Growth in the field of early childhood education has placed emphasis on improving quality through leadership and teacher education. With the advancement of the early childhood field, teacher education programs are called upon to develop leaders, challenge experienced teachers and meet professional standards through advanced degree programs.…

This digest describes three teacher education program models designed to concentrate on: (1) a philosophy of middle school education; (2) an understanding of the unique psychological, social, and intellectual needs peculiar to the 10- to 14-year-old student; (3) an ability to increase student motivation; and (4) a command of subject area. The…

Since its beginnings in 1970, a field-based teacher education program aimed at preparing certificated Alaska native teachers has graduated 80 teachers. Until then, the University of Alaska's teacher training program had been a traditional campus-based program aimed primarily at preparing teachers for urban schools, with no course that reflected…

The Coalition of Teacher Education Programs (COTEP) is a voluntary group of six Indiana universities: Ball State, Indiana State, Indiana University, Purdue, and the University of Evansville. This report from COTEP summarizes the recommendations made in nine commissioned papers on improving the education of teachers. These papers focused on topics…

In an effort to redesign an undergraduate teacher preparation program at the University of Maine (Orono), field research was conducted gathering attitudes and opinions from educators, students, and special interest groups (e.g., State Board of Education, State Teacher's Association). Data were gathered from questionnaires, group sessions, and…

Throughout the l9th and 20th centuries, the field experience component has generally been acknowledged as a key element in teacher preparation. This paper places inquiry into field experiences into an historical and critical context, raising questions about assumptions that are generally taken for granted. Field experience in teacher education is…

A description is given of a cooperative teacher education program formed between a university and the public schools to provide substitute teaching service to the schools while the teacher-training programs at the university would be re-modeled to include substitute teaching as a training component. Graduate students who have completed a…

North Texas State University (NTSU) has instituted a cooperative program which allows junior level education majors to become full-time paid teacher aides in participating school districts. The students work for one semester and are closely supervised by their university supervisor. To enter the program, they must have completed a minimum of…

A study was made at Ohio University (Athens) to evaluate the perspectives of cooperating teachers and field experience students on: (1) problems cooperating teachers had in assisting field experience students; (2) help cooperating teachers received from field experience students; and (3) field experience students' perceived usefulness of the…

The School of Education at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) prepares its elementary teachers to work in an urban setting through a teacher education program that makes extensive use of field experiences. The program is organized into four phases. Phase I is the screening process for acceptance into the teacher education program for those…

Several well-established efforts to form closer links between teacher education programs and community understanding are described. Such efforts are usually based on one of two approaches: building awareness of communities and their cultures into conventional college courses; or placing students in nonschool community settings. (PP)

In a University of Ottawa field-based teacher education program, students spend much of their postdegree preservice year in schools. Three studies of the first cohort of program participants suggest that the model of preservice education has less effect on the first-year teaching experience than do the nature of the practicum and coursework…

Reports on a study of the extent and nature of collaboration in music teacher education between K-12 schools and 204 higher education institutions. Finds significant relationships between the degree of collaboration and: the number of music education majors, the institution's size, and graduate study in music education. (CFR)

Wichita State University's teacher education program was revised to develop sensitive, nurturing teachers who understand student diversity. Pretests and posttests examining students' professional and personal opinions about diversity found that field experiences created significant differences in attitudes toward diversity and social distance…

This report presents findings from a 2006 national survey of all Title IV degree-granting 4- year postsecondary institutions on how teacher candidates within teacher education programs for initial licensure are being prepared to use educational technology once they enter the field. The "Educational Technology in Teacher Education Programs…