A national survey of state directors of special education (40 responses) found great variety in state policy concerning inclusion of students with disabilities, acceleration in inclusion activities, a commitment to providing inservice and technical assistance, emerging teacher certification guidelines specific to inclusion, and minimal empirical…

Reports on the certification requirements for school library media specialists in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Testing and educational requirements are given, competencies and skills needed in various subject areas are listed, and the role of the American Library Association is explained. A directory of credentialing agencies is…

Increasingly, states seeking to improve teacher education are establishing teacher qualification standards. Several have authorized independent boards to determine licensing criteria; many are asking a national agency to accredit their programs. Other groups are producing guidelines, standards, and tests for evaluating new and veteran teachers.…

A survey of chairpersons of 35 postsecondary schools of education in New York State found that less than one-third of these programs were accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, offered dual certification in regular and special education, or required training in collaborative teaching and education. (Author/JDD)

Reports a study of on-the-job special education trainees' perceptions regarding job satisfactions and challenges, congruence between expectations and reality of working conditions, and predicted commitment to special education. Results indicated 48 percent would eventually leave special education. (SM)

This study examined whether concept-based or experience-based training designs and their subsequent execution would create different training effects in teachers (depending on whether trainers took into account diagnostic information on existing teacher beliefs and preconceptions). Pretraining and posttraining data indicated that teachers' beliefs…

Discusses events leading to the Texas legislation limiting professional education courses to 18 semester hours for initial certification and eliminating undergraduate education degrees. Noting implications for other states, the article suggests that teacher educators collaborate to develop a knowledge base, create coalitions, and provide national…

The degree to which between-group differences in performance on individual questions on the NTE Professional Knowledge Test conform to expectations was studied for 19,307 examinees who had taken the NTE Core Battery. Some items are quite consistent with the intended test interpretation test, whereas others are less consistent. (SLD)

Description of library services in Illinois focuses on school libraries and youth services. Topics discussed include multitype library systems; automation; youth services consultants; data collection for youth services; resource sharing for schools; promotion of reading and library programs; communications networks; and standards and certification…

Considers the potential of alternative route preparation and teacher certification programs for meeting the needs of urban schools by examining the Provisional Teacher Program in New Jersey and the experiences of 75 elementary school teachers, 24 secondary school English teachers, and 30 secondary school mathematics teachers over 4 years. (SLD)

Reviews the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) and explores its effects on higher education. The law, largely silent about higher education, does mandate a professional standards board for teacher certification, and there are implications for teacher education. Efforts at the University of Louisville to meet KERA challenges…

Contends that, despite recent successes, the geographic education community faces serious problems based on its failure to create and maintain strategies for effect preservice teacher education. Argues that a broad cooperative program involving teachers, school district officials, geographic educators, and the community is a potential remedy. (CFR)

In 1998, the first administration of the Massachusetts Educator Certification Test caused a furor. The initial decision to go forward with a statewide test, choice of vendor, decision surrounding the test's development, and the consequences of test administration are described. The Massachusetts experience teaches some important lessons that may…

Investigated the effectiveness of and reactions to an alternative teacher education program for students seeking early childhood licensure who wanted to work with young children in inclusive settings. The program used a talent development model. Data from interviews, observations, artifacts, and focus groups indicated that the talent development…

Reports on a study of the University of the West Indies Distance Teaching Experiment, which offers preservice teacher education via distance education using an interactive teleconference network. Surveys of participating teachers (n=169) indicated that the network had several of the desired infrastructures in place for conducting quality teacher…