This paper describes an intervention which was designed to: (1) provide opportunities for preservice teachers to collaborate with and network with inservice teachers; (2) create an environment which facilitated collaboration and interaction among early childhood, elementary, and special education majors; and (3) model collaborative teaching and…

This study sought to identify a set of factors that teacher candidates perceived to have influenced their decisions to become teachers and then to determine the family and personal characteristics of the candidates that might be associated with these perceived influences. The subjects were 377 teacher candidates commencing the teacher preparation…

Although student populations of public schools are becoming increasingly diverse, the teacher population has remained relatively homogeneous, and many teachers do not have sufficient knowledge of or experience with other cultural groups to deal with differences in the classroom. Gay men and lesbians comprise one such cultural group. A survey of 42…

This study investigated whether or not recent educational reform efforts might be related to the level of academic skills of individuals entering teacher preparation programs. A sample of 1991 beginning teacher candidates (n=377) was compared with a sample of 1985 beginning candidates (n=358) entering the same large midwestern institution using…

The study described in this paper examined the use of the writing process as an instructional strategy for enhancing Afro-American preservice teachers' writing and reflective competence for teaching effectively. The major methodological concern focused on the pedagogical process for encouraging preservice teachers to integrate their beliefs and…

This study examined the reasons given by college students for choosing teaching as a career, comparing responses of high-achieving graduates of select liberal arts colleges enrolled in the Teaching and Curriculum program at Harvard Graduate School of Education to become secondary level teachers, and 53 prospective early childhood, elementary, and…

Current research and learning theory suggest that a hierarchy of proportional reasoning exists that can be tested. Using G. Vergnaud's four complexity variables (structure, content, numerical characteristics, and presentation) and T. E. Kieren's model of rational number knowledge building, an epistemic model of proportional reasoning was…

In 1990, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) conducted a study to determine ways in which the community college system could increase its participation in the preparation of elementary and secondary teachers. Drawing information from ICCB course files and unit cost data, as well as a survey of the colleges, the study investigated the…

The adaptation and use of local area network (LAN) computer technology as an educational enhancement and as a social process in a university teacher education program were studied. The LAN technology, electronic bulletin board, and facsimile machines were used to enhance university supervised clinical settings for novice teachers in the public…

College teaching and learning were studied with respect to students' preferences for learning and motivation as they relate to various instructional methods used in teacher education. A traditional lecture format and the cooperative group discussion teaching method were compared within a specific college population. Participants (N=20), students…

Pennsylvania does not have a legislatively mandated program in place for assessing teacher education programs in institutions of higher education. This study was conducted to examine how Pennsylvania's public and private universities and colleges assess the quality of their teacher education programs. Deans and/or chairs of teacher education…

Various parallel forms of the NTE (National Teacher Examinations) Test of Professional Knowledge (NTETPK) have been administered to examinees aspiring to initial teacher certification since 1982. To confirm that recent reported scores are comparable to those from earlier forms, the stability of the score scale was studied using section…

Many indicators point to a crisis of confidence and credibility in the role of the teacher as a professional and moral leader. In response, many educational researchers are recommending that reflective teachers examine the moral and ethical issues embedded in their everyday thinking and behavior. A study was conducted, therefore, to identify and…

Elementary preservice teachers in institutions certified by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in the southern U.S. completed the Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory. Results indicated that subjects exhibited cultural sensitivity in the areas of the culturally diverse family, cross-cultural communication,…

This paper describes an undergraduate teacher education course offered at Urbana University (Ohio). The course introduces preservice teachers to the nature of multiculturalism in terms of economic, social, intellectual, age, and gender differences, leading participants to explore this educational process from sociological and psychological…