The development and use of assessment systems to measure the performance and progress of teacher candidates and inform the continuous improvement of teacher education programs has been a longstanding priority in teacher education for the past 30 years. Teacher educators in the School of Education at a small public midwestern university revised and…

There is evidence that universities are structurally and philosophically incapable of providing the training that practicing teachers and school administrators need. A case should be made for deferring teacher education courses until after the bachelor's degree and then providing an intensive, state-sponsored professional program at teacher…

This essay looks at the background of teacher competency testing and the conditions contributing to dissatisfaction with the educational system. Short-term consequences of testing are described. (MT)

This article suggests that schools of education be called "schools of teaching" since they train staff members to run public elementary and secondary schools. Strategic alternatives being considered by schools of education are discussed. (DF)

This article explores responsibilities of colleges of education in the move to reform the education system. (DF)

A survey was conducted at teacher education institutions in Colorado and Wyoming to determine the degree of role conflict and to distinguish between the perceived and the functioning roles of the generalist and the specialist in the supervision of student teachers. (SK)

A study was made to see if there are differences in admission-selection practices of schools of engineering and schools of education and whether there are differences between engineering majors and education majors with respect to grades in specific courses, freshman and senior grade point averages, and SAT scores. Results are discussed. (MT)

A nationwide survey of grading practices at state colleges of education and a survey of teacher hiring practices by fifty school systems in the greater Cleveland, Ohio, area were conducted. (SK)

The authors review a variety of strategies that could be employed by school districts, teacher education institutions, and state agencies to attract and retain or retrain Hispanic teachers in math and science. (MT)

This article enumerates the implications of the Bakke case for the American educational system and presents alternatives that include the development of an educational system beginning in kindergarten that prepares minority students for professional schools. (JMF)

In an era of resource scarcity and diminished expectations, schools of education must make critical decisions about their degree programs in early childhood education. Reasons for de-emphasizing early childhood education should be balanced against its challenges and rewards. (FG)

The issue is no longer whether control of teacher education will shift away from institutions of higher education, but to what extent, and to which of the interest groups now vying for control of major program components it will shift to. The impact of potential changes in preservice and inservice teacher education, field experiences,…

This article notes that there are more issues and problems than positive programmatic trends; it looks at eight major challenges that U.S. schools of education must overcome if they are to become professional schools, analyzing where teacher education currently is vis-a-vis the challenges. (SM)