The success of professional development programs has typically been determined based on their impact on teacher learning, without much attention being given to the data sources used. Large-scale studies have generally relied on teachers' self-reports, whereas small-scale studies have included more direct assessments and observations of teacher…

Challenges historical power relations, which have valued academic knowledge over teachers' experiential knowledge, asserting that such experiential knowledge should be considered legitimate; noting the need to assess knowledge produced by teachers and academics and offer apparatus for conducting such assessments; and recommending that by…

In this article, the author explores seven "unanswered questions" concerning the preparation of future teacher educator-researchers. She considers five questions concerning the substance of doctoral preparation: what the new generation of teacher-researchers would need to know about teacher education, relevant disciplines, research methodologies,…

Proposes three problems that must be solved in order to best prepare teachers who both know content and can make use of it to help all students learn, including: identifying the content knowledge that matters for teaching; understanding how such knowledge needs to be held; and determining what it takes to learn to use such knowledge in practice.…

Responds to common charges against formal teacher education programs, arguing that contextual knowledge of classrooms and schools is crucial for novice teachers; raw intelligence is insufficient for accomplished teaching; accomplished performance will develop only over many years of effortful, deliberate practice; and high quality teacher…

Poses questions that probe possibilities regarding the knowledge base of teacher education and the importance of a foundation of teacher education, considering the possibility of trustworthiness as a cornerstone for that foundation and looking to the potential of self-study for developing a pedagogy of teacher education as a way to respond to…

Offers a framework for identifying areas of agreement and disagreement across recent teacher education reform proposals. Reform documents were analyzed in relation to National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) recommendations. Researchers developed a rubric to assess whether and how proposals expressed agreement or disagreement…

Responds to Goodlad's comments that a school of education not preparing teachers is an anomaly that provokes mischief, suggesting that it also promotes disbelief. States that the primary mission of schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) is the preparation of teachers, noting that many SCDEs have lost sight of that focus and…

This essay considers several issues that impact on children's education, creating communities of learning within schools, and the education of educators. Among the questions considered are what does it mean to know; what knowledge is of most worth; and how and what should teachers know. (35 references) (IAH)

Interview data were collected from eight student teachers from universities in Australia and the United States to determine how student teachers perceive the process of learning to teach, particularly with regard to certain themes: setting goals, modeling, gaining experience, developing routines, and trial and error. Implications for teacher…

Responds to Goodlad's article on teacher education's journey over the past century and its current malaise, suggesting that the rest of the journey is up to teacher education faculty, their university colleagues, and partners within communities and schools who must work to improve education. Describes Massachusetts' experience in attempting to…

This study assessed the effectiveness of the Alliance Summer Geography Institute's model in promoting teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Teacher surveys and evaluations of subsequent inservices indicated the institute enhanced both types of knowledge. Resulting inservices allowed teachers to pass knowledge along to a…

Promotes the improvement of school success for ethnically diverse students via culturally responsive teachers and the preparation of preservice teachers with necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills to do this, highlighting: development of a cultural diversity knowledge base; design of culturally relevant curricula; demonstration of cultural…