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)

Speculates on the future of Professional Development Schools (PDSs), examining: the Holmes Group's beginning vision of PDSs; PDS progress; persistent problems; the vision of learning and learning to teach; the role of the university at large; the structures of schools and PDSs; teachers' roles; recent enabling trends; and a primary purpose for…

Institutions of higher education can be organized as viable and vital contributors to inservice teacher education programs. A critical reexamination of the relationship between preservice and inservice training is needed. Inservice is only one part of a continuing education process, which should be organized both within and between schools and…

This report examines what has been learned from the efforts of the Urban Network to Improve Teacher Education (UNITE) efforts to inform state policy. UNITE originated in 1993 with nine urban partnerships between urban schools and colleges of education and their urban K-12 counterparts. Their mission is strengthening the recruitment, preparation,…

One of five articles in the section on the "Promise and Purpose of Professional Development Schools," this article examines the six propositions originally put forth for professional development schools (PDS) by the Holmes Group (1990) in "Tomorrow's School." The paper recommends revisiting the six propositions in terms of…

The Research About Teacher Education (RATE) project is an ongoing data collection effort to establish a reliable database about institutions of higher education where teachers are prepared, and about the faculty, students, and programs at these institutions. This RATE study is based on a survey of 91 heads of schools, colleges, and departments of…

This study analyzes data from surveys of faculty and leaders of teacher education programs about their influence on state policy, relationships with elementary and secondary schools, budgets, relationships within the larger institution, and factors that affect morale among college faculty, such as promotion criteria and institutional support of…

The Research About Teacher Education (RATE) project is an ongoing data collection effort to establish a reliable database about institutions of higher education where teachers are prepared, and about the faculty, students, and programs at these institutions. This study on the preparation of teachers in urban settings collected data from 230…