Paraeducators play an important role supporting children with developmental disabilities in early childhood settings, and the current educational system has come to rely heavily on paraeducator supports. Unfortunately, most paraeducators receive limited training prior to engaging in their classroom roles and responsibilities, and teachers receive…

While there is considerable research concerning co-teaching among special educators and regular classroom teachers, little work has been published regarding co-teaching that involves teacher candidates and their cooperating teachers. During the last three years, two middle level education faculty members involved in their University's Professional…

The imperative for prospective teachers, school districts, Illinois policy makers and the public as a whole to know more about teacher preparation is the motivation behind this report. At the request of Advance Illinois, the authors evaluated 111 undergraduate and graduate programs in 53 education schools as well as three "independent…

One common thread throughout the research in agricultural education is that cooperating teachers have been identified as being important and influential to the student teachers' success. If the interaction between student teacher and cooperating teacher is important to the student teaching process, then the matching of a student teacher with a…

Points out several liability considerations a classroom teacher should be made aware of in undertaking the role of cooperating teacher. (FL)

Student teaching experience is important in the professional preparation of teachers. Successful teaching practice hinges on the effectiveness of cooperating teachers (CTs) who spend considerable time supervising and mentoring student teachers. Unfortunately, the welfare of the cooperating teachers is often neglected, and this is detrimental to…

THIS VOLUME OF PROCEEDINGS ON "INNOVATION IN TEACHER EDUCATION" CONTAINS PAPERS ON (1) "TEACHER EDUCATION IN PERSPECTIVE," (2) "STATE AND NATIONAL FORCES AFFECTING TEACHER EDUCATION," AND (3) "THE CLINICAL PROFESSORSHIP AND CLINICAL EXPERIENCES." A DIGEST OF THE CONFERENCE'S PROCEEDINGS IS LISTED UNDER THE…

This study collected data from a total of 50 special education student teachers from 14 Illinois universities. Approximately half the students had not yet completed their student teaching experience and the remainder had completed the experience. Findings indicated that the most important aspects of a successful student teaching experience are:…

With the growing recognition that teachers' decisions are guided by their thinking and knowledge, this study examines the educational principles of two experienced kindergarten teachers' classroom decisions and actions and shows how teachers' ideas are related to classroom practice. Data were collected from mid-March to early June and from late…