In November 1999, participants in "The McLaughlin Group," a weekly PBS talk show, peremptorily decided that progressive education and teacher preparation programs were to blame for public education's failings. This article also discusses teacher competency testing, expansion of alternative teacher certification in Colorado, and direct…

Comparison of a survey of 39 regular secondary educators to similar data previously collected from special educators indicated that, while most educators had received some inservice training on transition, there were a number of competency areas in which the majority of regular educators received no training. Regular and special educators…

Analyzes the Adey Report on National Standards and Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education regarding its potential contribution to Australia's teacher education reform, identifying the logic of its arguments and the context in which it places itself, discussing how it constructs graduates, exploring its goal of preparing a profession, and…

Illustrates major arguments for narrowing the source of teaching expertise to considerations built on teacher-based knowledge and experience, examining sociopolitical concerns that attend the arguments. Introduces a case for widening the pale of consideration, offering an alternative way to think about the sources of teaching expertise that…

This paper compares the perceptions of school principals with those of novice teachers on the competence of such newly qualified members of staff. Findings suggest that the school principals and the novices both had similar perceptions regarding the satisfactory performance of the novices, although the novices tended to rate their own performance…

Whatever happens in 2020, schools and teachers will be very different. The teachers in training now, and those currently teaching, need to be prepared to be flexible, to manage change, and more than that, to be agents of change. Those 18-year-olds currently entering training began school in 1991; they are truly National Curriculum babies and, the…

The end of this year is going to bring something that even veteran teachers have never experienced: the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law's "highly qualified teacher" deadline. NCLB's "highly qualified teacher" (HQT) provision is an attempt to put a well-prepared and capable teacher in every classroom. Most parents and teachers…

In this article, we compare conventional uses of metacognition with the kinds of metacognition required by the teaching profession. We discover that many of problems and tasks used in successful metacognitive interventions tend to be reasonably well-defined problems of limited duration, with known solutions. Teaching has unique qualities that…

This article examines to what extent, if any, educational policy documents cite or support the inclusion of the social foundations of education (SFE) within teacher preparation when discussing how to enhance "teacher quality." A review of ten major educational policy reports over the last two years reveals an almost complete lack of attention to…

Future-point learning is a perspective that looks ahead to the future rather than backwards to yesterday. It asks, "What will be needed tomorrow?" rather than focusing on today's or yesterday's learning requirements. This article describes some career planning strategies from the perspective future-point learning and suggests the usefulness of…

Despite the concerns of scholars in the field of instructional supervision, teacher evaluations continue to emphasize bureaucratic accountability and standardization. This article presents an argument for extending the Joint Committee on Standards' Personnel Evaluation Standards to include standards related to the practice of supervision. The…

This article guides the reader through the actual, step-by-step process of preparing the web-based NASPE/NCATE program report. The following five sections are discussed in detail: (1) contextual information; (2) assessments and related data; (3) standards assessment chart; (4) evidence for meeting standards; and (5) use of assessment results to…

Art museums in the United States have undergone profound changes since the 1980s. Have the qualifications and professional preparation of art museum educators changed as well? This article focuses on these qualifications from five points of view: a) the changing context of art museums in transition from object-centered to visitor-centered…

As new standards for students are taking effect, large disparities continue to exist in the educational opportunities available to rich and poor students in most states. These disparities are especially pronounced in California, where thousands of students attend school in dilapidated buildings, without textbooks, materials, or qualified teachers.…

Mentoring has traditionally focused on trainees and newly qualified teachers (NQTs). There is no established, effective mentoring procedure to help teachers who have worked for longer periods of time (one or more years in the classroom) and who are still not coping after all available help has been offered. This study shows that as a result of…