Today's school counselors are educated and trained in knowledge- and skill-based programs that emphasize counseling, guidance, consultation, coordination, and referrals. Counselors address three categories of student needs (social/personal, educational, and career) and tackle tough problems that interfere with the learning process.…

This article focuses on proposed reforms for the continuing professional development stage of the teacher preparation continuum. It includes information on performance standards practicing special educators will need to address, proposed changes in licensure and certification, and proposed reforms in continuing professional development…

A study examined attitudes of 20 rural Mississippi elementary and secondary general education teachers toward accommodations/modifications for learning disabled students in their classrooms. Respondents favored accommodations that did not alter the content to be learned, were less intrusive to daily teaching procedures, took the least amount of…

To determine the impact of program structure on new teachers' employment and program satisfaction patterns, data were collected from 152 students who completed three routes to licensure: a graduate-level, 10-month program; a traditional undergraduate program; or a Professional Development School (PDS) operating within the traditional program.…

Discusses the use of focus groups and surveys to examine the characteristics and needs of nontraditional teacher education students, explaining the importance of open lines of communication among students, faculty, and college administrators to ensure successful programmatic implementation. Data from Bradley University nontraditional students…

Discusses how recent court decisions and the move toward performance assessment may affect the adverse impact, reliability, validity, and pass-fail standards of teacher-certification tests. Recommendations are made for tests that combine multiple-choice items with open-ended tasks. (SLD)

States that the U.S. economy exhibits a voracious demand for information technology (IT) certification programs and, it is claimed, the U.S. system of education isn't producing them. Explains that most IT certification providers operate outside the formal postsecondary education system, do not participate in federal student aid and reporting…

Montana developed an alternative certification program for special educators in response to severe personnel shortages in rural schools. Program strengths include 2 years of mentoring and flexibility in delivery that allows participants to earn certification while working. Evaluation results are presented along with suggested improvements, which…

Examines perceived incompetence within Texas colleges of education, discussing: whether schooling promotes equality; prior analyses of the issue; grade inflation and social promotion; and student teachers' attitudes and curricular preferences. Overall, admissions standards are too low, resulting in marginal teachers who retard students' academic…

Examines the certification program of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), focusing on professionalization, standards, assessment, and certification. Argues that the NBPTS program will ultimately institute more controls on teachers, further distance "professionals" from laypersons, and inhibit collaborative…

Offers an inquiry-oriented approach based on the New Literacy Studies to help prospective teachers prepare for high-stakes standardized tests like the Communication and Literacy Skills (CLS) portion of the Massachusetts Educator Certification Tests. The paper describes a specific activity, inviting preservice teachers to explore the social nature…

Considers various ways in which teacher education outcomes are framed in research, policy, and the media, examining the impact of such framings on the role of teaching and teacher education in promoting democratic values and arguing that researchers and teacher educators must help shape the questions raised in the policy arena, as they strongly…

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction proposes to eliminate "stand-alone" teacher certification in bilingual education (BE) or English as a second language (ESL), creating an ESL/BE license to be added to an elementary or secondary license. The proposal promotes ESL/BE licensure of subject area teachers but ignores foreign…

The faculty in the Department of Urban Education (DUE) at the University of Houston Downtown (UHD) have developed critical awareness of issues related to the responsibility of both teachers and teacher educators for addressing the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The purpose of this article is to provide relevant information on…

Standardized portfolios are being used by teachers and teacher candidates to demonstrate subject matter knowledge for certification or to be considered highly qualified; however, the psychometric adequacy of data used for this purpose has not been evaluated. In the current study, we examined the interscorer reliability, concurrent, predictive, and…