Provided is a competency based career ladder model (developed for Colorado) to enable universities and colleges to improve preservice programs for teachers of the moderately and severely retarded, and to aid state and local agencies in planning meaningful inservice programs. Administration requires cooperation of state groups such as the state…

Approximately 1800 prospective secondary school teachers at Illinois State University are providing themselves with pre-service education via a self-paced competency-based teacher education program. Called the Professional Sequence (PS), the program replaces courses taught by the lecture method. PS frees students from scheduled classes, eliminates…

This booklet is one in a series which describes a competency-based teacher education program developed by the staff of the Department of Vocational and Applied Arts Education at Wayne State University. This booklet discusses instructional systems and accountability, which are two important facets of the program. Part I describes a model of the…

This unit of the Flexible Learning System (FLS), designed for adults working with children aged 4-8, is concerned with sensory experiences to promote learning in the early childhood years. Texture, weight, size-shape, taste, hearing, and sight are explored in a sequence of learning activities repeated for each sense mode. The learning-activity…

Program VITAL is a team of field resource persons working through resident resource persons to help beginning vocational teachers in the eastern region of Pennsylvania. The tools used in this field-based competency-based teacher education program include self-paced individualized learning modules, microteaching, and video recording with peer- and…

This final report describes the outcomes of a 3-year federally funded outreach project that was designed to increase access to quality center-based child care for infants and toddlers with disabilities. The project served 14 child care centers in West Virginia, 12 child care centers in Texas, 13 child care centers in Alabama and 6 child care…

As the largest professional organization of special educators, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has taken seriously its professional responsibility for defining the criteria for a competent beginning special educator. As part of this responsibility, CEC has developed and continues to update and maintain professional standards for…

Discusses "A Nation at Risk" in relation to the responsibility of college science teachers regarding the report, specifically the recommendations on content, standards and expectations, and teaching (including teacher education). Considers questions of leadership and the support of science education as political issues in the presidential and…

Describes a University of Texas project for increasing the pool of future minority teachers. Academically knowledgeable secondary students who lacked skills for coping with minimum competency testing were given "The Effective Test Performance Study Guide" to help prepare for standardized testing. Results indicate the guide contributed to…

This feature article examines changes needed in special education personnel preparation (such as increasing the supply of qualified personnel). Strategies for meeting these needs are discussed, including methods of using best practices and innovative training methods. An Outcomes-Based Teacher Education model (with proposed knowledge and skill…

Teacher educators have a twofold concern regarding transfer because of the dual goals inherent in teacher education. Certainly a primary goal is to have teacher candidates transfer what they learn in teacher preparation courses to their future classrooms and professional lives, but an equally important secondary goal is to enable candidates to…

This module on evaluating regular and cooperative vocational programs is 1 in a series of 10 modules written for vocational education teacher education programs. It provides the basic information necessary to conduct or supervise regular and cooperative vocational education program evaluations. Introductory materials include the following: a list…

This survey was designed to identify courses in pedagogy required of secondary education majors, credits awarded, student teaching credit and evaluation, and effectiveness of colleges and universities in preparing teachers for public schools. Responses from 310 teacher education programs accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of…

This publication is a guide to assessing the competence of prospective English teachers in the California public schools. The guide was developed as a part of a state-wide response to legislated entry and exit standards for teachers in elementary and secondary schools. An introduction describes the regulations and Executive Orders which are the…

This final report describes objectives, activities, and outcomes of a project to provide training to infant specialists employed within a total of 16 infant intervention programs in New York State. The project focused on the acquisition of skills necessary to provide services under Public Law 99-457. Training content and procedures were derived…