This study investigated how school principals and media specialists in elementary and secondary schools perceive the preparation of pre-service teachers regarding media and technology and specific skills that should be required of beginning teachers. A survey instrument was administered to 83 principals and 83 media specialists employed at schools…

A case study of the experiences of a Native American teacher (Joseph) during his first year of teaching examined the transition from the idealistic world of college to the stark realities of actual teaching. Data were gathered through bimonthly semistructured interviews, classroom observations, and telephone communication. Joseph picked a…

Teacher education must become a profession by initiating significant changes, requiring perceptual shifts, in training models. Needed are a generalist-specialist training model; recognition that program graduates are not qualified practitioners of the teaching profession until satisfactory completion of a two-year residency; and coordination among…

Beginning teacher competencies identified by the Scottish Education Department would best be achieved through a clearly defined college-school partnership involving structured input from the college and the development of a mentoring program for student teachers. This partnership would also require uniformity of standards and specific criteria for…

Four particularly troublesome problems for beginning teachers are imitation, isolation, transfer, and teaching technique. The structure of many teacher education programs contributes to such problems. The article describes the changes in the teacher education program at the Catholic University of America to overcome such problems. (SM)

An award-winning program designed to increase the number of beginning teachers in urban schools, support experienced teachers functioning as mentors, and develop inservice and preservice teachers' interactive teaching practices has three components: developing a professional development school, a teacher observation system, and study groups…

Cites examples of the difficulties of parent partnerships for child care teachers and presents suggestions for creating successful relationships between parent and child care worker. Suggests that an understanding of parental roles and insecurities, teacher insecurities, and predictably difficult issues can assist new teachers in creating…

This study examined the actual use of computer technology by four beginning social studies teachers in their history courses during their first year in the classroom. Specifically, it involved an assessment of their efforts to use computer technology to teach their students about historical thinking and historical inquiry, in particular the…

One of the greatest challenges that general education teachers face is how to address the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Perhaps what is most disturbing about this challenge is that many general education teachers seem unprepared to face it. Researchers investigating inclusive classrooms have found that general…

This study of factors leading to early departure from institutions of higher education used case studies of five newly hired faculty members who left their institutions with five matched (for cohort, institution, and department) newly hired peers who remained. Survey data were gathered from newly hired faculty at five institutions during the 1991…

The 13 essays in this book examine the theory of constructivism in relation to teaching and learning. The first section provides an account of the epistemological, psychological, and sociocultural research that serves as the theoretical basis of constructivism, and includes the following chapters: "Introduction: Aspects of Constructivism" (Ernst…

This study describes the existing "state of the state" with regard to preservice elementary science preparation at colleges and universities in Texas. Data consisted of responses from 61 educational institutions involved in elementary teacher preparation on a 50-item survey mailed to 98 institutions in Texas. Data analysis focused on…

A preservice teacher was interviewed 10 times during his last year of teacher education, when he participated in several mathematics teacher education courses and field experiences, and his first year of high school teaching. The case study was designed to develop an understanding of the teacher development process by considering how one teacher…

This survey measured the experiences of new public school teachers who began their first year of teaching in the 1990-91 school year. It is the third of three surveys of this cohort of new teachers. The current survey focuses on teachers' experiences and attitudes 2 years into their teaching career, and includes questions which allow for…

Six student teachers who were committed to the tenets of whole language were studied to determine how they manifested their whole language perspectives in light of the enabling and constraining factors they faced in their specific field sites. Results indicated that the six student teachers were forced to alter their teaching behaviors…