This paper presents several arguments for including a stand-alone course on classroom management in every teacher preparation program. Some teacher preparation programs do not offer any course in classroom management, while others offer classroom management as an elective or as a topic embedded into another course. In the latter situation, the…

The introduction of the "Praxis" tests to certify preservice teachers has added to the controversy over what content should be taught in educational psychology classes. "Praxis II" tests are essentially exit examinations, usually taken between the junior and senior year to ensure that students know their specialty content areas…

This paper discusses lessons learned from becoming an independent standards board. It begins by explaining that teachers lacked adequate academic preparation during the two World Wars and shortly thereafter. At the end of World War II, public education had to deal with poor pay, little job security, inadequate pensions, and inadequate and…

Focusing on social studies, this paper asserts that taking traditional content courses by themselves may not necessarily significantly enhance teachers' subject matter competence. It suggests that preparing social studies teachers to enact curricula is more than a matter of assuring that they have enough work in the traditional academic subject.…

This essay distinguishes between the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act's narrow definition of highly qualified teachers and the full range of skills and knowledge teachers must have to teach all children effectively. It asserts that the NCLB's lack of distinction between minimally and highly qualified teachers, along with rapid implementation…

This videotape describes the impact of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification within North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. It begins with the story of an at-risk student who attributes his success to having had an NBPTS certified teacher in 5th grade. The teacher tutored him, paired him with a mentor,…

This paper examines endogenous causes of the supposed failure of education to meet educational demands. It proposes to arrange the endogenous causes of dissatisfaction with education as a continuum between two positions. The first relates to short-term causes. The second relates to structural causes. The paper assumes that both short-term and…

This article discusses how rising student enrollment and a projected wave of teacher retirements will affect the teacher corps. It describes the possible shortage of teachers in the upcoming years as a problem more of specialization than outright shortage. Math and science teachers and special-education teachers will be hardest to find, as will be…

While consistently related to positive teacher behaviors and student outcomes, teacher efficacy as a construct is currently the subject of debate. The present study examined a new model of teacher efficacy (Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998) that proposes to more clearly define important variables and integrate two theoretical…

Discussions over the last 2 decades about the possible reform of low socioeconomic schools and teaching practices originate in the effectiveness and improvement (E&I) fields of educational research, which proclaim that teachers and schools "can make a difference." But the message has been thoroughly overplayed. This work focuses on…

This paper discusses the problems associated with identifying incompetent teachers and it examines the lack of effort in defining incompetence and the corresponding absence of imagination in prescribing desirable traits in instruction. Described is the Teaching Competence Project, a 2-year research project undertaken in England that studied the…

During a review of the Higher Education Act (HEA), concern about the quality of teacher education emerged. As a result, Congress created a new teacher quality section in HEA known as Title II, which established grant programs for partnerships between K-12 schools and institutions of higher education and for states to improve teacher quality. It…

This paper describes one college faculty member's experiences coordinating departmental preparations for a 5-year, continuing program approval/accreditation visit from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the Florida Board of Regents. It notes that in addition to the…

This brief is designed to help professional developers see what goes into making an effective support program for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards candidates. There is no one best way to construct a support program, though all programs must address two fundamental needs: helping candidates understand and manage the assessment…

Legislation passed during the 2001 Iowa legislative session established the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Program, Senate File 476. This legislation requires the Iowa Department of Education (DE) to annually report the statewide progress on the following: (1) Student achievement scores in mathematics and reading at the fourth and eighth…