This book describes the experience of a young and inexperienced teacher during 1926 in rural Marengo County, Alabama. Susie Powers Tompkins accepted her first teaching assignment to earn money to continue college after her freshman year at Alabama College. However, for Tompkins the rewards of teaching went far beyond just earning money. She found…

The characteristics of one-room rural schools in Barbour County, West Virginia, are representative of one-room rural school characteristics in general. These include building design and problems; teacher' lives and duties, certification, salaries, and training; scheduling and curriculum; games; punishments; and hot lunch programs. Since one-room…

Clinical experiences remain an integral component of teacher preparation programs. One type of clinical experience is the Comprehensive Scope and Sequence Model, which calls for five hierarchical levels of clinical experiences: (1) college classroom practice activities; (2) campus laboratory practice activities; (3) block practicum field…

This monograph presents results and recommendations from a project designed as a collaborative effort to prepare graduate students in the humanities for careers as scholar-teachers within institutions committed to liberal education. The project's two principle activities are discussed under the following headings: (1) Encountering Campus Cultures:…

Two major recommendations are offered to teacher education reform efforts: (1) increased collaboration for both leadership and program planning in teacher education; and (2) changes in the roles of public schools and universities in the preparation of teachers. The recommendations emerged intially from a study that focused on discrepancies between…

Information in this report, provided in 16 data tables, was derived from New York State's Basic Educational Data System and state teacher certification files. Data are based on information submitted by all public elementary schools and secondary schools in the state. Several statistics about professional school personnel in New York are given.…

This practicum was designed to facilitate the professional growth and personal well-being of beginning teachers during the induction year. The program provided novice teachers with opportunities for regular contact with an experienced teacher, encouraged demonstration of positive self-perceptions as professionals, and assisted in the development…

A set of self-evaluation procedures using videotape was developed to provide teachers with a means for observing their teaching and then reflecting on what occurred. The self-evaluation model consists of two components: (1) a transition observation instrument (TOI) which was designed based on classroom management variables known to influence…

This document is a compilation of 11 separate reports on the Houston Independent School District (Texas) support program, 1989-90, which paired over 300 first-year teachers with mentors who usually taught the same subject or grade level, were assigned to the same school, were experienced, agreed to work with beginning teachers, and were paid a…

This study was conducted to: (1) determine the concerns of beginning elementary teachers; (2) identify perceived successes of novice teachers; (3) learn the extent of orientation provided; (4) ascertain the kinds of professional support received from fellow teachers and administrators; (5) identify the kinds of professional assistance needed; and…

Several groups of hearing-impaired students at Gallaudet College (District of Columbia) have successfully completed their student teaching assignment with hearing children in public schools. Factors leading to their success were analyzed through results of observation, interviews, and a survey questionnaire administered to samples of both hearing…

Some of the realities, at a state and national level, of implementing new teacher education standards that emphasize basic skills are discussed. Reported on is Kansas' response to the national trend toward teacher basic skill testing (five house bills concerning teacher education). The Kansas State Board of Education proposal for a competency…

Teachers can develop reflection and evaluation options by keeping a classroom journal. A classroom journal is a record of the teacher's experience within the classroom itself, as well as experience outside the classroom which bears on classroom life. As an observor of one's own actions and reactions to classroom incidents, the teacher opens the…

Although challenged by some, the student teaching experience continues to be the most extensive, and in the eyes of most educators, the most important experience in the preparation of teachers. Given the importance of the student teaching experience, it behooves teacher educators to carefully examine student teaching to determine ways to improve…

Using three instances from elementary school teaching experience, the paper examines the ways in which subject matter knowledge influences pedagogical thinking. It is proposed that subject matter knowledge creates two major problems for teachers. First, it results in an explosion of the curricular landscape, for if teachers know subject matter…