In this article, the authors focus on the concept of coherence, a relatively underexplored concept in teacher education. They investigate the relationship between students' perceptions of coherence and a number of structural features of teacher education programs to help develop a stronger definition of one important dimension of coherence--the…

For eight years, the Department of Early Childhood Education at Northeastern Illinois University has worked cooperatively with Robert Morris Elementary School in Chicago in developing and implementing a laboratory experience for student teachers in the area of play and rhythmic expression. Describes the program and evaluates its benefit for…

The major purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of regional/rural placements for student teachers. A secondary purpose was to discern attitude change among student teachers, cooperating teachers, and principals involved in the program. An evaluation was also made of the effectiveness of secondments, personnel…

A four-year program of teacher education at Purdue University-Calumet (Indiana) encompasses the humanities, life and physical sciences, and social and behavioral studies. The professional education component encompasses social, philosophical, and historical foundations of education, educational methodology, measurement and psychology, nature of…

This program is based on the recognized need to provide preservice teacher education majors with an opportunity to actively participate in the public school classroom. The program is designed to provide the student with classroom experiences that will assist in deciding if they seriously desire to be teachers, to develop perception of the role and…

This paper outlines the procedures used at the University of Cincinnati for establishing a field based elementary teacher education program in the form of a field guide. The first step involves a meeting with university faculty to discuss the implications of such a program. Step two involves meeting with the elementary school principal and selling…

A study sought to determine the extent to which cooperating teachers' narrative comments on weekly observations reflect six categories of beginning teachers' competencies and to ascertain the relationships among cooperating teachers' narrative comments, their midterm evaluations of student teachers, and their final evaluation of student teachers.…

This article discusses a competency based teacher education program in which education majors, mid-way in their college training, are required to have a sixty-hour field experience during the semester. A method of eliminating some of the problems of evaluation of field experiences that are faced by the cooperating teacher and the college…

This two-part report is an outgrowth of a 1964 conference of 27 high school and university faculty members involved in the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNYAB) teacher education program, which is part of Inter-University Project I. Part 1 is a preconference position paper by Charles R. Fall, School of Education, SUNYAB, related to the…

Field education or the practicum experience is at the core of most early childhood education preservice programs because it is viewed as the most significant contributor to the development of professional expertise. The Early Childhood Education Program at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto, Canada, requires 600 hours of field education…

A study was made of 10 practicum students in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University and 7 cooperating teachers at a nearby middle school. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyze the practicum experience and its role in the preparation of middle school practicum students. Analysis of the study data yielded several…

Field experiences for preservice teachers are replete with problems including insufficient budgets and concerns about the dominance of the preservice teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor triad. This paper advocates the development of a diadic model that would, through training, expand the supervisory role of the cooperating…

The development and implementation of a clinical internship program for prospective teachers is described. This internship design creates an instructional team which develops and organizes learning experiences through team planning and team teaching. The team is comprised of the college supervisor, the local school board, school superintendent and…

This is the third in a series of four books presenting a variety of field experience program models and philosophies that drive the programs provided to preservice teachers during their undergraduate teacher preparation. This publication explores the internal workings of the relationships and events that have an impact on all the persons involved…