A team of teacher educators conducted a phenomenological study to explore the perceptions of teacher candidates (TCs), their cooperating teachers (CTs), and university supervisors (USs) during and after they participated in a redesigned seven-week practicum that led directly into seven weeks of student teaching. Data were collected via two surveys…

Recent reports call for a structural transformation of teacher preparation programs with increased attention to quality field-based learning experiences for pre-service teachers. Ideally, this occurs in the context of robust university-school partnerships. The challenges lie in identifying such school sites and building meaningful, reciprocal…

The main criteria acknowledged by institutions responding to this survey on selecting exploratory field experience sites for prospective teachers are concerns of availability of key site personnel and proximity of the site to the campus. Student needs and interests and the quality of the program available are secondary. (JD)

The Pre-Professional Laboratory Experience course is a semester-long early field experience involving prospective teacher education candidates in routine classroom activities and observation experiences on the elementary and secondary level. The set of handbooks which was developed to accompany the course includes a student handbook, a supervising…

This study evaluated the first year of the Virgin Islands' Five Year Teacher-Trainee Program. The objectives of the program included a) provision of 100 degree-holding teachers for the Virgin Islands School System with specialized training in early childhood development and b) employment of 200 teacher trainees as classroom assistants for…

This paper describes a model of a field based or clinical experience program for prospective teachers. An overview of issues and concerns regarding field experiences and student teaching describes the traditional approach to supervised practice teaching. In a discussion of contemporary perspectives on student teaching programs, it is noted that…

Cooperating teachers and college faculty were surveyed to determine (1) the role in field experiences which cooperating teachers presently perform, (2) the role they would perform in an ideal state, (3) discrepencies between supervisory faculty and cooperating teacher perceptions, and (4) replicability of the findings in another geographic area.…

The problems associated with development of a field based teacher education program in the public schools are examined. Conflict between the college education department and the cooperating schools for control of time and curriculum frequently appears in such programs. A model is proposed for the structure and development of a consortium that…

Strategies for implementing changes that will improve the effectiveness of teacher education are discussed. These include: (1) redesigning curriculum by incorporating entrance and exit criteria and a performance-based emphasis, allowing for continuous assessment of the effectiveness of the curriculum and ensuring a more individualized and…

Data gathered in three Delphi rounds indicated a dichotomy between 12 inservice supervising teachers and 12 preservice teachers at Emory University in their reports of sources of anxiety within the school setting. Preservice teachers reported concerns focused primarily on pupils and pupil-teacher interaction. Inservice teachers had anxiety…

A junior level field based practicum course involving potential student teachers and their cooperating teachers is described. Students and teachers meet during the first week of the course in an informal, relaxing atmosphere to become better acquainted and to share procedures, expectations, and general information on the course. Student teachers…

This document presents the final report on the redesign and restructuring of the teacher education program at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. The project was begun in October 1985, and at about the same time, a task force, charged with examining the then current program, issued a report which referred to a research base for teacher…

The development of a field-based teacher education program is described. Following a brief outline of the current status of the program and obligations to be met by the prospective teachers involved, the problems faced by the program implementors are discussed. The major problems were originally organizational and administrative. In the course of…

This paper outlines the procedures used at the University of Cincinnati for establishing a field based elementary teacher education program in the form of a field guide. The first step involves a meeting with university faculty to discuss the implications of such a program. Step two involves meeting with the elementary school principal and selling…

A state university and a local school district collaborated to develop an apprenticeship model for field teacher training that benefited all parties involved in the field experience process. The model's foundation was based on experiences working with new teachers in inner city settings. The model was to create an environment that would provide…