Two myths concerning the value of preservice field-based experience are explored: (1) Practical school experience contributes to the development of better teachers; and (2) Teacher education's institutional structures are totally coercive and students passively conform to school bureaucracies' conservative norms. (JN)

Comparative research was conducted on two preservice teacher education field experience programs. The "Tutoring Program" was designed to place participants in active teaching roles by having them prepare remedial lessons and tutor pupils. The "Teacher Apprentice Program" was designed to expose participants to a full range of teaching…

The teaching profession has fallen in public esteem, and much criticism is falling on schools, colleges, and departments of education. Fifteen ERIC citations provide a limited but useful resource list for the study of the reform of teacher education. (CJ)

Proposals for extended teacher education programs are considered: (1) adding a year long internship to a four-year undergraduate program; (2) postponing professional training until a student has earned a B.A. or B.S.; and (3) requiring masters or doctoral degree programs in teaching for initial certification. (JN)

Many universities share the belief that the traditional four-year teacher education program provides insufficient time to prepare a professional, well-educated teacher, and are considering the adoption of an extended teacher education program. The program should focus on field experiences. (JN)

The fifth year of a successful five-year teacher preparation program is the first contractual teaching year, or the supported induction year. This formative teaching year results in fewer excellent teachers dropping out due to pressures or frustrations in first-year teaching. (JN)

The Graduate Resident Program is an extended professional teacher education program which includes a masters degree and coursework related to teaching and learning. Its prime focus for teaching and learning is the induction component which takes place in the classroom. The resident concept is aimed at the integration of theory and practice. (JN)

During the past three years the state of Nevada has joined the escalating effort nationwide to extend preservice teacher preparation through the development of a fifth-year internship. The early history of the fifth-year internship and the influence of national conceptual learning upon the internship design are discussed. (JN)

New Hampshire's successful inservice plan has three main characteristics: local control, direct link to recertification, and lack of state funding. The New Hampshire Staff Development Plan is based on locally controlled inservice education. Teachers must participate in the local plan in order to be recertified. Staff development is financed by the…

Helping teachers understand the relationship between the message of instructional content and the medium of instructional technology is a legitimate focus for colleges of education. Colleges of education can respond to the need for computer sophistication by creating survey courses on the uses of computers in education. (JN)

To find out how junior high teachers establish and maintain effective classroom management, the Junior High Classroom Organization Study (JHCOS) was conducted. The observations made during the study support the commonly held beliefs that teachers in low socioeconomic status minority schools face special problems in establishing productive…

Research using a nomothetic approach, in which organizational or contextual factors associated with teaching are studied, reveals problems that teachers experience in: teacher-pupil relations; teacher-teacher relations; teacher-parent relations; orientation to the education system; and induction into the teaching profession. (CJ)

Negative implications should be assessed before extending preservice education programs. Although a longer, more demanding professional program would have a positive effect on the professional status of teaching, it may also discourage qualified applicants who are not interested in spending five or six years in preparation for a relatively low…

Truly sound teacher education curricula are those which consciously work toward making connections: connecting practice to theory; curricula to life; courses to clinical work. Teaching should relate to a concept formation cycle involving real-world and simulation experiences through which students learn. (JN)

The university supervisor performs three basic activities: (1) phasing the student teacher into the classroom's on-going activities; (2) defining and communicating the purposes and expectations to be fulfilled; and (3) observing and evaluating the performance of the student teacher. (JN)