This study tested the reliability of Lortie's (1975) "apprenticeship-of-observation" theory in the development of physical education teachers. The theory suggests that beginning teachers' socialization into teaching starts when they are students and serves to perpetuate traditions at the expense of reflective and informed change.…

This instructor's manual is designed to augment the textbook, "Case Studies on Teaching", and was developed for use by the instructor to deepen and broaden students' analysis of the case studies. The text presents 36 case studies, based on data gathered from first-year teachers that provide direct involvement with some of the most common and…

The academic qualifications, experience, and productivity of nontenure-track and tenured/tenure-track full-time and part-time faculty at a state university are compared, based on the results of a 1985 study. Recommendations concerning working conditions and policy for nontenure-track faculty are also offered. Findings include: almost 87% of…

This study focused on preservice teacher' cognitions and preconceptions about teaching. It examined what and how student teachers thought about teaching as they began their experience, the relationship between their thinking about teaching and their teaching behaviors, and how their thinking about teaching changed over the course of the…

For a community college business communication teacher, a whole new world has opened in her field and in her city, a city which has changed from a major industrial economy to a service economy. The changing environments require adjustments for class size and location (to retrain laid-off mature workers), in types of examples and vocabulary…

The attraction and recruitment of qualified teachers as a responsibility of school leaders is discussed in this paper. Included are an examination of factors contributing to teacher shortage, identification of school-based reform targets that address the work and working conditions of teachers, and a discussion of the implications of such…

This study was conducted to learn how a new "experience" component in education foundations' core course work would be evaluated by teacher-trainees and their critic teachers, who were experienced classroom teachers. Project subjects were 186 men and women (84 senior students in a required Foundations of Education senior level core course, and 102…

A future-oriented model for faculty development and inservice education is based upon expanded collaboration and cooperation of teacher education institutions and school divisions, to the extent that preservice and inservice programs are blended into one continuing process. The School of Education at Radford University (Virginia) is in the process…

This study was undertaken to determine the perceptions of a wide range of citizens and to inform the Mississippi Legislature on the issue of merit pay in education. From each of 50 randomly selected Mississippi school districts, a representation of grades K through 12 was chosen, with all professional and administrative staff members asked to…

The English education program at the University of Maryland, College Park, serves as a sound model for teacher preparation. The requirements of the program accommodate the changing needs of society while preserving the traditions of literature and language study. All education students must fulfill university-wide requirements and meet general…

Field experiences in preservice teacher education may be both valuable and problematic. Problems may arise from: (1) previous experiences of teachers and teaching; (2) previous experiences in classrooms; (3) the potential influence of the norms and values of the setting; (4) the difficulties of relating theory and practice; (5) the challenge of…

Prospective teachers in early field placements may gradually develop more mature concerns for pupils if they are given opportunities to reflect upon classroom experience. This study provides information concerning a reflective inquiry model compatible with early field placement. Participants were 12 student teachers engaged in classroom teaching…

As we look for direction in improving teacher education, we should examine what research is telling us about the student teaching experience. This paper addresses the following areas: (1) a survey of literature documenting the critical role of student teaching and the cooperating teacher in teacher preparation and reporting related research on…

The primary purpose of this paper is to present evidence of significant differences in the effectiveness of schools serving low-income children; a secondary purpose is to show that one reason why more learning takes place in some classrooms and schools than in others has to do with differences in the effectiveness of teachers due to teaching…

A common aim of teacher education is to have prospective teachers inquire about their teaching. In that regard, there has been concern about the effects of contexts within which such inquiry takes place. Recent deliberation and research about context has tended to focus on the structure and content of teacher education courses, the environmental…