The 39-month Rural Teacher Education Improvement Project at Western Montana College addressed the critical problem of teacher shortage in Montana, a predominately rural state. The goal was to develop and demonstrate a curriculum that would prepare teachers for rural/small schools. The following components of the training model have been…

Placing education majors in field-based experiences before student teaching has become a common practice in teacher preparation. Two introductory education courses offered at Northwest Missouri State University were designed to provide education majors with classroom experiences early in their program of study. The courses, Observation and…

Internships have traditionally been an important component in counselor training. At Bronx Community College (BCC), a model counselor training program has been developed which emphasizes student input as well as field experience. The underlying assumption of the model is that both the student interns and the host college can teach one another…

This paper addresses the need for multicultural perspectives in teacher preparation programs and ways in which teacher education institutions can enhance multicultural education. Standards and criteria of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) with regard to multicultural education and the response of Northern…

One of the components of the international program at Michigan Technological University is an internship in Germany where students work for 3 months in companies or university research institutes. These paid internships offer students (mostly engineering and science majors) a unique opportunity to improve their communication skills and cultural…

This study examined, from a student perspective, outcomes of early student field experiences in selected college sophomore level courses in a teacher preparation program. The study, based on a survey of 266 students, examined the influence of the experiences on students' knowledge and skills. Students' knowledge responses are analyzed within the…

In an effort to draw together a program response to needs of those preparing to teach in rural/small schools, a review of literature is provided, which concludes with an indepth look at a 1982 research project conducted on the topic. It investigates how important some 45 areas of college studies are to success in current teaching assignments of…

Small communities seldom have the ethnic and racial diversity that can provide multicultural experiences for teacher trainees. Cross cultural training, an aspect of multicultural teacher education, provides experience in understanding the way a culture conditions ways of learning, behaving, and perceiving, and the ability to look at cultural…

This article describes how Cheryl Lemon, a biology teacher at Gateway Regional High School, integrated technology into appropriate curricular contexts during her field experiences as a preservice teacher. She used Web-based simulations, a projection screen, an interactive white board, and Flash-based interactivity in conjunction with direct…

The State University of New York College at Fredonia, Center for Educational Studies is initiating new partnerships and linkages with inservice teachers to provide a united front in the preparation of educational personnel, changing the delivery mode of inservice education, developing a mission/philosophy reflecting a sense of purpose, and…

Because most teacher preparation institutions have extensive needs for numerous field experiences, the Teachers on Television (TOT) project was first conceived to meet demands for observation opportunities through the use of television technology. The TOT project provided live direct observations via television broadcasts from classrooms located…

To meet Ohio state standards, Ohio State University offers an inservice education course for cooperating teachers. During sessions of the course, students and teachers learn together and practice their communication and conferencing skills. The course includes opportunities for teachers to try reflective teaching exercises. Topics assigned for the…

Replicating two previous studies of the transition process of students in field experience programs, this study examined the reactions or feelings that fifth-year graduate student teachers experience, and compared them with those of early field experience and undergraduate student teachers. During their first semester, the teachers kept journals…

The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) has established the Regional Partnership Program, consisting of nine regional centers located across the state, so that UNI may be geographically in touch with all areas of the state. All of the centers have a common structure: the administrator of each center is a tenure track UNI professor; all centers have…

This study sought to determine the effects of early field experience on the attitudes of elementary preservice teachers toward the career of teaching and the teaching environment of the elementary school. Participants in the study were 95 elementary teacher education students enrolled in an internship program at the University of South Florida in…