The mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is to strengthen teaching in order to improve schools. There has been general agreement that a national certification system that could reliably identify teachers who meet high and rigorous standards would command the respect of the profession and public. The NBPTS has…

This study examined to what extent teachers who choose to take a course about cooperative learning implement the innovation and which factors account for variation in use of cooperative learning in their classrooms. Nine female elementary teachers were observed and interviewed. Teachers were categorized as effective users, competent users,…

This paper explores an expanded vision of teacher education as it relates to the concept of personal and marginalized identity. A study conducted in an all-male correctional facility tells the cultural stories of marginalized people who have had an implicit influence on teachers' experiences and development. Teacher development is defined as a…

This special theme issue of "Educational Foundations" contains five articles on the theme of "The Politics of Education." In Marie E. Wirsing's "Academic Freedom and Teaching Foundations of Education: A Personal Memoir," the history of academic freedom, including the constant struggles to preserve it and examples of significant infringement, are…

This guide serves as an introduction to the Professional Development Program for Beginning Vocational Teachers. The program has a research base; its overall goal, as outlined in the guide, is to provide a flexible and adaptable mechanism for beginning vocational teachers to have a smoother transition into the field of teaching. The program…

Music can play an important part in personality development. Music education for children encourages the capacity for creativity, improvisation, and understanding the beautiful and the good. This book traces the history of the music syllabus among teachers in the Soviet Union and discusses creative freedom and the instructor. It also presents a…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether varying levels of expertise would produce differences in selected indicators of effective teaching performance. Eighteen elementary physical education teachers were grouped based on stages of pedagogical expertise development as suggested by Berliner (1988). The three groups included…

The purpose of the study described in this paper was to explore the experience of student teachers working in a track-system and the meaning drawn from that experience. In order to gain access to this meaning, the method of in-depth, phenomenological interviewing was utilized. This research model is based on a format that one makes meaning of his…

This research compared how elementary school teachers and professors of developmental psychology organize knowledge about child development. It compared them in the light of two hypotheses: (1) compared to professors, teachers are "novices" about developmental psychology; and (2) compared to professors, teachers have…

Education students' attitudes towards mainstreaming are crucial to the future success of the movement toward inclusive education. This study describes the attitudes toward mainstreaming held by undergraduate education students and assesses attitude changes related to knowledge about handicapping conditions and the field of education as well as…

A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the occupational and educational experiences of community college faculty and their role expectations; the relationship between faculty reference group identity and role expectations; and the differences in the faculty role expectations held by students, administrators, and faculty. A…

Small communities seldom have the ethnic and racial diversity that can provide multicultural experiences for teacher trainees. Cross cultural training, an aspect of multicultural teacher education, provides experience in understanding the way a culture conditions ways of learning, behaving, and perceiving, and the ability to look at cultural…

A study analyzed the experiences of 10 student teachers, 5 of whom taught in a traditional program and 5 of whom taught without cooperating teachers. The study's purpose was to gain insight into factors influencing views and actions of student teachers and to determine why they did or did not correspond to views they expressed after participating…

This study investigates how students and their teacher experience online courses and whether both parties perceive similar advantages and disadvantages in online learning. Both parties consider geographical independence advantageous and express the need for a well-structured course; this includes the administration as well as the content.…

This article describes how Cheryl Lemon, a biology teacher at Gateway Regional High School, integrated technology into appropriate curricular contexts during her field experiences as a preservice teacher. She used Web-based simulations, a projection screen, an interactive white board, and Flash-based interactivity in conjunction with direct…