Since 2010, a substantial number of large-scale, quantitative studies on preparation features associated with teaching effectiveness and retention have emerged. The purpose of this paper is to review this body of evidence and make sense of what it suggests for practitioners and policymakers. The paper begins by describing the groundbreaking work…

A proposal for early field experiences in teacher education is based on the goal of preparing a teacher who will act on developing principles and who will continue to grow in contrast to a technician who acts with no underlying rationale. (CB)

This paper focuses on conceptual and methodological limitations which have been identified in relation to research on field experiences. A point of view is offered as to how research in this area can begin to provide the kinds of empirical data which will be more useful for policy decisions. (CB)

In this literature review, the research on training methods in teacher education is examined and the major variables that have been shown to influence the development of teaching skills are identified. The position is taken that, of these variables, those that address conceptual outcomes are most important. The implications of these variables for…

Practical experiences have grown dramatically in teacher education programs, apparently from a general consensus of the rightness of such experiences as well as the vigorous criticisms of teacher education programs by practicing teachers. A review of research concerning practical experience in teacher education indicates that the knowledge and…

Research on reflective teaching is reviewed in the areas of: its benefits; the Exxon Educational Foundation Project; students' ability to think and talk critically about teaching and learning; identification of variables during the act of teaching; perceptions of teaching; conceptual development and modes of thinking; and the self-concept,…

In spite of the recent emphasis in preservice teacher education on more and earlier field experiences, studies are challenging the contributions of full-time student teaching to professional growth. Although pragmatic findings favor the inclusion of field experience in teacher preparation programs, the importance of field experience has not been…

Numerous reports calling for reform in education have resulted in trends showing greater emphasis toward practical preparation experiences in teacher education. Many teacher education programs now stress more hours of teacher preparation devoted to professional education curriculum, strengthened and longer clinical experiences, stronger guidelines…

A teacher's understanding of any teaching behavior or skill must be tested in the context of actual teaching. However, practice that is unenlightened by understanding and by the mastery of concepts about teaching behaviors and skills is of uncertain value in teacher training. (JN)

Ways of implementing educational innovations produced by research into practice in the schools are considered. It is stated that the most effective tool for accomplishing this is inservice teacher education. The characteristics of an exemplary inservice teacher education program are outlined and discussed. The suggestion is made that teacher…

Small communities seldom have the ethnic and racial diversity that can provide multicultural experiences for teacher trainees. Cross cultural training, an aspect of multicultural teacher education, provides experience in understanding the way a culture conditions ways of learning, behaving, and perceiving, and the ability to look at cultural…

In response to the need for greater relevance in teacher education through field experience programs, education faculty members developed a program which combines theory and practice in preservice field experiences and campus activities for education majors. This program, at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, consists of six…

There continues to be a great deal of debate about the role that field experiences play in teacher development and about the relative contribution of various individual and institutional factors to the socialization process. Field experiences in teacher education entail a complex set of interactions among program features, settings, and people…

This study was conducted to learn how a new "experience" component in education foundations' core course work would be evaluated by teacher-trainees and their critic teachers, who were experienced classroom teachers. Project subjects were 186 men and women (84 senior students in a required Foundations of Education senior level core course, and 102…

Two myths concerning the value of preservice field-based experience are explored: (1) Practical school experience contributes to the development of better teachers; and (2) Teacher education's institutional structures are totally coercive and students passively conform to school bureaucracies' conservative norms. (JN)