This newsletter highlights the development of reflection and teaching skills in preservice teachers via peer coaching. Peer coaching in preservice programs can serve as an induction program, while with experienced teachers it can serve as professional development. Research suggests that peer coaching contributes to the development of effective…

The horizontal evaluation model was developed to remedy three major problems associated with competency-based approaches to teacher evaluation: there is no consensus regarding what competencies are essential to good teaching; teachers' behaviors may or may not be related to competencies they possess; and competency-based evaluation typically fails…

This newsletter describes one college of education's experiences in selecting field placement sites for preservice teachers, examining the possibilities and limitations students faced when sent to suburban versus urban schools. Site selection criteria included school characteristics (size and grade levels, neighborhood, library and computer…

Twelve annotations based on recent entries in the ERIC system concern supervision of teachers. Research studies cited deal with supervision of first-year teachers and student teachers, communications between supervisors and teachers and between supervisors and the community, and a history of developments in the field. Also included are suggestions…

Although classrooms vary in design and populations, there are certain features that are common to virtually all classrooms. These include the crowding of pupils, the compulsion of school attendance, and the expectation that teachers will foster literacy. The manner in which these features are dealt with in a classroom constitutes the core problem…

A research project identified five clusters of behaviorally-grounded competencies that distinguished effective teachers and mentors from average ones. Effective faculty members: (1) were student-centered; (2) believed that learning is a highly valuable activity; (3) were sensitive to the needs of their adult students and established situations…

An instructor had an experience in which both she and a student grew by taking risks. In the process of evaluating English compositions, the instructor found a student's paper that lacked the mechanics of writing but showed creativity and maturity. Working closely with this student the instructor discovered how quickly he learned. Although they…

The difference between phrogfessors and teachers is that phrogfessors train tadpoles in the way of the swamp (i.e., create likenesses of themselves) while teachers produce people and thereby help to drain the swamp. Phrogfessors take responsibility for what their students learn. They believe that if a student does badly, it is the phrogfessor's…

A behavior contract is a tool that many teachers and school staff use to successfully control or modify the behavior of students. In such a contract, behavior that the teacher wants the student to achieve as well as the actions that the student promises to perform to achieve the desired behavior are stated in writing. There are many types of…

Recommendations are presented for dealing with difficult students and the questions they ask during classroom discussions. Brief ideas are provided for handling argumentative individuals, long-winded questioners, and questions for which the instructor does not have a good answer. A discussion of curved or loaded questions (pseudoquestions)…

Adaptive skills are the perceptual, emotional, and behavioral tendencies that are learned at a young age. They can be a major block to competence by affecting one's functioning at the two higher skill levels of functional and work content skills. Because students and faculty relate to each other as members of a family, they can help each other…

Summaries are presented of workshop presentations which examined instructional practices that have been used successfully by community college faculty. The report first outlines the workshop agenda and then presents a position paper by Barbara E. M. Cannon, who notes that improved instructional delivery systems are a prerequisite for the success…

Robert Bloom considers the difficulties faced by teachers of disturbed and disruptive adolescents. He depicts common situations in which the teacher experiences anxiety, is unaware of the personal stress and conflict, and reacts in inappropriate ways. Examples portray such reactions as anger at coworkers, envy of the young, and retreat into…

This series of articles contains three research summaries entitled: (1) "Women Entering Teaching: Changes in the Preservice Population"; (2) "Tomorrow's Teachers: Attitudes toward Sex-Affirmative Teaching and Professional Behaviors"; and (3) "Jewel Tea and Academe" (about women faculty in higher education and the value of mentors.) (JMK)

This special journal issue consists of 14 articles by outstanding teachers explaining what they do to get their students to write effective stories and essays. The issue's introduction discusses a study of similarities in techniques among successful writing teachers. The second section, "Writing Approaches, Ideas and Assignments," contains six…