Discusses events leading to the Texas legislation limiting professional education courses to 18 semester hours for initial certification and eliminating undergraduate education degrees. Noting implications for other states, the article suggests that teacher educators collaborate to develop a knowledge base, create coalitions, and provide national…

Two methods of delivering direct instruction to preservice teachers were compared. Students (n=37) in a reading course learned the Directed Reading Activity (DRA) via lecture and discussion; 37 others learned with videotape and related practice. The latter group retained and used DRA knowledge better over a longer period. (Author/SM)

Reports on data from the three surveys by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education of faculty from 80 institutions. This analysis covers the following topics: demographics, prior experience, field work, scholarship, teaching loads, and likelihood of reform. (SM)

Examines educational reform in the 1980s, noting implications for teacher preparation and describing restructured school characteristics (e.g., changes in organizational and governance structure, redesign of teacher work, and resource reallocation). Prospective teachers need more preparation in areas like organizational theory and human relations…

Increases in external services performed by faculty are integral to K-12 school, college, and department of education reform agendas, but there are limiting constraints, including the quest for prestige; tenure, promotion, and reward systems; and faculty recruitment, education, and role orientations. Changing these factors appropriately may help…

This study examined how 47 student teachers described instructional successes and failures. Interviews identified seven elements of success or failure (student characteristics, implementation, planning, lesson uniqueness, management, student teacher characteristics, and lesson content). Their perceptions of teacher and student role in success or…

Examines how cognitive modeling and self-efficacy affected preservice teachers' learning of teaching strategies. Two groups of students viewed videotaped training sessions with direct instruction or cognitive modeling. They then viewed either self-efficacy or task-oriented commentaries. Results indicated significant effects favoring cognitive…

Describes preservice and in-service teacher education programs by the Collaboration for the Improvement of Teacher Education (CITE) to develop reflective thinking in students, focusing on the Framework for Reflective Pedagogical Thinking, a coding scheme developed by CITE to analyze students' reflective thinking about curriculum, methods, and…

Describes a four-month investigation of first grade students' definitions of reading. Analysis of observations, interviews, and documents revealed that students in low- and high-reading groups constructed different understandings about reading. Suggestions for teacher educators include helping students develop "kid-watching" skills and helping…

This paper examines "Teacher's Workplace" and "The Professors of Teaching," two dissimilar books that describe similar issues in teacher education reform. Both imply that to transform low-consensus into high-consensus schools, policymakers must understand which workplace conditions promote consensus and certainty; collaboration must be the norm…

Results of interviews with 24 minority undergraduate teacher education students on predominately white campuses, as well as reviews of documents and interviews with faculty, indicate that these students want to teach within their own ethnic communities and that the teacher education programs lack significant cultural relevance. (39 references)…

Teacher education should represent, reflect, and advance democratic principles. This article defines classroom dialog, suggests ways of implementing dialogical pedagogy, and analyzes the implications of dialogical pedagogy for teacher education. Four aspects of applying dialogical pedagogy are discussed: benefits of dialog, barriers to dialog,…

Students (n=55) in a required multicultural education course designed to reduce racism and stereotyping attitudes among preservice teacher education students completed pre- and posttests to determine attitudes toward African Americans, Europeans, and Mexican Americans. Results indicated that the course appears to have had a significant effect on…

This essay considers several issues that impact on children's education, creating communities of learning within schools, and the education of educators. Among the questions considered are what does it mean to know; what knowledge is of most worth; and how and what should teachers know. (35 references) (IAH)

Interview data were collected from eight student teachers from universities in Australia and the United States to determine how student teachers perceive the process of learning to teach, particularly with regard to certain themes: setting goals, modeling, gaining experience, developing routines, and trial and error. Implications for teacher…