Reviews of professional literature identify characteristics of effective staff development programs and inservice activities. Purposes for staff development include: pedagogical growth and understanding and discovery of self as well as cognitive, theoretical, professional, and career development. (DF)

Alternative teacher credentialing should be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in improving the quality of education cost effectively, attracting high quality and more diverse teachers, and forging closer links between teacher education reform and elementary-secondary school improvement. (SK)

This article notes that there are more issues and problems than positive programmatic trends; it looks at eight major challenges that U.S. schools of education must overcome if they are to become professional schools, analyzing where teacher education currently is vis-a-vis the challenges. (SM)

This study deals with the problems of teacher education programs and suggests some methods for improvement. The pressures and restrictions currently levied on the field of teacher education are discussed, and an examination is given of various education departments' admission policies and procedures. Profiles of education students and faculty…

Both the history and research foundations behind teacher education are reviewed in this collection of essays. The current knowledge base is assessed by several scholars in the teacher education field, and suggestions are made for future efforts in teacher selection and training. In chapter 1 (Kenneth R. Howey), an overview provides insights into…