Discusses the role of early childhood teacher educators in recognizing the necessity to advocate for child care staff and its resulting benefits for children. Recommends that such advocacy can be woven into the teacher education curriculum and that students should actively participate and be provided role models to encourage development of active…

Outlines the philosophy, organization, and achievements of an Indian-controlled program that prepares Indian people to teach in both mainstream and Indian settings. Topics include admission policies, community-based field centers that provide the first two years of post-secondary education, program components (Indian studies, education courses,…

Eight percent of the population of the People's Republic of China is comprised of ethnic minority people, people with cultures (particularly languages and religions) that are distinct from the majority (or Han) Chinese. Ethnic students in China and elsewhere face considerable obstacles to getting a good education. A tiny percentage of Chinese…

Growing regulation of teacher preparation programs has raised concerns about standardization in the field of teacher education. With greater uniformity, is there a loss of innovation and program identity? To gather information on this question, we examined teacher preparation programs in Elementary Education, Secondary English, Secondary…

This study investigates computer-mediated communication (CMC) to facilitate the construction of a learning community of preservice teachers. The formation of a learning community involves students working together to solve ill-structured problems and applying knowledge and experience to heuristic teaching. "Peer learning" broadly…

NCATE (2002) requires the measurement of knowledge, skills, and dispositions as part of its accreditation requirements for teacher education programs (Standard 1) and the use of unit assessment systems to aggregate and analyse data with a view toward program improvement (Standard 2). Data must indicate that candidates meet professional, state, and…

Field experiences and clinical practice are considered the most important and most influential component of teacher preparation programs. The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs (NCATE) has established six standards to measure the effectiveness of teacher education programs; field experiences and clinical practice…

This paper reports on a study of the teacher education practices and student characteristics that contribute to successful teachers of minority children, particularly African-American, whose background differs from their own. The study was conducted over two years on cohorts of students from a reflective teacher education program. First year…

This report represents the first Graduate Student Follow-up Study by the Teacher Education Assessment Committee (TEAC) at Central Missouri State University (Missouri). TEAC is a centralized system of data collection and assessment that conducts and publishes results of periodic assessments and evaluations of Central's teacher education programs by…

This study examines a feedback portfolio developed by student teachers in their secondary science methods courses. The portfolio preparation requires students to reflect and select their best five learning experiences during the course and provide a short explanation regarding the value of those experiences. This study also involves emergency…

Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, developed a preservice teacher education program that holistically assesses the skills of teacher candidates to better identify prospective teachers from underrepresented racial, ethnic, and disability-related groups. Careful attention is paid to the admissions process, and program applicants are assessed…

Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Nogales Unified School District established a school-university partnership in 1998 to prepare special education teachers to work in the rural Mexican border area of southern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. All 25 students in the program's first cohort were working adults from the local area, bilingual and already…

Noting that school readiness--the preparedness of children to learn what is taught in schools--is the cornerstone of today's education reform movement, this article presents a brief overview of the key public factors that contribute to school readiness. These factors include both historical and contemporary American views of early learning as…

In presenting this review of current theory and practice in graduate level pre-service and in-service education for school administration, one major purpose has been kept in mind, namely, to provide some significant and stimulating documentation with respect to on-going plans, programs, and problems. The inquiry, upon which the material presented…

Between the close of the first World War and the beginning of the second, approximately two decades, several European nations that had not previously done so maintained democratic forms of government. In that period they tried to arrange their school systems in such a way as to educate their children for life in democracies. Their moves in that…