The process of program evaluation was utilized to evaluate the education program, provide information to make decisions on its ability to comply with mandates from the state education department, and develop or improve the program to meet the goals of the new initiative to meet the needs of English language learners. The program evaluation process…

Areas of our country are headed toward significant social and political unrest if education ignores the demographic trends reshaping our schools. This article describes how one teacher training program in South Carolina examined its cultural context, accreditation standards, and course offerings to restructure its curriculum to address cultural…

This study investigates the effectiveness of a two-plus-two university center teacher education program. In this program, the entire curriculum is delivered on community college campuses; community college faculty members deliver the general education coursework, and university faculty members deliver coursework in the teacher education program…

In this article, the author presents the story of Hope--an education student who, despite many successes, was consistently unable to pass the reading portion of a screening test (Praxis I) that is a prerequisite to student teaching in her home state of Georgia. Hope's only trouble was the fact that she was a slow reader due to attention deficit…

A national investigation of the impact of basic skills testing on teacher education students and program content and evaluation indicated that students who lack basic skills are being eliminated from programs, faculty are paying more attention to basic skills in their courses, and changes in support activities have occurred due to test results.…

If state certification and other bureaucratic requirements were dropped in favor of a genuine review of the skills of individual teacher candidates, the issue of who should train teachers would be resolved, since only those who successfully educated candidates would survive. (MT)

Explores the role that teacher competency testing has had in reducing the number of Black and Hispanic teachers, discusses related problems facing teacher training institutions and programs, and reviews proposed strategies for enabling historically Black institutions and others to better attract and prepare minorities for the teaching profession.…

Teacher training institutions should assess the competency level of their graduates so that needed changes in teacher education programs can be made. A model for assessing teacher education graduates and the teacher education program is described. (CJ)

Changes in schools and teacher education programs are interrelated and involve political, economic, social, and educational reforms. This article explores the current situation of the teaching profession and discusses the importance of incentives. (DF)

Florida legislation has mandated an upgrading in student academic proficiency through functional literacy testing as a prerequisite to the high school diploma and through testing of other minimum competencies. Emphasis on educational assessment has resulted in a recent focus on teacher competence and more vigorous entrance requirements for…

Although arbitrary, whenever multiple judgmental standard-setting procedures are utilized by different groups concurrently, stability across raters can be achieved and decisions can be made in a relatively judicious manner. Greater stability across methods (Ebel, Nedelsky, Angoff) may be effected by slightly modifying the Ebel approach. (Author/PN)

Unless there is a renewed effort by educators to reach a consensus on the meaning of competency in the teaching profession, the promise of the competency based teacher education movement will be as elusive as its terminology. (Authors/CJ)

A response to articles by Alan Tom and Richard Wisniewski (November-December 1981 Journal of Teacher Education) is offered. Alternatives to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards are considered. It is suggested that higher selection standards for teachers be coupled with financial incentives. (PP)

Describes (1) the rapid growth in the number of states requiring teacher competency testing prior to certification and (2) variations in teacher testing for other purposes. Discusses the perceived need for teacher testing and outlines some consequences of the testing movement. Widespread testing of school administrators may be next. (IW)