Teaching practice in schools is an essential component of the professional practice courses for primary student teachers at the University of Waikato (New Zealand). During the first three years of their training, students have a combination of short term placement in normal schools, and longer blocks of teaching practice in other schools. During…

This teaching case was written by "Neil," a student teacher who tried to teach brilliantly, who put himself to the test, and concluded he failed. Neil uprooted his family to move to Alaska to reenter school in order to obtain a teaching certificate. He also wanted to escape the fast-paced life of California and a stagnant job. Neil…

In this paper, Luther College and the Decorah (Iowa) Public Schools suggest that a clinical model for field experience offers a better approach to the problem of teacher empowerment. The model, which shifts instructional methods and student teaching to a public school that consciously identifies itself as a teacher training institution, enhances…

This study sought to determine the effect of a newly adopted school-based discipline policy on student office referrals for discipline. Subjects were 26 teachers and 494 elementary students of lower socioeconomic status at Beaverbrook Elementary School in Spalding County, Georgia. A school-wide, systematic discipline policy was implemented for the…

This paper describes a pilot project in which interns were clustered in an elementary school in Saskatchewan (Canada) to work in collaboration with the teaching staff toward school goals as well as internship goals. The role of the college supervisor was primarily one of supporter, problem-solver, resource provider, and idea stimulator. The…

A study of post degree elementary interns at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) (N=25) was conducted to determine the main sources of information they employed in decision making related to teaching and relationships in the school. The study focused on: (1) the extent to which interns used the knowledge base gained from education classes in…

This study examined whether teacher candidates' anxiety about teaching in accord with teacher development theory decreased through teacher preparation and the fifth year of teaching and whether changes in anxiety related to academic ability and personal attributes. Participants were 117 teacher candidates who completed approximately 5 years of…

Principals and teachers are becoming frustrated with conventional evaluation practices typically used to determine teacher effectiveness and, thus, tenure and promotion. This Digest explains that as new performance standards are being developed, there are reconfigured assessment designs requiring an array of reflective, analytic skills. Creation…

This study was conducted to compare a 1990 sample of beginning teachers with a 1985 sample of beginning teachers who had graduated from the same university. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that the 1990 sample, which had experienced greater emphasis on field experiences and structured beginning teacher induction programs, would…

The study described here investigated the training and employment experiences of educators with disabilities. Participants included 25 educators (17 female and 8 male) with a variety of disabilities (physical disabilities, health impairments, or medical conditions; learning disabilities; acquired brain injuries; visual impairments; hearing…

This paper describes a study of the differences between problem solving skills of graduate students in education who have had full-time teaching experience and those who have not. Information was gathered to determine the extent to which the use of concepts in problem solving and the use of problem solving strategies differ among educators as a…

This report draws on two teacher-researchers' yearlong collaboration in co-planning, co-teaching, and co-researching a writers' workshop in a fifth-grade classroom. Alternatives were sought to a more traditional staff development model in which one professional who is considered to have greater expertise and skill supports and coaches another…

The purpose of this research was to: (1) ascertain the existence and functions of practical thinking styles, illuminating teachers' thought processes; (2) identify practical thinking styles of experts (N=5) and compare them with those of novices (N=5); and (3) present several implications for rethinking teacher education in Japan. Qualitative and…

This study was conducted to analyze the process of learning to teach from the perspective of the student teacher. Issues associated with how student teachers perceive experiences contributing to their learning process form the basis of the analysis. Data referred to come from a larger study conducted over 3 years which explored the perceptions of…

The California New Teacher Project (CNTP) has demonstrated that intensive support, continued training, and informative assessments of teachers in their first professional years result in better instruction for students and higher retention rates for teachers. The 37 projects of CNTP were funded on the basis of their plans to implement alternative…