Recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality secondary mathematics and science teachers are three of the most critical problems in the nation's urban schools that serve a vast majority of children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Although the factors contributing to these problems are complex, one area that has caught…

Field instruction is a critical piece of undergraduate geoscience majors' education, and fieldwork remains a major part of the work of professional geologists. Despite the central importance of field education, there exists relatively little educational research exploring how students learn to solve problems in geological fieldwork. This study…

Educating the Millennial generation, a cohort of students accustomed to rapid transmission of ideas in the digital age, has necessitated changes in traditional educational and clinical training techniques. Four innovations in curriculum and instruction are discussed which capitalize on the skills of this generational group. These are: 1)…

Preservice teachers have difficulty incorporating research-based instructional strategies and often revert to those observed during their own school years. This study describes how preservice teachers used a framework of planning, implementation, feedback, and reflection to try research-based teaching practices from their methods courses and…

Significant life experience research suggests that outdoor experiences foster proenvironmental outcomes. Time spent outdoors is more frequently identified as the source of proenvironmental behavior than is education, suggesting that cognition may be less important than affect. Yet, environmental education field programs are often evaluated on…

This study examined California's efforts to foster preservice preparation of early intervention assistants through a certificate program offered by community colleges, the Community College Personnel Preparation Project. Community colleges enrolled in the project must meet a series of requirements, including infusing early intervention assistant…

Field placement within teacher education represents a topic of interest for all preservice teacher programs. Present research addresses a set of important questions regarding field placement: (1) What pedagogical methodologies facilitate deep learning during field experiences? (2) Is there a significant difference in treatment effect for…

For universities located in rural areas, field placement supervisors often find it difficult to locate placements for student teachers who are specialized in areas (e.g., special education, P.E.) with a limited number of cooperating teachers in each school. In those cases, placements for student teachers may require the cooperation of schools…

Elementary education faculty at this university embedded a Teacher Work Sample (TWS) performance-based assessment into the student teaching experience to assess candidates' ability to impact student learning as required by recent accreditation reforms. The authors conducted an internal evaluation of the TWS for the purposes of strengthening not…

International students are a valuable asset to MSW programs and deserve faculty support. However, sustaining international students in their field placements can be especially challenging for programs in nonurban settings. This article begins a discussion of what might enhance such students' field internships by reporting the experiences of the…

In response to the changing global climate and the growing recognition of the professional associations in the teacher education community, universities around the country are beginning to recognize the need to add a global dimension to their education programs. One way to prepare teachers to address the challenges associated with teaching…

Agricultural teachers in North Carolina were surveyed to assess their attitudes toward Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) and to identify barriers to implementation of SAE in their schools. The teachers gave the politically correct answers about why SAE was important. The teachers indicated that SAE was important (8.46 on a 10 point scale)…

This document reports the 2-year Cycle II Teacher Corps program in which San Diego State College and three school districts (San Diego Unified, Santee, and Escondido) cooperated to develop dedicated teachers (with M.A. degrees) prepared to teach in disadvantaged communities. Objectives of the program are listed, including that of meeting needs of…

The introductory section of this report contains a brief narrative description of Oregon State University's Cycle II Teacher Corps program in which 29 intern teachers were prepared to work with disadvantaged children in both rural and urban areas. The 2-year Master's Degree program which is outlined includes two summers of orientation and…

The author discusses his experiences with Earthwatch, an organization involving paying volunteers in scientific field research. (MJB)