This paper reports on a collaboration between Eastern Michigan University (EMU) College of Education and Farmington High School (FHS), EMU's first consociate school, i.e., a school site that has developed an exceptionally strong working relationship with a college of education. Leaders of both institutions identified a number of creative ways they…

Data were collected from 307 senior level student teachers over 3 semesters in rural and urban placements and from 78 cooperating teachers on the qualities they considered most important for cooperating teachers. Cooperating teachers also offered information about skills and practices that work successfully in the student teaching relationship.…

An integrated system is needed to measure multiple attributes of effective teaching. The use of portfolios holds particular promise for this type of assessment. This paper describes how portfolios can be used in the evaluation of student teaching by evaluating management, creativity, organization, and effectiveness. Learning to teach is a…

This study examined the student teaching experience of three preservice special education teachers. Journal entries, observations, and participant interviews were used to develop a description of the experience from the perspective of the participants. The case studies were organized around the following topics: how preservice special educators…

A study considered the beliefs and practices of three preservice content area teachers about the required content area reading course and its relationship to their field experiences. The three preservice teachers, all older, nontraditional students with previous career experiences, averaged eight dialogue journal entries during their…

As part of a larger research progam on learning to teach, this paper reviews 15 empirical studies that followed students through one or more components of their student teaching program. The review focused on teacher development, constructivism (which ascertains how initial experiences in teacher education interact with the preconceptions held by…

This paper argues that productive reform in teacher education must comprise the development of a rigorous practical pedagogy. The theoretical element of teacher education courses and practical teaching are incompatible because research looks at the way teaching is rather than the way teaching should be, and because teaching is viewed as comprising…

This paper discusses reflective teaching and critical thinking skills in novice teachers and examines potential best practices for the 21st century. The paper shares findings of a 3-year qualitative study regarding the effect of four procedures on the developmental dynamics of reflective teaching and critical thinking skills in beginning teachers.…

This guide describes the outdoor education practicum required of student teachers at Northern Illinois University (NIU). This 5-day residential experience is held at the Lorado Taft Field Campus (branch of NIU), established in 1951 to train teachers in outdoor education. Course objectives include: (1) to help student teachers gain knowledge about…

Two major problems of state certification of teachers are decline in the quality of teacher candidates and the inability of qualified applicants to be certified without majoring in education. With improved knowledge about how good teachers teach and what is essential for beginning teachers to know, teacher education programs are likely to remain…

Imbalances existing between theoretical and practical research and between experimental and naturalistic research can be corrected by teacher educators who conduct research on what they are already doing as part of their professional assignments. These educators are persons whose expertise typically includes several years in the classroom prior to…

This study examined the effectiveness of audiocuing as a method for training a student teacher in the skill of providing positive reinforcement to students. (Audiocuing is the pre-recorded auditory cue provided by a microcassette recording which only the subject can hear.) In the event that it is necessary for the student teacher to make…

The Mentor Teacher Project, initiated in 1985, involved the development and implementation of a new field component into the Academic Learning Teacher Education Program at Michigan State University. The field component, piloted with the Academic Learning students in the class of 1987, was subsequently revised and its impact on the class of 1988…

This handbook for a one-semester student teaching practicum opens with role descriptions for the school principal, the college supervisor, the cooperating teacher, and the student teacher. The handbook covers the following elements in the practicum: (1) school preparation for the student teacher; (2) suggested schedule for observation and…

This paper reports on a preliminary look at the student teaching seminar as a vehicle for encouraging reflective thinking about teaching and learning. The seminar group was composed of 32 undergraduate and graduate students, student teachers in the secondary school disciplines. A preliminary self-analysis essay written by the student teachers…