This book assesses 43 experimental teacher education programs supported by the Ford Foundation from 1958 to 1963. Following a description of the setting in which these programs began (part 1), part 2 analyzes the programs (grouped according to type--undergraduate, five or fifth year, and Master of Arts in Teaching) along with their conventional counterparts at the same universities. Features common to the successful programs, which in some cases caused change throughout the university, were seen to be the outstanding quality of the students and directors; cooperation among public schools, education departments, and academic departments (as in redesigning a teacher education curriculum); and earlie r laboratory training. In the remainder of part 2 and all of part 3, six programs are individually assessed: unique features are emphasized, such as the University of Hawaii's breakthrough within a centralized state education system, and failures are diagnosed. The final section (part 4) which summarizes the accomplishments and deficiencies of the experiment, ends with a paradigm for instituting curricular experiments and three school organization models. (LP)