For almost as long as teacher education programs have existed, there has been controversy about the appropriate balance between liberal arts and pedagogy, theory and practice, and university experiences and school-based experiences. The author of this article, a member of the American Educational Research Association's Panel on Teacher Education,…

We are in the midst of what amounts to a national experiment in how best to attract, prepare, and retain teachers, particularly for high-poverty urban schools. Using data on students and teachers in grades 3-8, this study assesses the effects of pathways into teaching in New York City on the teacher workforce and on student achievement. We ask…

There is a need for research into understanding students' learning barriers and cognitive style of learning before they embark on an online PhD program. Online university students in the School of Education express success and difficulties electronically as they navigate through a spectrum of courses, Learning Agreements, Knowledge Area Modules…

The authors reflect on the evolving role of technology in the field of social studies and compare the tumultuous adolescence of technology integration with future trends in teaching and learning. The discourse contrasts the past developments with ongoing innovation and efforts to promote the diffusion of emerging applications in the social…

A descriptive study examined the degree to which middle level teachers in grades 6-8 in three states accept the tenets of the middle school philosophy. The guiding questions were: (1) Does a cross difference in variables exist among teachers from different organizational settings or grade configurations in respect to the teacher's acceptance of…

America's leading historian of education recounts a lifetime in the cause of responsible school reform. Diane Ravitch's blow-by-blow description of run-ins with Afrocentrist firebrand Leonard Jeffries, misguided feminists at the AAUW, the language sensitivity police, and others offers a fascinating perspective on how the education establishment…

Teachers and teacher educators are faced with an urgent responsibility to support the learning of an increasingly diverse population of young children. Based on the sociocultural perspective of reading, a literature-based approach is outlined for early reading teachers. The implications of this approach to teacher education programs are further…

No one would dispute the claim that teacher training in the university and training colleges has long been in urgent need of reform. Even so, nothing is getting done. However, there are some efforts made in North-Rhine/Westphalia, where a committee of experts has recommended a double package consisting of six semesters of specialized studies…

Claims made for the value of problem-based learning (PBL) as an effective method for professional education programmes draw on constructivist principles of teaching and learning to achieve essential content knowledge, higher order thinking skills, and a team approach to problem-solving through the interdisciplinary, student-directed study of…

This study was carried out in Hong Kong to determine: (1) if the aims and objectives identified by various groups of students reflect those set out in official course prescriptions; (2) in what ways these aims are similar; and (3) in what ways they are different from officially stated course prescriptions. Participants included a group of 58…

The overall assessment of teacher education students by means of testing may not be the best indicator of competence in a professional field. Assessors must possess both valid and reliable ways of discerning which students have the necessary skills to be effective in the classroom. Portfolio analysis is one way to get better, more valid data about…

A teacher education conceptual model, Teachers Reflecting, Engaging, and Collaborating (TREC), is presented that guides an innovative teacher education program's goals, processes, outcomes, and evaluation. The model, which presents the teacher as a reflective practitioner, is not an instructional sequence model, but rather a conceptual model that…

In an effort to establish a quality middle grades teacher education program that would be responsive to local needs, the Middle Grades Education (MGE) faculty at Georgia's Valdosta State University implemented Reality 401, a field based program, in Fall 1992. The program is a senior year teacher education program designed to provide a…

This paper demonstrates how teacher education follow-up studies can be designed and used to promote responsive teacher education programs. Using a recently completed study of alumni from an undergraduate teacher education program as a model, the paper presents substantive findings relevant both to the design of future teacher education follow-up…

This document presents 194 papers discussing technology and teacher education in the following areas: diversity and international perspectives; research in information technology for teacher education (ITTE); concepts and procedures; preservice teacher education; integration of technology into methods courses; inservice and graduate education;…