Field experience has long been considered a valuable component to the professional development of prospective teachers. This paper describes a program to determine whether consistent training and support of the participants in supervised field experiences would impact the overall achievement of prospective teachers and increase each participant's satisfaction with the experience. The program was implemented at 2 universities over a 2-year period, with approximately 30 elementary and secondary student teachers and their cooperating teachers, and 5 university supervisors. Training topics address three main areas: goals and expectations of the teacher education program, roles and responsibilities of each participant, and critical aspects of supervision (conferences, observation strategies, and feedback). Cooperating teachers and university supervisors conducted weekly "formal" observations of their assigned preservice teachers, and student teachers conducted peer observations. Study results indicated increased involvement among all participants: university supervisors made more frequent contacts with cooperating teachers, addressing issues and problems as well as discussing the progress of student teachers; cooperating teachers felt less isolated; and student teachers experienced less anxiety in observations. The outcomes of the supervision process--the feedback--seemed to be enhanced. Findings of the study suggested that it is possible to prepare field-based participants for an experience that encourages taking supervised instructional risks, communicates realistic expectations, and provides developmentally appropriate feedback. (Contains 36 references.) (ND)