The study reported in this article was focused on the first field experience in a teacher education program developed around themes of equity and social justice within a larger framework of inclusive education. The community-based field experience entails one-on-one mentoring in which elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) work with African…

The persistence of stigma related to schizophrenia is addressed as a continuing challenge for social work students working in mental health. Student education is best grounded in direct clinical work with clients in conjunction with field supervision and classroom education. Through direct practice in individual and group sessions, students learn…

Methods courses in teacher education programs have made a transition in the last years toward field-based experiences as part of the preparation for teaching science in the elementary school. However, little conclusive evidence exists as to any desirable influence field experiences are having on science teaching attitudes and learning. The purpose…

A teacher education program designed to adequately prepare preservice teachers to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students in their classrooms is described. Under the supervision of a professor and a graduate assistant in a required methods course at a private midwestern Christian university, 24 preservice teachers, who use a…

Helen Ladd takes a comparative look at policies that the world's industrialized countries are using to assure a supply of high-quality teachers. Her survey puts U.S. educational policies and practices into international perspective. Ladd begins by examining teacher salaries--an obvious, but costly, policy tool. She finds, perhaps surprisingly,…

Wartburg College (Iowa) and Waterloo (Iowa) Public Schools have cooperated to implement a teacher preparation program designed specifically for minority Teacher Associates who are employed in the Waterloo Schools and to enhance the diversity training of all graduates of the Wartburg teacher education program. The program was initiated and…

Field education or the practicum experience is at the core of most early childhood education preservice programs because it is viewed as the most significant contributor to the development of professional expertise. The Early Childhood Education Program at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto, Canada, requires 600 hours of field education…

A study was made of 10 practicum students in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University and 7 cooperating teachers at a nearby middle school. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyze the practicum experience and its role in the preparation of middle school practicum students. Analysis of the study data yielded several…

Field experiences for preservice teachers are replete with problems including insufficient budgets and concerns about the dominance of the preservice teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor triad. This paper advocates the development of a diadic model that would, through training, expand the supervisory role of the cooperating…

The Women's Research and Development Project of the Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York sought to prepare women students in Ph.D. programs for careers as college professors. The 1-year project offered women students a series of structured workshops that focused on the information, skills, and attitudes that…

West Chester University (Pennsylvania) set up a project designed to meet the seemingly diverse yet very similar needs of teacher education students and inner city children. Prospective teachers must begin to value and effectively serve more diverse populations, and the relationship between campus and the real world needs to be strengthened.…

While field placement in human services programs is an extremely important practical phase of training, it has generally not been standardized, and thus can be difficult to assess. A model program and assessment format developed by Hudson County Community College (HCCC), in Jersey City, New Jersey, however, provides a possible framework for…

This manual for college students and faculty outlines ways to mobilize others on campus to learn about, educate, and work with migrant and seasonal farmworkers in their local area. Section I introduces the work and educational situation of migrant workers and the goals of the Into the Fields program, in which student interns provide legal, health,…

This paper describes the elements of university-school collaboration based on several field experiences that university students have had in area schools in connection with education classes often taught in those schools. These elements can serve as a guide to determine a university's or school's readiness for collaboration and identify potential…

The Research About Teacher Education (RATE) Project is an ongoing data collection effort to establish a reliable database about institutions of higher education where teachers are prepared, and about the faculty, students, and programs at these institutions. The data reported in this monograph were taken from four questionnaires--separate faculty…