many new teachers. (SB)

The Santa Cruz County Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program provides social and instructional support for novice teachers assigned primarily to language minority classrooms. This report, an evaluation and assessment of the program, is organized into chapters as follows: (1) "Introduction and Overview"; (2) "Program…

In examining the theoretical place of induction in the process of becoming a teacher, this paper compares five school-based collaborative models of the use of mentors as part of induction programs to support new teachers. The following aspects of each program are compared: (1) goals; (2) training of mentors; (3) support provided for mentors; and…

Surveys show that 98% of school districts are reporting shortages of special education teachers, and that nearly a quarter of a million new special education teachers will be needed over the next few years. Special education teachers are leaving the field at twice the rate of general education teachers. Why? Special education teachers can quickly…

Describes several promising new teacher support strategies implemented by California universities and their district partners as part of the California New Teacher Project, noting resources expended to implement each strategy. The strategies are framed according to their programmatic and economic dimensions. Strategies that make the most sense…

This study assesses the impact of professional development schools (PDSs) on preservice teachers, comparing PDS and non-PDS candidates at the point of licensure. Data sources include student teaching evaluations and portfolio presentations. Statistical analyses reveal PDS candidates scored significantly higher than non-PDS candidates on aspects of…

Changes in the requirements for training primary school teachers in England over the past 12 years have increasingly demanded more involvement from the schools themselves. University departments and schools have developed partnerships to implement these changes and teachers are increasingly finding themselves taking a key role in the training of…

The central theme of this article is that teachers' professional development in England is not being taken as seriously as it needs to be. With reference to the induction of newly-qualified teachers and the early professional development pilot schemes, it draws on data from several related pieces of research, to argue that cases of…

This paper describes a school/university graduate induction program that has provided support to beginning teachers since 1994. A 10-year follow-up study of program graduates was recently conducted to examine these questions: (a) How many graduates are still in the education profession? (b) How many have remained in the classroom? and (c) What are…

To assist the transition from novice teacher to skilled, experienced teacher, mentorship programs are being developed and refined. One such program has been developed and is currently being implemented and evaluated through the collaborative efforts of teacher educators from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, and staff from a…

Three fundamental questions regarding preservice teacher education are examined in this paper: (1) what preservice teacher education should do and what it should not be expected to do; (2) the important characteristics of programs needed to prepare teachers for effective teaching in the future; and (3) the basic ingredients in effective preservice…

This study examined the perceptions of elementary and secondary school administrators who were participating in an Entry Year Assistance Program. Opinions were sought from 24 administrators concerning the program both as a whole and focusing on various facets of the program, such as the development of the first-year teacher's professionalism and…

This volume presents a summary of the responses of 62 first-year teachers to a seven-page instrument entitled, "An Appraisal of My Preparation as a Teacher at Bowling Green State University." A copy of the instrument is presented. Selected narrative summary comments are made, and following these comments are summary tabular data related…