For well over a decade, teachers have been recognized as the single most important school-level factor influencing student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, & Hamilton, 2003; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2000; Rowan, Correnti & Miller, 2002; Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997). Tremendous public resources…

In the report "From Good to Great: Exemplary Teachers Share Perspectives on Increasing Teacher Effectiveness across the Career Continuum," (See full report in ERIC at ED555657) National and State Teachers of the Year shared their views on what helped them become great teachers. This accompanying "Discussion Starter Tool" builds…

This essay discusses inservice professional development and suggests that any improvement in mathematics education must begin with teachers already in the classroom. It includes three examples of mathematical presentations in professional development made in Californian schools relating to discrete mathematics, connections, and technology. (MM)

Responds to Jean Rudduck's argument that teachers should research their own practice. Maintains the teaching profession needs an autonomous body to accredit teacher education and to regulate curriculum content and assessment procedures. Encourages development of an action research approach to professional development and upgrading quality of…

This journal is for those interested in modern language teacher training. Several aims are to provide a forum for ideas, information, and news, to put trainers in touch with each other, and to give those involved with teacher training a feeling of how trainers in other fields operate as well as building up a pool of experience within modern…

This curriculum, designed to improve elementary school foreign language teacher training, was developed jointly by school teachers and university educators in North Carolina. It is based on the successful practices of current elementary school foreign language teachers, translated into desired teacher competencies. Introductory sections describe…

Research-based reform continues to strike a balance between the academic theories and classroom realities. This handbook provides a set of guidelines for the preparation of skilled instructors at all levels and career stages of teaching; establishes a curriculum for teacher education; and offers a forum for discussion in the field among teachers,…

Guidelines and recommendations for teacher education recommended by the American Chemistry Society are presented. The guidelines for preservice and inservice education of chemistry and science teachers are also included. Suggestions for implementing the teacher education programs are specified for teachers, college and university administrators…

The concept of clinical faculty has been used in the first two reports of the Holmes Group, a consortium of more than 100 leading research universities. These reports have provided teachers and teacher educators with a rationale and a vision of the role of clinical faculty in a professional development school that also might be applied to any…

In response to a California State education reform bill that requires professors of methods courses to return to the classroom once every three years, a university profesor of 15 years taught 9th-grade English in Watts. This essay presents nine tips for others who anticipate their own return to teaching. (IW)

Recounts the personal experience of returning to the elementary classroom in a rural Ozark school after 30 years in teacher education. Describes how the teacher and the school are often the only hope of children who are engulfed in economic poverty and lack personal security. (NEC)

Discusses a professional-development course for educators, team-taught by three faculty members, that combined the content of courses in multicultural education, special education, and human development. Each teacher describes his or her experiences and the issues addressed; student comments are examined; and the requirements for and benefits of…

This document includes the following articles: "How To Avoid Being a Fly on the Wall"; "Problem-Solving Strategies for Mentors"; "Support Materials for CEELT Courses: The Pedagogic Potential of Past Papers"; "EFL Teachers Solving Their Own Dilemmas"; "The Editor Talks to the President of TESOL";…

Written by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers and teacher educators who played key roles in the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages' (TESOL) Standards and Assessment Project, this book is designed for preservice teachers in credential/licensure programs and master's programs at American universities and for practicing ESL…

In this book, leading scholars address a range of issues, ideas, and research findings in the field of teacher education, examining specific disciplines, social foundations, and program structures, as well as school reform and diversity. Part One: The Need for a Knowledge Base contains five chapters: "Beyond Natural Teaching: The Case for…