In response to evidence of inadequately trained secondary school English teachers, this report details an experimental education course for the preservice training of English/Secondary Education majors at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. The first section looks at the impetus for such a pre-practice course, and notes that previous education majors had encountered a gap between the theories they had learned in their college classes and the problems they faced as student teachers. This section goes on to describe the belief of the English department and professional and governmental organizations that such teacher inadequacies were contributing to high rates of attrition and illiteracy. The second section describes the course design and applications, emphasizing student experience in specially selected high school classrooms and team-teaching of the education course by high school teachers who have graduated from the Boston Writing Project and by English Department faculty. This section stresses the heavy reading load and the hands-on application of theory to the classroom. A final section suggests implications for the course and notes the importance of cooperation between the high school teachers and the college faculty, the need for a greater role for the Boston Writing Project, and the need for the course to have a more direct connection to experts in specialized areas of literacy. (References and a footnote are included.) (JC)