An investigation into preservice teachers' information evaluation skills at a large university suggests that formative assessment can improve student achievement. Preservice teachers were asked to apply information evaluation skills in the areas of currency, relevancy, authority, accuracy, and purpose. The study used quantitative methods to assess…

The present study investigated the strengths and areas of improvement for elementary music teacher preparation from the perspective of multiple members of a single body of music teachers. Subjects for the study were elementary music teachers from an urban school district in the southern United States. All elementary music teachers in the school…

Describes an outline for evaluating student essays, involving holistic evaluation, rating of the writer's effectiveness in displaying a particular "primary trait," and rating on mechanics. (DD)

The roles and behavior of the process education curriculum of MACOS are meaningfully implemented in a college professional preparatory setting. (Author/KM)

Intended for teacher educators in reading, this paper provides criteria for evaluating texts for reading methods courses. The first part of the paper discusses some considerations in choosing a text, including course format, how frequently the text will be used, and whether the text will be a supplemental, companion, or principal resource. The…

For 3 years, the Diagnostic and Evaluative Procedures course of an education college was offered by electronic mail as well as by a more traditional "chalk and talk" approach, enabling a comparison of the two approaches. In the electronic setting, papers were submitted and questions asked and answered electronically. In the traditional class,…

This bibliographic essay cites general readings in curriculum evaluation for elementary and secondary teachers. The first part of the essay discusses general perspectives on evaluation. Readings on selecting an evaluation strategy or plan are cited in the second part. The essay concludes with citations dealing with how to consider the data.…

Guidelines for judging English methods-course textbooks need to be developed and applied to the increasing quantities of texts being published. Objective data for evaluation may be obtained through several approaches: (1) key word in context, in which the frequency of a word is accepted as representative of the importance of a concept; (2)…

The New York Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (NYCETP) is a multicampus project designed to produce well-qualified teachers of science and mathematics. As part of the formative evaluation of the NYCETP, evaluators have designed activities that support faculty development and intercampus faculty collaboration. The pilot study of…

To determine how college instructors evaluate student learning in their reading methods course, a questionnaire was administered to 15 instructors of elementary, and 11 instructors of secondary, reading methods courses. The instrument was divided into five sections for the purpose of collecting the following data: (1) course design and components…

Discusses an innovative process that was used for engaging prospective teachers in collaboration and reflection on their learning as they developed a multi-media portfolio. (Contains 15 references.) (WRM)

Problems involved in evaluating preservice methods courses, such as the difficulty of isolating the specific contribution of a single course, are discussed. The training factor of a methods course must be distinguished from the selection factor influencing the capabilities of a student population. Methods courses should be evaluated if they are to…

The ways that the assessment practices of student teachers are formed by their experiences in methods courses and practicum classrooms were studied. By contrasting the approaches of two groups of student teachers to pupil assessment, the case study research described shows how student teachers emphasize the dimensions of assessment that…

This case study presents a model of the University of Maine, Orono, pre-service program for preparing secondary social studies teachers. Focus is on the Foundations Component and the Methods Component, either of which can function independently of the other. Only brief mention is made of either the Exploratory Field Experience Component or the…