Second-wave reform prescriptions generally lack a career development focus mindful of teachers' changing characteristics and needs over time. Grasping these developmental characteristics is essential to understanding veteran teachers' morale and performance problems and to implementing revitalization and school improvement efforts. Midcareer…

This study examined how experienced teachers use their complex knowledge structure to find and solve problems in the classroom. Of 30 teachers and teacher trainees, the experienced teachers imposed an experiential structure on lesson content, spent less time planning, and focused on general concerns rather than specific problems. (PB)

Fifty mainstream teachers in grades 3-12 were surveyed concerning their experience and educational background, their attitudes toward teaching effectiveness, and their mainstream classes. Both teacher attitudes toward personal teaching efficacy and class size predicted variance in the teachers' selection of educational strategies for their…

Describes the potential benefits of the Pre-Teacher Assessment Project, that assesses sophomore education majors on 13 skill dimensions essential to effective teaching. Students demonstrate their skills during four simulated activities and receive follow-up modules to remediate weak areas. (Author/CB)

Pedagogical intelligence is analyzed, with particular emphasis on teacher decision-making strategies, the role of experience, and developmental aspects. Ways in which teacher educators can help foster pedagogical intelligence and specific examples of practices being tried are presented. (IAH)

Interviews with 32 British and Irish supervisors of U.S. student teachers produced several suggestions for improving the preparation component of overseas practicum placements. Suggestions related to planning and preparation for teaching, basic teacher preparation courses, cultural preparation, content, arrangements and logistics, teacher image…

Examines an unsuccessful student teaching experience that became a successful learning experience through a reflection and debriefing process. Relates this experience to the stages of a conceptual model of experiential education and emphasizes the need for structured debriefing in preservice teacher education. (SV)

This article highlights the problems of teacher socialization or acculturation within schools, suggests ideas for improvement of existing patterns, and provides examples of school and district indoctrination programs. Also discussed are general principles from the socialization literature and results from a study which demonstrates how existing…

A teacher at Upland Hills School (Royal Oaks, Michigan) describes how he and groups of seventh and eighth graders built a 175-foot bridge across a gully between the school and an outdoor environmental education area. Students received basic design and engineering instruction at a nearby university, and parents and community provided support and…

A survey of 216 special education teachers examined whether previously identified effective teaching practices for mildly handicapped students were being implemented in special education classrooms in rural Mississippi. Results indicate a high level of acceptance and implementation of best practices. Length of teaching experience was related to…

"Hungarolingua" is an audiovisual monolingual language teaching series developed by teachers of the Debreen Summer School (Hungary) to teach Hungarian as a second language to beginner and intermediate students. The experience of teaching the material to language learners with different motivation, native language, and grammatical…

Study assessed the opinions of sophomores and seniors in teacher education and practicing teachers about the use of classroom and standardized tests. Survey results indicated preservice teachers had less favorable attitudes toward classroom testing and more favorable attitudes toward standardized testing. There were no differences between…

Forty-seven senior education students' attitudes toward teaching special needs children in the mainstream did not change significantly after a four-month practicum. Subjects reported more positive attitudes to mainstreaming than did a similar group of interns from eight years prior. Characteristics such as age and gender were unrelated to…

Describes G. Kelly's repertory grid and autobiography, their application in educational research, how they might be applied to research into teacher thinking and student thinking about the process of teaching and learning, and ways they can be combined to raise teachers' and students' constructs to focal awareness. (RLC)

Condenses a research study of chief administrators' longevity in U.S. accredited international schools worldwide. Identifies several factors that significantly affect (usually brief) job duration, including school governing structure, the head's teaching experience and number of years in international education, and school characteristics. The…